Jet Coaches Take Time to Defend Techniques By MICHAEL WEINREB Published: November 3, 2006 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Nov. 2 ? Brian Schottenheimer, the Jets? first-year offensive coordinator, refers to the me-to-you factor, a catch phrase seemingly borrowed from a self-help manual that refers to the on-field chemistry between a quarterback and his receivers. On Thursday, during an uncommon moment for a Jets assistant coach ? a news conference ? Schottenheimer found himself defending the concept in response to criticism from one of his players, wide receiver Laveranues Coles. ?I think it?s the most important thing in the world,? Schottenheimer said. ?When you watch good passing teams, a guy throws it and a guy catches it. When there?s a connection and a confidence in one another, it seems to work out.? Clearly, Coles feels differently. This week, in the wake of a lackluster offensive performance in a 20-13 loss to Cleveland ? a game in which quarterback Chad Pennington went 11 for 28 for 108 yards and threw 2 interceptions ? Coles said the me-to-you factor was being overemphasized by the coaching staff to the point of being counterproductive. It is rare, of course, that Schottenheimer would have a chance to publicly agree or disagree with one of his players, or with anyone else, for that matter. But it just so happened that for the first and only time during the regular season, at the midpoint of a season marked by inconsistency, the Jets (4-4) performed their bye-week ritual of allowing their top assistant coaches to speak to members of the news media. Which, if nothing else, allowed Schottenheimer to defend himself. ?It?s something we believe in,? he said. ?And it?s one of our core values.? Schottenheimer also defended the Jets? constantly evolving situation at running back (he said Leon Washington, Kevan Barlow and Cedric Houston ?each does things well?) and praised the play of Pennington despite his inconsistency. ?Chad?s a very accurate passer,? Schottenheimer said. ?Sometimes, he tends to do too much with his eyes. But it goes back to the me-to-you factor. The passing game?s about one thing ? the quarterback and the people he?s throwing to.? The Jets still appear to be building trust on offense, and the same could be said for the defense, which has made a transition from a 4-3 base set to a 3-4 under the defensive coordinator Bob Sutton. It has not been easy for the top players on the defense, Sutton acknowledged, including linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who has not put up the impressive number of tackles he has in previous seasons. "Obviously, we?re not where we want to be or need to be defensively,? Sutton said. ?Bottom line, you?re really trying to develop in them a trust that this will work.? While both coordinators said they were encouraged by the development on offense and defense, the most effusive praise for a player may have come from the special teams coordinator, Mike Westhoff, referring to punter Ben Graham, an Australian who is in his second season. Graham is averaging 44.9 yards a punt, including 51.3 yards in three punts against Cleveland. ?I?ve had some really good punters in my years as a coach,? said Westhoff, who was the special teams coach for the Miami Dolphins from 1986 to 2000 before joining the Jets. ?Ben is really capable. He?s done a heck of a job adapting to a skill that?s in a lot of ways foreign to him.?
Coles has to learn that christmas is not every week and that bad weeks are going to be followed by better ones , thats up to him. Whilst some of CPs throws were off last week LC said he also could have run his routes better , so I would say this is media hype. I love what Schottie is doing with what he has , although I do agree with one of the hacks when he asked , "isn't the Brad Smith trick play getting a little old?" But overall so far I would grade Schottie as about 'B'.
how can he work on them when they barely use him? if your going to use this guy at multiple positions, then do it. theres no more trickeration when all Smith does is option out to Washington everytime they put him under center. hes got too much upside to not see the field more, and the only way by learning anything is by actually getting game time.
When asked to comment on the article, coach Eric Mangini said " " " " Remarked Offensive Coordinator, Brian Schottenhemer... " " " " Was the terse reply coming from Assistant Head Coach Mike Westhoff...
