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New Jersey – A few things to get into today in “Website Whispers,” including a look at some unsung players the Jets could use who are dealing with health issues . . .
Chris Owusu was in uniform today, but didn’t participate in the first part of practice, which was all special teams.
He’s a core special team’s player, so the fact that he wasn’t involved in this aspect of practice speaks volumes.
He seems to be another week away as he recovers from a knee scope.
It’s interesting. He was a long shot to make the team this summer, and now he’s really missed.
He’s missed as a third receiver, he’s missed as a kick returner and he’s missed as a kick/punt cover guy.
He’s a better #3 receiver, right now, than Devin Smith. Not only is he faster than Smith, Owusu is much stronger and can go up and win 50-50 balls. Smith can’t do that now.
Smith isn’t getting separation deep so far, and struggles on 50-50 balls. Considering they keep throwing deep to him, resulting in two picks, and there should have been a third pick on a deep pass to Smith against Philly, but two defensive backs collided, this is a problem.
I’m not writing off Smith. No way. He can be excellent in time, but Owusu is better now, and I think we have seen that over the last few games.
Man does Smith need to get stronger. He’s got almost no muscle mass right now. An entire NFL off-season conditioning program will do wonders for the kid . . .
The Jets did a lot of work on kick coverage today.
Bobby April said during a drill, “This is more of a mental exercise than a physical one.”
In other words, don’t hit your teammates.
Once again, like I said yesterday, it’s hard to fix tackling issues when you can barely touch people in practice. Not the Jets’ fault because those on the CBA rules, but something to keep in mind when you see tackling issues in games . . .
I saw Calvin Pace working on a distant field by himself on pass rush moves on a tackling dummy.
He needs to get going.
When you have the interior talent the Jets have on the defensive line, like Mo Wilkerson and Leonard Williams wrecking havoc, that should open amazing pass rush opportunities for the Jets’ edge pass rushers.
So it’s time for Pace, Quinton Coples and Lorenzo Mauldin to start making some noise.
When guys inside are constantly drawing double-teams, the landscape is set-up for the Jets’ outside linebackers to get to the quarterback . . .
It looks like Marcus Williams is a long shot to play in this game due to a hamstring injury.
He didn’t practice today or yesterday.
I asked him today when in the last game the injury occurred, considering he had that amazing pick at the end, and clearly looked fine in London.
He said he didn’t feel it in the last game. He started to feeling it during the bye-week, and he told the coaches, and they shut him down before it got worse.
This injury not only hurts the Jets in passing situations when the Jets’ use four corners, but also on special teams. I hate to belabor the punt coverage issue, but Williams was actually one of the few guys doing a decent job in this area, and now he might not play, so that can’t help this problematic area.
This guy is a good football player, and they will miss him if he can’t play.
Getting Darrin Walls back this week should help them . .
October 15, 2015
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