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There is no way around this, what Santonio Holmes did in practice wasn’t a good thing.
I remember when Bill Parcells would say about certain problematic players – “It’s always something with this guy.”
With Holmes, it’s just one thing after the other.
I noticed that long-time Pittsburgh Steelers beat writer Ed Bouchette (Pittsburgh Post-Gazette), was re-tweeting some of the accounts of Holmes’ actions from Florham Park on Thursday.
The reason I bring that up is that people in Pittsburgh are getting the last laugh. The Rooney Family and GM Kevin Colbert are looking pretty smart right for now shipping Holmes out of town. They took some heat at the time, trading a very talented player. Now the move looks sound.
And what Holmes did, pulling himself out of practice, sent such a bad message to the young players on the team.
Do you really want these guys working with young receivers at Jets West?
Most players want more reps – they don’t want to come off the field.
You see Jeremy Kerley busting us butt long after practices, on the field, trying to hone his skills.
The best way to spin this would have been say Holmes didn’t want to pull a hamstring, and he felt that coming. After all he was talking to trainer John “Unchained” Mellody following him asking off the field. Holmes has had hammy issues in the past.
The way it came out was just awful – another black mark on Holmes’ long list of unfortunate events.
This kind of reminds me of when Holmes told the coaches he didn’t want to return punts a couple of years ago. How many players tell their coaches, “I don’t want to practice, I don’t want to return punts.” It doesn’t display a great attitude.
It makes him look bad again. This guy’s Q rating has just hit rock bottom.
But you know what, with all the money the Jets owe him, he knows he’s beyond reproach, and there is little they can do to him.
And his whole football life, from Belle Glade to Ohio State to Pittsburgh to the Jets, he has been extended more life lines than most players.
This idea that one week in Germany led him to lose some of the conditioning he had done this off-season in Orlando, and then with the Jets, is hard to believe.
I’m not John Lott, but do you really think that one week away from the gym is going to make you lose months of diligent training?
I think this ran deeper than conditioning. Holmes missed some important days of system installation, while overseas, so he wasn’t exactly on top of plays in Thursday’s practice. There was another case Thursday where Sanchez threw to one spot, and Holmes ran to another.
The Jets probably should have moved on from this player after last season, and taken the cap hit.
But now, they owe him a fortune the next two years, so he’s not going anywhere, unless he fails another test (and I wouldn’t wish that on anymore).
So they have to make the best of this, which won’t be easy.
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