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Some throws are so good, that you can’t even blame the defender for giving up the reception. There were two of those by Aaron Rodgers in a short period in practice today.
First, he hit Breece Hall on an out route with linebacker Quincy Williams in extremely tight coverage.
Then he threw a pass down the sideline to Tyler Conklin, with Isaiah Oliver right in the tight end’s hip pocket, but the pass was thrown so perfectly, there wasn’t much the safety could do.
This kind of quarterbacking requires throwing with anticipation and accuracy, and Rodgers is still good at both.
Not to pick on the Jets’ last two first-round quarterbacks who gave it their best shot, but they would usually need to see a receiver open and then fire a rocket, sometimes a little late. This is what most young quarterbacks so. You will see a lot of this from the prized rookie QB class this year.
Rodgers makes early smart decisions, like on these two plays, which leads to a lot more completions than incompletions.
His timing on throws is impeccable.
“He sees the game way ahead of schedule,” said veteran offensive tackle Morgan Moses after practice . . .
There was a play today where you saw the impact that Javon Kinlaw can have on the Jets defense.
The 6-5, 330-pound Kinlaw overwhelmed guard Wes Schweitzer drawing a holding call (there was no flag because there are no refs yet, so I’m calling it), and due to the defensive tackle’s great size and brute strength, even while holding, the offensive lineman went tumbling to the ground.
Schweitzer is one of those overachieving linemen, like Greg Van Roten, who doesn’t have great athletic ability or natural size, and gets by with brains and wonderful technique, but sometimes when they face a huge athletic freak like this, who gets the leverage off the snap, there is nothing they can do, and that is what happened here.
Based on the Jets’ run defense up the middle the last few years, how badly did they need a guy like this? Real bad . . .
There has been a lot of talk early in camp about the issues Joe Tippmann is having occasionally with high shotgun snaps, but there have been some snapping issues with a backup unit on the field.
The Jets have a rookie free agent interior lineman named Brady Latham.
He was a guard at Arkansas that the Jets are trying at center.
The other day, I did mention that he looked pretty good blocking on some plays.
However, as he learns to play center, there have been a few botched snaps. They are with the QB under center, not in shotgun. Today, there was a failed exchange from Latham to QB Adrian Martinez.
After the play, Martinez was seen calmly talking to Latham explaining where he’s prefer the ball.
These snapping issues at camp, from time to time, hurt the reps for the offense and the defense.
Latham’s snapping issues are understandable. He’s been playing center for only a couple weeks. I’m just pointing out that these issues, whether it’s with the first or third team, aren’t ideal for the offensive AND defensive reps when a play goes off the rails before it even starts . . .
Something we have heard for years from NFL teams is they are sometimes hesitant to play rookie running backs a lot, not because of their running skills, but their blocking.
There was a play today that might have been an example of this.
Safety Ashtyn Davis blitzed up the middle, wasn’t picked up, and he “sacked” Tyrod Taylor. You can’t tackle the quarterback in camp, so when a player gets right in the QB’s face, you can call that a “sack” in camp.
There was a rookie RB on the field this play.
I can’t say for sure it was the rookie RB’s fault without knowing the playbook, but nobody picked up the blitzing safety.
So this might have been an example of a rookie RB still learning the whys and wherefores of blitz pickup. . .
The Jets had five free agent tryouts on a distant field today while practice was going on . . .
August 2, 2024
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