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Florham Park – It’s time for a heaping helping of Jets Whispers from One Jets Drive in Florham Park. Let’s get things started . . .
The big news of the day was rather big in size, was the Jets signing Daniel Muir to their 53-man roster on Wednesday.
Formerly with the Packers and the Colts, Muir is a big-bodied 6’3, 322 lb. nose tackle who should help fill the role of Kenrick Ellis who is down with a MCL injury.
Muir is a space eater and a prototypical fit in the center of the 3-4, a run-stopper who won’t generate much of a pass rush. Per a source from Indianapolis, he is seen as an ideal complement in the rotation to support Sione Pouha, who has been battling a lower back injury this season.
Muir said that he worked out for Denver, Miami, Detroit and Houston before signing with the Jets. His workout with the team was on Tuesday. In drills, Muir showed tremendous upper body strength but has limitations in terms of use of his lower body, which is rail thin compared to his upper body. Perhaps this is a reason why he his hips appear to be so tight because they support so much of his frame.
The open roster slot to sign Muir was created by the loss of linebacker Josh Mauga, who was placed on injured reserve with a pectoral injury. Mauga played in some packages for the Jets and was a part of the special teams unit.
Beyond Ellis, who doesn’t appear likely for Sunday against the Colts, there is a return to health for a number of players. The aforementioned Pouha was on the field and practicing, a good sign that he will return to the field after missing Monday night. In addition tight end Dustin Keller did some drills with the team and was listed by head coach Rex Ryan as “limited” but he told reporters that he felt he was ready to play on Sunday.
Fullback John Conner and safety LaRon Landry rode the stationary bicycle, as did center Nick Mangold. Conner continues to be plagued with a hamstring injury after battling a knee injury earlier in the season.
“Knee is great, hamstring is the problem right now,” Conner told Jets Confidential. “This week I did notice the hamstring feeling better though.”
Stephen Hill participated in agility and footwork drills and Bryan Thomas worked out his nagging hamstring injury with the foam roll. Thomas, who sat out parts of the game on Monday, told Jets Confidential that against the Texans it just “tightened up.”
Linebacker Aaron Maybin’s MRI on his right middle finger came back and showed no break or sprain from a second quarter bang-up. “It was dislocated and I put it back in place myself,” he said to Jets Confidential.
The clamor for a solution to ail the struggling ground game could fall in part on Jonathan Grimes. Signed from the Texans practice squad, the rookie Grimes has yet to register a single carry in a game this season. Taking some snaps on Wednesday, he did show a good explosion from the backfield and has a good pad level when he hits the line.
An awful lot of attention today was focused by the media on the red herring that is Tim Tebow.
After Monday night’s game, Mark Sanchez didn’t do enough to quiet the critics. However, he didn’t do so bad of a job as to suddenly be embroiled in a quarterback controversy based off that performance alone.
Ryan bristled during the press conference when asked about benching Sanchez, but the most telling aspect of the day came from Colts interim head coach Bruce Arians.
When asked about the differences between Sanchez and Tebow, Arians responded that to stop Sanchez you have to “more than anything, you have to stop Shonn Greene.” In other words, Sanchez can’t and won’t beat you by himself; simply if you can stop the ground game, you can stop the Jets quarterback.
Perhaps the reason why the Jets have the No. 28 passing offense in the league is because they have the No. 22 rushing offense, a ground game that could be worse were it not for Tebow and the Wildcat package. By stopping the Jets running backs, the offense is then forced to rely on Sanchez who hasn’t proven yet that he’s the caliber of quarterback who can do anything more than manage games.
Kristian R. Dyer covers the Jets for Metro New York as well as Jets Confidential and can be followed for practice updates and news
October 10, 2012
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