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It’s time for a heaping helping of Dan’s Website Whispers heading into the weekend, with notes on Revis talk, and the quarterback competition. Let’s get it started . . .
It’s probably a good time for the Jets’ front office to shut down the Darrelle Revis talk in the locker room.
It’s unhealthy for the team’s mindset.
Bill Belichick wouldn’t allow this stuff. It’s time for move on, and stop lamenting the move.
It’s the rear-view mirror.
“I was disappointed – I consider Revis a friend since the day I got here, and I watched him grow into what I feel is the best corner in the NFL,” Calvin Pace said on Thursday. “To not have that it was kind of disheartening. We’ll see. I’m not going to sit here and put pressure on Sheldon (Richardson) or anybody else….The jury is out on how our side of the deal worked out.’’
You have to wonder about Pace’s mindset after getting cut in a salary purge, and coming back at lower salary on a one-year deal. He doesn’t seem to be overly-enthused to be back, but the proof will be in the pudding in the games.
And I have a question for Calvin – Yes, the jury is still out on how the Jets’ side faired in the deal, but isn’t it still out on the Tampa Bay side?
Absolutely.
Revis is still rehabbing his knee. It remains to be seen how he will come back, and if he gets back to his previous form.
And honestly, with Antonio Cromartie as the #1 cornerback replacing Revis, and with Dee Milliner, the best corner in the draft, the leading candidate for the #2 job, cornerback might be least of the Jets’ problems.
I’d say quarterback, wide receiver, linebacker and safety are much bigger question marks than corner.
But it’s time for the Jets’ locker room to stop talking about the loss of Revis.
Tell the players to move on, and just talk about their current teammates . . .
Rex Ryan was asked last week if it’s just a two-man quarterback competition between Mark Sanchez and Geno Smtih, and here is what he had to say –
“Again, there’s going to be competition. Each day would vary as far as what you’re putting in. You can probably say the same thing about any other position with a third group. I think the numbers were probably dispersed fairly evenly to that as well.”
What a bunch of gobbly goop. Why can’t this man just us straight answers?
I’m serious. Joe Namath ripped the Jets for a lack of transparency. While I don’t agree with Joe on a number of his comments, he’s has a point here.
Read that answer again. What does it mean?
Here is the answer. Yes, from what I hear, asking around, it’s a two-man quarterback competition. Greg McElroy and Matt Simms aren’t in the sweepstakes.
I think McElroy should be in the competition, but I don’t run the Jets, so I’m not going to beat a dead horse.
It’s down to Sanchez and Smith, and may the best man win.
While Sanchez needs to take a quantum leap from his play of last year to be a viable starter for the Jets, I have to say, if I had to choose between the two, now that McElroy is out, I’d go with Sanchez.
He’s got four years starting experience in the NFL, and not only is Smith a rookie, but a rookie coming out of gimmicky college offense that doesn’t translate to the NFL. Smith needs to be reprogrammed to wean him off his college approach, which won’t work in the NFL. He needs a ton of work on his footwork and his ability to diagnose complex defenses. Kansas State disguised a lot of coverages, and that really messed him up last season.
I think Geno can be pretty good in time, but they have to give him plenty of time – don’t rush him.
And let’s not get too carried away with the “stats” we are seeing coming out of OTA’s. They are virtually meaningless.
There is so much at work here.
First of all, Marty Mornhinweg is putting in a new offense, so there is a tremendous amount of teaching and learning going on. A lot of guys’ minds are spinning. We don’t even know if the receivers, and others, are running the right routes some of the time. There are mistakes being made, and it’s not always the quarterbacks, though it often it looks that way.
Also, there are no sacks, and you can’t touch the quarterback, so when evaluating two quarterbacks with pocket presence concerns in Sanchez and Smith, how can you really evaluate them if they can’t be touched?
To me, OTA’s are like early dress rehearsals for Broadway shows. You rehearse for several months before the show debuts.
And just like Broadway shows, we don’t do reviews early in rehearsals. We really need to stop putting such a bright spotlight on these OTA practices.
It’s basically a class room on the field.
May 31, 2013
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