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Florham Park – Dan checks in from behind the scenes at Atlantic Health Training Complex and tells you what he’s seeing . . .
At the beginning of practice today, the Jets worked a lot on special teams, specifically the blocking wedge on the kickoff return, which has been very poor this year.
And to make matters worse, they lost perhaps their best blocker from the wedge, Konrad Reuland, for the season, to a knee injury. He was put on IR yesterday.
It looks like Zach Sudfeld is going to replace Reuland in the wedge, where he will team up with Leger Douzable.
Another option they have been toying with is Caleb Schlauderaff.
But the bottom line is the Jets’ blocking in the wedge has been substandard this year, and they need to get it fixed, because they are wasting a great returner in Josh Cribbs.
A guy who is very good in the wedge, and could fix the issue is tight end Jeff Cumberland, but he’s too valuable as the starting tight end, so they don’t want to risk him on special teams . . .
Speaking of tight ends, early in practice, tight end coach Steve Hagen was conducting route-running drills for his group, but Kellen Winslow wasn’t in the session.
He is on his own schedule, and I don’t mean that to be derogatory in any way, but he has his own regimen to get his problematic knee ready for Sunday, and often he’s not on the practice field with his teammates. He’s either in the trainer’s room or weight room . . .
Jeremy Kerley is practicing on a limited basis with his hyper-extended left elbow. He has a massive brace on his injured elbow, and has been catching passes in practice just with his right hand. Also, he takes his helmet on and off with this right hand.
I could be wrong, but he seems like another week away.
We saw last week the impact of receivers with world class speed can have on a game, with the play of Marquise Goodwin and T.J. Graham in Buffalo.
The Jets have a player on their practice squad with 4.2 speed – Salim Hakim.
Expect him to be promoted any time soon.
One reason for the delay is a lack of roster positions since John Idzik is burning two spots on the 53-man roster for a couple of developmental offensive linemen.
But at some point, expect Hakim to be on the roster, and when he is promoted, he will instantly become one of the fastest players in Jets history . . .
Expect a big role for Greg Salas this week in the passing offense. The guy has great hands, and catches everything thrown his way in practice. He had a terrific one-handed grab from Matt Simms in Buffalo. He makes a lot of one-handed catches in practice as well . . .
Joe Flacco isn’t a quarterback who scares the Jets’ defensive coaches.
I know that for a fact because one of them told me that last year.
They feel like they have defenses that can handle him. They just have to do a much better job on the deep ball than last week.
And you know with two former Ravens at safety – Dawan Landry and Ed Reed – they have a pair of defensive backs who have a great feel for Flacco, having practiced against him myriad times . . .
The Jets locker room was empty on Wednesday during the media’s 45 minutes in the locker room, and even always cooperative Nick Mangold refused to talk.
There is definitely a frosty relationship between most players and the media this year, and the Dave and Buster’s story didn’t help matters.
A number of players believe there are some trouble-makers in the beat corps that are always looking to stir things up, and they are tired of it . . .
November 21, 2013
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