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A few different things to go over . . .
Cornerback Bless Austin looks ready to roll.
A 2019 sixth-round pick from Rutgers, he’s been on the reserve non-football injury list since August 31, 2019. Before that, he didn’t practice in the spring and summer with the Jets since he was coming off a serious knee injury at Rutgers.
But watching him this week, he looks ready to play some football. He’s running full speed, showing good hops jumping up for footballs and playing with no hesitation.
Not sure when he will be activated, but he could really help the Jets. He’s a tall, athletic, fast corner who would have gone a lot higher in the draft if he hadn’t hurt his knee twice at Rutgers. He ran 4.6 at his Pro Day, but he’s faster than that. He wasn’t 100 percent healthy when he ran.
The Jets clearly need another outside corner in the mix, so perhaps this guy can help.
They Jets have 21 days from his first practice to activate him or put him on injured reserve. Not sure when his first official day of practice was, but it was definitely in the last week . . .
Walking back from the media session in the locker room, around 1:20, saw Jets GM Joe Douglas, assistant GM Rex Hogan and trainer John Mellody huddling outside the cafeteria. Wonder what they were talking about – wink, wink.
One of the topics was probably Kelechi Osemele.
Jets are fining him today for an unexcused absence. He’s having surgery in Boston.
This situation is pretty simple – he’s getting surgery on something Douglas, Dr. Ken Montgomery and Mellody have seen players play with.
Not saying they have the same exact injury, but Ryan Kalil and Brian Winters are both playing with shoulder problems right now . . .
Speaking of Dr. Montgomery, I saw him having a long talk with Trenton Cannon on the practice field yesterday. Didn’t see Cannon practicing this week. Perhaps he’s getting close to being shut down. He has an ankle injury . . .
Jets special team’s coach Brant Boyer was on the war path today. He probably set an “F-bomb” record. But the thing about Boyer, when he curses, it’s almost never at an individual, always at the group. He doesn’t make it personal with an individual, but gets his point across, and the individual who might have messed up, hears the message . . .
The Jets know that the Jaguars are going to try to pound them on ground with tailback Leonard Fournette.
I asked Jets promising rookie DE Kyle Phillips, who played in the SEC with Fournette – Phillips at Tennessee and Fournette at LSU – what the key is to dealing with Fournette.
The big takeaway from what Phillips was saying is that you can’t let him get a head of steam.
“You can’t give him space to generate power,” said Phillips. “You have to suffocate him, not give him room to generate momentum.”
And the biggest thing the Jets need to improve with their run defense is setting the edge. Too many runners are getting outside on them. That big no-no when it come to run defense.
“We need to do a better job setting the edge from all positions,” said Phillips . . .
This could be a big game for Le’Veon Bell. While the Jaguars are formidable up front led by DE Calais Campbell, they are ravaged at linebacker, with three players out – Najee Goode, Leon Jacobs and Quincy Williams (Quinnen’s brother). Also run-stuffing DT Marcel Dareus is out with a groin injury. This could be a breakout game for Bell . . .
October 25, 2019
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