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Florham Park – The Jets opened up their three-day mandatory minicamp Tuesday, so it’s time for some more practice notes. Let’s get right to it. . .
Defensive end Muhammad Wilkerson, who skipped all voluntary workouts during the offseason program while lookign for a new contract, made his first appearance at practice. He said the turf toe injury he suffered last season is still causing him some discomfort, but it did not appear that way during team drills.
Wilkerson was able to get pressure on the quarterbacks and also showed off his high motor by chasing wide receivers and running backs down field. He got the pressure on Ryan Fitzpatrick’s red zone interception by Jaiquawn Jarrett. . .
Aside from a poorly thrown pass that was intercepted, Bryce Petty had a solid afternoon. The most impressive aspect of Petty’s performance Tuesday was the use of his legs.
He had a solid gain on a read-option play during team drills. He had a nice throw on the run to wide receiver Shaq Evans. And he also had a terrific run for a touchdown after his protection broke down around him during a red zone drill. . .
How does Todd Bowles’ 3-4 defense compare to Rex Ryan’s 3-4 defense? Not all 3-4 fronts are the same.
“It’s different from Rex’s defense in the terminology more than anything,” said defensive end Leger Douzable said. “But it hasn’t been hard to learn the playbook. . . .You can tell on defense we’re not just going to sit back and see what the quarterback is going to do. We’re going to get after him a little bit. I think that’s the main thing between Bowles and Rex: Both guys were aggressive defensive coordinators in terms of calling plays.” . . .
There’s been concern over the Jets’ lack of speed out of the backfield. Stevan Ridley only participated in individual drills, but made some nice moves at the second-level of the defense. No move was prettier than a head fake from Bilal Powell that turned around cornerback Dexter McDougle.
Daryl Richardson continued to look impressive during his time in the backfield, breaking a number of long runs through the defense. He’s the Jets’ fastest back . . .
With tight ends Jace Amaro and Wes Saxon spending most of the practice in the rehab area, Zach Sudfeld, Jeff Cumberland and Kellen Davis received plenty of work. None looked overly-impressive with extra reps. Kellen Davis also had three passes either bounce off his hands or knocked away from his grip. He had issues with his hands in Chicago, and that contributed to the Bears moving on from him . . .
Offensive lineman Brent Qvale (6-7, 315 pounds) is listed as a tackle, but played a majority of the afternoon as the first-team right guard. Qvale held his own against the first team defensive line.
The former undrafted free agent out of Nebraska spent the entirety of the 2014 season on the practice squad. He could provide some depth at offensive line if he’s able to keep up once the pads come on.
With Qvale now playing some guard, there is a major traffic jam at the position with the likes of Brian Winters, Dakota Dozier, Oday Aboushi, James Brewer, Dustin Freeman, Marcus Harrison, Willie Colon and the list goes on.
June 9, 2015
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