Content available exclusively for subscribers
Time to clean out the notebook . . .
Jamal Adams made a ton of the plays in coverage during the three-day Jets veteran minicamp.
He looks poised to have a big season.
There are two big reasons for his improvement in coverage.
First off, he’s a lot more comfortable in the Jets’ system going into his second season, so he’s reacting more than thinking.
The second reason is he lost some weight by cutting out fried food, and he looks more mobile . . .
The Jets seem to have big plans for tight end Neal Sterling. There were a lot of plays dialed up for him in the camp, including a bubble screen. The reason I bring up the bubble screen is that play is usually called for fast wide receivers, and this shows you they view Sterling, as a tight end who can really run . . .
On the second day of the minicamp, second-year wide receiver Ar’Darius Stewart had his practice cut short. He only made it through half the practice. The trainers seemed to be working on his foot or ankle. This might be nothing, but it’s certainly something to keep an eye on . . .
The Jets clearly have big plans for rookie defensive lineman Nathan Shepherd who got a lot of first team reps in the minicamp. So whether he’s ready or not, he’s clearly going to be in the defensive line rotation. What I mean by “whether he’s ready or not” is he’s talented, but raw, and needs a lot of work on technique.
You get the sense that even if he’s not where he needs to be technique-wise, they are going to roll with him.
I think they are likely going to platoon Shepherd and Henry Anderson at the end spot opposite Leonard Williams . . .
Juston Burris had some penalty issues in the minicamp. He had these issues last season. He probably should be moved to safety. He lacks the ideal speed and short-area quickness for an NFL corner, and this leads to penalties because he’s sometimes out of position . . .
I don’t want to get too much into longshots because most decisions are made already. This stuff is so political. But a player that caught my eye was linebacker Frankie Luvu. He was signed after a rookie minicamp tryout. He was very active out there, making a few splashy plays. He played his college ball at Washington State, where he was an inside linebacker most of this time there, before me moved outside his senior, where he had his best season. So he might be able to help the Jets coming off the edge . . .
I’m not a big fan of reporters doing QB stats at spring practices. I’ve made this clear on many occasions. But it goes on at team camps all over the country. This is a time for teaching, learning and experimenting, not for stats.
After one New York-area printed minicamp QB stats he compiled, he wrote a caveat – “IMPORTANT TO REMEMBER – No-pads spring practice, folks, so don’t read too much into any of this stuff. Things will really get cranked up once training camp and preseason games roll around.”
One longtime NFL writer responded to this disclaimer by saying, “If we’re not supposed to read much into this, why compile it in the first place?”
Good question.
June 15, 2018
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Monday.