Jets’ Nelson was ‘quarantined’ after Haiti mosquito bite http://nypost.com/2014/06/06/jets-nelson-was-quarantined-after-haiti-mosquito-bite/ By Brian Costello June 6, 2014 | 4:22pm Jets wide receiver David Nelson missed the first week of OTAs with what coach Rex Ryan said was an “illness.” But Nelson didn’t just have the sniffles. Nelson said this week he had “a bug” that he picked up when he was bit by a mosquito in Haiti doing charity work. Nelson had a 104-degree fever and strep throat. The Jets told him to stay away and get better. “I was quarantined,” Nelson said. He returned this week to practice and got to see the Jets’ new-look receiving corps. Nelson was signed during the season last year and played well during the final few months. Now, he is in the mix for the No. 2 receiver job. Nelson believes the Jets have receivers with different skillsets who can complement one another. “We’ve got a really dynamic group,” Nelson said. “We’ve got guys who can do a little bit of everything. We’ve got some short, really fast guys, some short jukey guys, some tall, athletic guys that can stretch the field. We’ve got some possession guys. You name it as far as receiver we have it in that room. Now, the next step is to get everybody to play at that maximum ability and keep everybody healthy.” Health has been a big issue for the Jets receivers over the past two seasons. Nelson was signed after Santonio Holmes went down with a hamstring injury last year. Nelson said if the wideouts stay out of the trainer’s room, the group can help the Jets win. “I think we have what we need for this team in that [receivers] room if we can keep everybody healthy,” Nelson said. ---------------- Nelson was not the only Jet making his OTA debut this week. Rookie Calvin Pryor took the field for the first time Wednesday after having three wisdom teeth removed last Friday. The Jets kept him out of practice until he had the teeth removed. The Jets coaches did not ease him into things. He was playing with the first-team defense on Wednesday. “They’re throwing everything at me. I’m running with the 1s right now,” Pryor said. “It’s important that I learn my playbook and know the system. I feel like I’ve been doing a smooth job.” Pryor said the biggest difference from the defense in college at Louisville and the Jets’ system is terminology. He said schematically they are very similar. “It’s a little more aggressive, but it falls into the same category,” Pryor said. Jets coach Rex Ryan said he put Pryor with the first team to see how he would handle it and to force him and safety Antonio Allen to communicate more. “We expect this young man is going to contribute and (in) a big way for us,” Ryan said. “There’s no doubt. We talk about the competition, but I think there’s different forms of it. We’ve been on this Mike Vick thing and Geno (Smith) and nobody can figure it out. But, we’ve got it figured, it’s just that things are different. Like Dawan Landry. Dawan Landry is running with the 3s today. Well, he’s not that. Twos, 3s, whatever. But, I know he knows what to do. “I’ve got to get these other two to work together and communicate together. So, that’s why you throw him out there. You leave him out there with the ones and let’s see what happens. Make him communicate with the other guys that are working. And we’ll see how it goes. But, I think that’s good and I think it’s good that Double A (Antonio Allen) is out there too. We know he needs to step up and communicate better, so we’re putting him in that situation. Because who’s the rookie going to lean on? He’s going to look over at his partner. And if Landry is out there, you have a tendency to just let him run everything. So, as we call him, Tom. I think that’s kind of why we do that.” ------------------- New cornerback Dimitri Patterson did not lack confidence when he spoke about his skills this week, but he gave an interesting, and very honest, answer when asked if the Jets secondary was better than it was last year when the deep ball was a huge problem. “The thing is, this early, I always tell people, it’s about September,” Patterson said. “We can talk all day, we have to go out and prove it. You can say we have this guy, we have yada, yada, yada, but it means nothing. “We have to go out and prove that we are better than we were last year, and we won’t know until Oakland. Then Chicago, then Miami. That’s really where the truth comes out. Do I think that we have guys to go out there and be extremely competitive? No doubt about it. But we don’t truly know that until we get under the lights. We don’t know, so we’ll see.” ---------------------- Three players fighting for their spots on the Jets roster saw considerable time on special teams this week, a good sign that the coaches like them: LB Jeremiah George, LB A.J. Edds and S Brandon Hardin.
OneJetAtATime.com @OneJetAtATime 1h The Jets had a little fun with David Nelson in his return from being 'quarantined.' #nyj pic.twitter.com/BxhBILs6Ff
