Without safety Jim Leonhard, David Harris will get defensive calls for New York Jets The Jets' defense had communication problems last week against the Jaguars - and that was with S Jim Leonhard, the "quarterback" of the unit. Leonhard (thumb surgery) isn't expected to play Sunday at the Patriots, so it could be an issue again. LB David Harris will wear the helmet headset instead of Leonhard, receiving the calls from the sideline. The Jets also tweaked their communication system, hoping to alleviate confusion with regards to substitution. It burned them against the Jaguars, as they had to waste a timeout because of too many men on the field. The Jets have incurred three penalties for 12 men. The substitutions now will be handled by new defensive-line coaches Jeff Weeks and Chuck Smith. They will replace Kerry Locklin, who was fired on Monday. Rex Ryan never gave a specific reason for making the change, but it's believed that Locklin was responsible for the substitution confusion. "We've got to be better," Ryan said yesterday. "I think our signals are going to be better. Our communication from coach to player and player to player, we've got some things we really looked at and I think it will help us so we don't end up with 12 on the field." The Patriots are known for confusing defenses by changing personnel packages. "They'll do it just to embarrass you," Ryan said. S Eric Smith is expected to start for Leonhard, who still hasn't been officially ruled out. NO REPLY: The Darrelle Revis-Randy Moss controversy lingers. The Patriots, echoing what Moss said after the first meeting, continue to insist that Revis had safety help when he held Moss to four catches for 24yards. Revis claimed that wasn't the case, that it was man-to-man coverage. He became agitated when pressed on the subject during a conference call with the Boston media. Told that Bill Belichick said yesterday that Revis had "help over the top," Revis replied, "I don't believe that statement, so that question is dead from now on. I'm not going to just keep answering the question." HANGFIRE: Ryan on Belichick's infamous fourth-down gamble against the Colts: "If I had made that decision, and it wouldn't have worked, I'd be hanging from the Empire State Building."
I'm surprised Harris is doing that... I thought Scott would. Guess he is responsable for the thrash talking section
This doesn't concern me a whole lot. Smith has had a very good season and I feel like he has always been a bit underrated on this team. Obviously the loss hurts but I think the biggest problem will be finding somebody to fill the role Smith had before the Leonhard injury. Smith was doing a little bit of everything before the Leonhard injury and we are going to need somebody to fill that role.
Leonhards a beast, i was hoping he would start despite the injury but this is safer and hopefully he gets better. Smith was playing good at the beginning of the season so i have faith in him.
I'm less worried about Harris than I am about Eric Smith. Smith has been flourishing as a role-playing hybrid in support for special packages. We've seen his ability as a straight up deep safety and it is not good.
Yes, and Leon Washington was making twice the impact plays last season with half the touches he had this season. Smith is a very good situational player, but he's never been a dependable true safety.
Never said he was dependable. It's just more hate for Kerry Rhodes; I'm still pissed about the completion to Marcedes Lewis.
Rhodes will play single high all day. Smith does very well at covering RBs and TEs. But he is a liability in deep coverage. This won't be easy for the defense come sunday.
Right, and there is a significant dropoff in his stats between when he isn't making the playcalls and when he is, hence my justified concern.
he was hurt last year. i think he'll do fine calling plays. I'm intrigued that Scott isn't calling them... he's been in the offense longer.
Yeah but in the same number of games last vs. this, the number difference is huge. I don't expect a big difference in his play in this, his third year, but we need every edge we can get at this point. I would have thought Scott would be the man on that one too, though it's his defensive experience that warrants it:smile:
At least we've got Sheppard and Strickland back on the field. Having to replace Smith's role in sub packages without Strickland would've been a nightmare. Leonhard's a great player, but the way Strickland and Sheppard both played in that first Patriots game gives me confidence we won't have a letdown in the secondary. And fyi, as regards the original report here, it doesn't seem to be any actual news. Whenever a beat writer says 'its expected' so-and-so will happen, it just means its their interpretation of events, what they expect. If there was any sort of a source, even anonymous, to back it up, you can bet the reporter would've said so. Last news from the team was that Leonhard's a tough son-of-a-B and he's hoping to play still, so we can hope (although if he's playing he's doing it with a cast on his hand, so if he can come up with a turnover anywhere, I'll be absolutely blown away).
Eric Smith had a big game against the Pats earlier in the year.. I don't think we'll miss too much with him in the lineup.
