Running Game for Jets Has to Get Up to Speed By KAREN CROUSE Published: September 12, 2006 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Sept. 11 ? The Jets? running game will lag behind until Kevan Barlow can catch up. That was obvious after Barlow, who joined the team during the last week of training camp, was limited to 11 carries and the Jets were held to 91 yards rushing in a 23-16 victory Sunday at Tennessee. Barlow, who ran for 35 yards, including a 1-yard touchdown in the second quarter, knows his speed in learning the playbook is more important now than how fast he can explode through a hole. The no-huddle offense the Jets used was almost as challenging to Barlow as it was to the Titans? defense. He ended up relying on quarterback Chad Pennington to point him in the right direction on a few plays. ?When I get kind of puzzled a little bit, Chad does a really good job of getting me lined up,? Barlow said. ?I just want to get to a point where I know the calls and don?t have to think about it.? Barlow said he had just become fully versed in the new offense that the San Francisco 49ers installed during training camp when he was traded to the Jets on Aug. 20. ?It?s frustrating,? he said, ?because I want to compete to my full abilities and go out there and be able to play fast without thinking.? In San Francisco, Barlow often spoke without thinking, and that is why he sometimes had a strained relationship with his offensive line and fullback Fred Beasley during his five years there. Between meetings Monday, Barlow sought out Pennington. When he caught up to him, Barlow said he wished he had the playbook down pat because he aspired to be the workhorse that the injured Curtis Martin was for the Jets during the previous eight seasons. The direction the conversation took after that says a lot about the drive of Pennington and Barlow. Pennington suggested that they meet at the Jets? practice facility Tuesday, a day off for the players. ?We can get in a good hour of studying,? Pennington told Barlow, who replied that any time would be fine since he would be at the facility all day studying on his own and with the running backs coach, Jimmy Raye. While the N.F.L. is sleeping Tuesday, Barlow will head to the Jets? facility before 7 a.m. He planned to stay there until at least 6 p.m. and do whatever it takes to get in sync with his new teammates. ?I?ll be here all day, so hopefully, I?ll be able to answer the questions that Coach Mangini throws at me,? Barlow said. Eric Mangini?s penchant for quizzing his players during meetings made Barlow feel like a high school senior thrown into an upper-division college class. ?You know, basically I came in here two weeks before the season started and these guys have been here since March learning this whole offense,? Barlow said. ?So I?ve got to try to absorb as much as I can to get out there and compete so I can help the team.? from the end zone to the sideline and gave the ball to Mangini. ?You should have this,? Barlow said. Mangini has liked other things Barlow has done since joining the Jets. ?The most encouraging thing to me about Kevan is how he?s making progress each week, how aggressively he?s approaching the learning and getting to know his teammates and coaches,? Mangini said. ?I felt like going into the game we did have quite a bit of exposure to the things that he could do, strengths and things like that. Now with another week under his belt, I think he?ll continue to improve.? EXTRA POINTS Will the Jets look to reinforce their kicking game after Mike Nugent missed field goals of 34 and 30 yards and an extra point Sunday? Eric Mangini said Monday that he and General Manager Mike Tannenbaum ?will get together tonight just like every night. We?ll go through the game and the performances across the board, look at what?s out there in terms of opportunities. I don?t mean that exclusively in that one area.? ... Chad Pennington threw for 319 yards, but it was a pass that did not count that impressed Mangini the most. In the second quarter, Pennington noticed that the Titans had only 10 men on the field, so he quickly gathered his offense at the line and threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to JUSTIN McCAREINS, who was uncovered. The play did not count because Titans Coach Jeff Fisher called a timeout a split-second earlier. ?To me, that?s Chad,? Mangini said. ?That?s really smart, sound, disciplined, aware football. He made a lot of plays like that throughout the game.?
Why did it seem like there was no media awareness to Pennington, the QB stories were more about Mcnabb lighting up an ever worse Texans secondary than the Titans, or Bledsoe, Favre, and Plummer being the true Bledsoe, Favre, and Plummer.
Good to see Barlow is displaying a good attitude. Maybe he's matured from his days in San Fran..we shall see..
maybe mike nolan is just an idiot, it isnt always the players fault ill judge barlow on what he does here
Hey, there's a lot of young and immature guys in the league getting mega bucks. We have to expect that sometimes guys will act like fools. When Barlow got here, he said something stupid about his former team. Hopefully, Mangini got a hold of him and set him right. If that article is right, Barlow is maturing fast. And that's great for us.
I would like to believe that. It certainly seems like his attitude is positive, and willingness to learn. Like I've said before, he has been a feature back in this league, regardless of his underachievment in SF.
behind a line that hasn't been good in several years...if our line gets run blocking down pat, we'll see
He ran pretty well against a tough run defense in a game we run blocked averagely running for 35 yards on 11 carries. I think with more time he will receive more carries.
His attitude has been better because i'm sure C-Mart has been mentoring him a bit. I'm sure Barlow is learning alot from Curtis especially both being Pitt alums.
Well that article seems to explain why he hasn't had as many carries as some of us would like to have seen. He just doesn't know all the plays yet. It's a lot of work for Penny to have to line him up, especially when he is busy making audibles at the line. Hopefully they can get some god work in today, and Barlow can be ready for Sunday. To have any chance against the Pats, we need a RB who is going to get a lot of yards on the ground.
Way to go, Chaddie -- being a leader on your day off. Hope we'll see some fruit from this study time against the Pats.
