TC Report: 8/22 The Last Detail

The Last TC Report of 2007: 8/22

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It was a packed house today, as the Jets had their last open practice of Training Camp 2007 in front of a very youthful crowd. The pre-adolescents were out in full force, keeping their parents plenty busy, and creating minor distractions for TC Freaks like yours truly.

Just as practice began, a helicopter landed nearby, and sure enough, within moments Woody Johnson was on the field, talking with a gentleman guest who appeared to be Omar de la Mets.

Following the usual walkthrus, stretching, and individual unit work, the team went to work on 11s. There were no combine drills today, but there were plenty of 11 on 11 reps, and everyone seemed to get into the action. The team wore shells today. Most players wore shorts, though a few wore sweatpants, including Coles, Pennington and Moore.

On the sidelines today were RB Thomas Jones (right calf), CB Justin Miller (right hamstring), S Eric Smith (right hamstring), CB Andre Dyson (right leg) and G Pete Kendall (right shoulder).

Dyson participated in the stretching and appeared to be badly favoring his leg. He only put about 70% of his weight on his gimpy leg. Eric Smith started light jogging today, and looked to be less uncomfortable than he has been. Jones may have made some improvement as he also did some light, low impact aerobic work during practice. True to his pariah ways, kendall pedaled on a bike that was place 30 feet away from where his other injured teammates were riding. He was pedaling at a leisurely pace, and probably didnt even break a sweat.

Westhoff worked the punt team, and Revis looked good on a PR.

The offense was able to move the ball today, but imo it was due as much to the defense playing loose and porously as anything else. But Pennington did throw at least three 30 yard completions today, including a deep crossing pattern to McCairens that had some zip on it, and Clemens completed a long fade into the left side of the EZ that was good for a TD to 81. 81 had a power play day today, catching passes for good gains from both Clemens and Chad. He had 2 or 3 TDs today. The Cbs had a rough day for the most part, from the starters down to the scrubs.

Leon continues to get the reps as #1 RB, and he continues to look like Leon. Danny Ware looked good today, both on the second team and on the scout team.

Clarke got 2/3 of the reps at LG with the first team and Bender got the rest of them. Ryan looked good blocking when he was kept in next to Brick,,, and 23 and 29 were able to run through holes on that side in that formation.

They ran the reverse with a pitch back to Cotch again, who then threw it downfield, but the D was ready for it and it fell incomplete. The only individual player on defense who made a play today was Ventrone, who made a diving interception of a deflected pass, jumped up and ran it back to inside the five yard line.

Tui and Ratliff split the snaps at scout team QB, and both did nicely.

Revis was kept very busy today, as he was the first team CB with Barrett. They really worked him over, and he got schooled a couple of times by different receivers. It's all part of the learning experience, as this is his first times he is seeing NFL caliber WRs play after play.

Pennington took most of the snaps today, as the CS kept running 11s. If it was any indication, (as reps have generally foreshadowed PT) Pennington will see a lot of action Saturday night. They ran the first O vs the first D, the second O vs the second D, the third vs the third, and the first O vs the scout D, and the scout O vs the first D, too. It was that kind of day.

Rain started falling at about 1:30, but didnt really thin the crowd too much.
By 2:40, I knew I was not going to stand in the rain in the packed bleachers waiting for autographs, so as practice ended, I moseyed over to the grass field under the trees, and took my chances on getting autographs there. However, the only player to walk over there to sign was Mike Haynes (94), so that is the only autograph I got. However, while he was signing, I was able to engage him in a brief question and answer that went like this:

On what he was most looking forward to with the breaKing of TC:

Sleeping in my own bed. Man, I am really looking forward to that.

On what he expects next week during the closed part of tc:

We know it's going to be even harder, more intense.

On signing autographs:

I have become able to sign on just about anything. Caps, napkins, shoes, menus, shirts. Sometimes college kids give me stuff to sign, and I'm like "Man, I cant sign that. What would your parents say?'

On why he was staying out there signing after the other players had left the field:

I like this. i know we will have meetings all day when i get back in there. Then in between we get treatments, lift, study. I know it will be there when I get inside. This is fun.

On what is was like experiencing the first mangini tc:

It's a really long day, with all the meetings and practices. Just a really long day. Out last meeting doesnt start until 9:30. First one is at 7:30 in the morning.

On playing the 3-4:

It's a big adjustment. I never played in a 3-4 before until now. Now i know why the first year in it is so hard. There are a lot of differences.

What is one difference:

A lot of broken fingers. The guys told me about that, and look (hold up hands with taped fingers) I've got 3 or 4 broken fingers right now. I know i broke a couple in the Atlanta game, and a couple more in practice. But they just tape you up and you play.

On the fact that there are a few guys in tc also at his position:

We have some vets here at DE, and because we are experienced, they critique us really hard. Bobby, Kimo, Hicks, they all have a lot of years in the league, so the CS is pretty hard on us in their film critiques.

Well, that's it for now. I'll post my training camp report card either tomite or early tomorrow morning. See ya then.

 

I agree that all the CBs had a rough outing today, as there seemed to be a lot of mid and long completions. I was zeroed in on Revis, even when his action was away from the ball.

I'd rather see Ratliff kept on as the scout QB, but Tui had a couple of nice completions today.

 

Thank you very much!

And thanks to all for the complements, and you're welcome.

 

I think he is on the cusp, and it depends on which direction the CS wants to go in. With Hamilton, Kimo and Hicks they have three guys with 10+ years in the lerague. I think it would be foolish to keep them all. I'd rather have a couple of younger motors on the DL, like Kenyon and Haynes.