E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

Rich posted a question asking me to describe what practices are like during a typical game week. Without being cynical or jaded, let me say this: I wish I knew too.

The media is given a half-hour glimpse into team practice, usually the first 30 minutes of the workout. By the time we get out on the field, the team is finishing some position work when an air-horn blows and everyone chugs to one sideline of the practice field. The ubiquitous speakers bellow a taped recording of the “J-E-T-S, JETS JETS JETS!” chant as the players do a warm-up jog across the field and back. Then they fall into formation for stretching, during which Mangini plays the music of the week. This week, the theme has been cowboy tunes based on the Colts. In the past he’s played “Don’t Believe the Hype” before the Patriots game – which either referred to his relationship with Bilichick or the Jets’ 1-0 start – and some crazy Buffalo-version of “Shout!”

The team stretches for about 10 minutes, so we stand there and watch. Then the team usually breaks into special teams work as Ben Graham boots a half-dozen or more punts and Mike Westhoff directs the traffic on the return and the coverage. All set to “Land Down Under” by Men At Work and “Benny and the Jets” by Elton John, tributes to Graham and his Aussie heritage.

After that, the team splits into offense and defense and runs a few basic plays or coverages against, well, no one. No scout teams at this point, just literally going through the motions. It’s usually about this point that the media is led away and our access to the team for the day comes to an end. Then I come back into the press room and blog.

Hope this helps, Rich, but I doubt it will.

By Tom Rock

Peyton Manning has shown up at Jets practice the last few days.

No, not really. I’m sure he’s busy either practicing with the Colts or filming another TV commercial. But there was a quarterback wearing No. 18 this week who did a semi-respectable job acting like the part-time actor. Jets third-stringer Kellen Clemens (remember him?) has been donning the jersey and pointing at defenses and firing passes just like Manning does.

“He does a lot of checks at the line and has a lot of control out there,” Clemens said of capturing the essence of Manning. “It’s a lot of fun.”

He’s not quite Jaime Foxx as Ray Charles, or Joaquin Phoenix as Johnny Cash, but Clemens is doing alright in this latest biopic. Unfortunately his run ends when the real game begins. But Clemens said playing pretend is helping him advance his own career – and not only as a thespian. He said it allows him top see what other starting quarterbacks see, and all of it gets filed away for the day when Clemens will be a starter either here or somewhere else. Then it’ll be someone else’s turn to emulate him.

New FB James Hodgins held court with reporters today, saying he dropped 11 pounds in a week to meet the Jets’ starndards. He said he did it through working out and not eating, admitting it was not a very healthy combination. But it worked and he’s here now. Mangini said someone who was scouting Hodgins said he’s the type of player who “makes linebackers quit.” Ouch. Maybe a little bone-crushing is what the Jets need to get their running game on track.

The Colts are an 8 ½ point favorite this week. Randy Lange, the Czar of Stats here in the press room, said the last time the Jets were this big an underdog at home was when they faced the Dolphins in 1995 and were getting 10 points. The Jets not only covered but won that game, so history shows it can be done. It’ll be difficult to pull out such a victory this time, but covering wouldn’t be the strangest thing. Especially if it rains on Sunday, as was an early prediction last I checked. A soggy field could turn it into a ground game, which would not necessarily benefit the Jets on either side of the ball but it would at least keep the scoring down. Still, I think I’ll take the Colts. The Jets have a much better chance of stealing a victory with a quirky TD on defense or special teams next week in Jacksonville than they do of going stride for stride with the Colts.

By Tom Rock

What a crazy week for football, especially with things that have nothing to do with football. Between ruptured spleens, reported suicide attempts (which are becoming more and more shaky as the day passes) and returns to Superdomes, you didn’t have to watch a game to be enthralled by the action.

Not that there is much in the way of drama around here. The Jets are preparing for the Colts on Sunday. The Jets are in the odd position of facing a team that has a better record in its home stadium than the Jets do. Both sides are trying hard to play down the mismatch angle to this contest, with the Jets slyly confident of Mangini’s schemes against Peyton Manning and Colts coach Tony Dungy telling his team that they should approach this contest as if they are playing the first-place team in the AFC East (because, well, they are).

A bit of a roster shakeup. The Jets cut Norm Katnik, who did a decent job against the Bills on Sunday replacing Pete Kendall at left guard. To me the move says more about Kendall’s condition than Katnik’s performance. The Jets have a slew of back-up offensive linemen with Adrian Jones, Wade Smith and Trey Teague. Katnik’s departure is surely just a “numbers” matter since the Jets signed a fullback and two linebackers.

Every week the practice music has a theme, and this time it was clearly focused on the Colts and their wild west heritage. Not only did the Jets play the theme from “Rawhide” and “Back in the Saddle Again,” but they also played the theme from “Blazing Saddles.” Expect the same playlist the next time the Jets face the Cowboys.

As Mangini says at the top of his press conferences, just a little housekeeping to take care of. I’ll try to answer as many questions as I can. The Jets haven’t shown much of the 4-3 defense this season, stubbornly sticking to the 3-4 despite some pretty poor play against the run. I have nothing to base this on, but I wouldn’t be surprised if Mangini throws a little 4-3 at Peyton this week just to keep him on his toes. Mangini has repeatedly called Manning “smart” and “intelligent” so there is no doubt Mangini wants to challenge that and turn the contest into a cerebral showdown. As for Curtis Martin’s return, there has been little buzz about him in Jetsland, though he is still rehabbing that knee. He is required to sit out the next two games and would, conceivably, be able to practice with the team on Oct. 16. Whether or not that happens, well, we’ll have to wait and see.

By Tom Rock

What an odd game. It just goes to show that the old axiom is correct – the most important stat in football is turnovers. The bills made three of them, the Jets none, and the team that stacked up tremendous offensive numbers wound up losing.

Some random next-day thoughts:

The more I think about the Bobby Hamilton play on J.P. Losman’s naked bootleg, the more impressed I am. The locker room opens in a little while, so I’ll have to ask him if he was disciplined enough to keep his containment and stand his ground on the weak side or if he was just trailing the play and not fast enough to catch up to it, leaving him in solid position to make the tackle. I’m sure it was a little of both.

Kerry Rhodes made a comment that Losman looked like Jim Kelly on Sunday. Wait’ll he gets a load of the guy they face this Sunday. If P.Manning was able to pick his way through the Jags’ secondary, imagine what he can do against the Jets. Gulp! I haven’t checked but the early spread is probably about two TDs. Think the Jets will send Rhodes on blitzes against the Colts? The Colts can only hope.

Cedric Houston was activated for the game, but he probably wouldn’t have played had Kevan Barlow not hurt himself on the final scoring drive. Houston got a pair of carries, including one for a 5-yard TD. I liked the combination of Barlow and Leon Washington – two very different styles. I’m not saying they are going to be super-productive, but I think they are the best combination the Jets can put on the field. They are the two extremes whereas Blaylock and Houston are more middle of the road in terms of quickness and toughness.

The offensive line did fairly well without Pete Kendall at guard. A lot of that is because the Jets used their TEs and RBs to help with the pass protection, and they also seemed to shorten their passing attack to quick drops and reads. We didn’t see the downfield passes Pennington put up in the first two games.

The Jets will, in all likelihood, lose the next two games. But after that, they have three winnable games in a row. It would have been hard to imagine this team heading into the bye with a 5-3 record when the season began. Look at the second half and, after NE and Chicago in the first two games, five of the last six are winnable. Can the Jets be a 10-win team?

Tough week for my picks. I was 4-7-2 with pushes by the Bears and the Jaguars. I have the Falcons giving up 3 ½ at the Superdome tonight. I did grab a second-straight Best Bet with a Redskins pick.

By Tom Rock

Very windy day in Buffalo. That could hinder the Jets passing game and force them to run the ball. But the Jets have made a few changes in that department, moving Derrick Blaylock to the inactive list, promoting Kevan Barlow to starter, and putting Cedric Houston on the field. The Jets also listed Pete Kendall and Trey Teague as inactives (Schlegel, Mosley, Trevor Johnson and Zach Hilton are the unsurprising other inactives). Laveranues Coles is active and will start.

And Jets fan who complains about the traffic going into Gi@%&$ Stadium should make a trip up here. What a disaster. Drove to the game and it took an hour to go eight miles. It was kinda neat to see the community, though. R.Wilson Stadium is in the middle of the ‘burbs and folks sell parking spots on their driveways and even on their lawns for $10-$15. One guy even let people tailgate with a Weber grill in his front yard. As I was sitting in the traffic, though, I couldn’t help but think that with a little entrepreneurship, these parking houses could really hit it big. Instead of just providing a parking spot for $15, I’d up the price to $50 and turn it into a party. Provide a little music, grill some burgers and dogs, sell some beverages – poof! – instant business. Of course, when the cops come and ask for a liquor license I’d be hauled off to jail. But it’d be fun!

As I said, it’s pretty windy and the forecast is for rain this afternoon. That may play into the hands of the Bills running game. But the Jets get the wind for half the game and I saw Nugent kick a 52-yarder with the gusts at his back during warm-ups.

By Tom Rock

The final results of the unofficial Fireman Ed poll are in, and I’m pleased to announce that the readers of this blog have voted overwhelmingly that Fireman Ed can stay. Good thing, too, because I’d hate to be the one to tell him to take a hike. The final vote, as near as I can tell, was 22-7 (though some posts were less specific for tallying purposes than others).

Now that that’s settled, I can tell you who wasn’t around today. RB Derrick Blaylock was with his wife for the birth of their fourth child. There weren’t many details yet, but you can bet the child will have a name that starts with a T, just like its three older sibs. Congrats to the Blaylock family!

Laveranues Coles dressed for practice today and warmed up with the team, but he wasn’t involved in any of the team drills that I saw in the opening half hour. The injury report is due at 4 p.m., so we’ll have a better idea of his prognosis and progress then.

Frank D asked if the Jets will throw in some 4-3 defenses that undoubtedly better suit their personnel. We saw the Patriots, a traditionally 3-4 team, make that move to cross up the Jets last week. There were times in the preseason that Mangini flicked the switch over to a 4-man front, but that was with LB Bryan Thomas at an end position so he could float in and out of it. I think he’s committed to the 3-4 this season and will start shopping for the right fitting players during the offseason. Before the season began I wrote a story about Dewayne Robertson not being well-suited for the nose tackle position, and the possibility that he could be on the sideline rather than over the center. Either Robertson or the 3-4 has to go, and since Mangini loves the scheme more than the player (in almost every situation, nothing personal against D-Rob), I think the 3-4 stays.

I picked the Jets for a third straight week and am starting to feel like a bit of a homer. I’m not, but I thought they could cover against the Pats last week (they got six and lost by seven) and I think they’ll cover against the Bills (they’re getting 5 ½, which I was surprised by). As I’ve written before, neither of these teams is in the upper echelon of the AFC, but I think whoever wins will come away feeling (wrongly) that they beat a solid team.

Off to Buffalo on Saturday, but before that we hit the Ducks game on Friday night for my kid’s birthday party. Happy Birthday, Charlie!

By Tom Rock

Just got off the conference call with Bills head coach Dick Jauron. This guy makes Mangini seem like Dean Martin with a lampshade on his head. Jauron was nice enough, and he tried to answer the questions as best he could, but his speaking pace and tone made everybody listening a little tired. QB J.P. Losman was also on the conference call and I'll be that he won't have a career as a motivational speaker once his playing days are over. The Jets’ best chance to win on Sunday may be if Jauron gives a 20-minute pre-game pep talk.

A lot of similarities between the two teams this week. Both the Bills and Jets are teams that are rebuilding but have also found a bit of success early in the season. No one would have batted an eye if either team was 0-2 at this point. They also share the misery of coming close to beating the Patriots. Of course, the Bills have been able to run the football. The Jets, not so much.

I’d be stunned if Cedric Houston is not active this week, even if it is just to shake things up in the backfield. I’m not saying Houston is the answer to all the problems the Jets are having running the ball. But it can’t hurt to try different looks now because in the following two weeks, against Indy and Jacksonville, it really won’t matter who the Jets put back there.

There have been some musings about putting Brad Smith at running back, but I don’t see that happening.

This just in: The Jets issued their injury report a few minutes ago. Trey Teague is still doubtful, though he continues to dress for practices and Mangini said he could be ready to play on Sunday. David Barrett, Laveranues Coles, Tim Dwight and Pete Kendall are all questionable. Dave Ball, Matt Chatham, Chad Pennington, Kerry Rhodes and Kimo von Oelhoffen are listed as probable, and all of them practiced on Wednesday.

By Tom Rock

By now you know the Jets lost to the Patriots on Sunday. But the bigger question remains this: Did the Jets make progress?

I think so. I know there are no moral victories, but this was pretty close. To play what was, for the most part, a sub-par game, and come away with the knowledge that they rattled the cage of the big bad Pats, has got to count for something in Jets minds. Of course now, the Jets face Buffalo in a game between two teams that ALMOST beat the Pats. Buffalo looked better than I thought they would against the Dolphins on Sunday, and their defensive line will no doubt give the Jets protection some fits (no matter who lines up for the Jets). I think the Jets can say they kept the momentum of the season moving forward despite the loss. But they definitely need to beat Buffalo to keep going in that direction.

All of a sudden, what seemed like a really tough early schedule has a few glimmers of hope for the Jets. After Buffalo is the Colts game, which does not fit in the category of “hope.” That’s a loss. But then there is Jacksonville, Miami, Detroit (which has already guaranteed 40 points and a win for the game) and Cleveland before the bye. The Jets COULD be 5-3 at the break. They could also easily by 2-6. Three or four wins at the bye is a more likely scenario, and I think that would be an accomplishment.

I went 8-7 in my Sunday picks against the spread. Picked the Jets to cover the six points, but obviously came up short. It was a tough week to pick with a lot of huge spreads. I went against a few of them and it hurt thanks to blowouts by the Colts, Bears and Chargers. Tonight I have Jacksonville taking 1.5 points from the Steelers.

By Tom Rock

No Pete Kendall against the Pats. Well, that changes things quite a bit. Now the Jets three rookies from center to left tackle (OK, Katnik isn’t a rookie but he might as well be) will have to contend with the experienced front line of the Patriots.

Kendall, who injured his hamstring early in last week’s win, was one of the inactives for the Jets just recently announced. Trey Teague, who practiced for the first time this week after breaking his ankle during minicamp, was also inactive. Newly acquired OL Wade Smith, though, will be available.

Also inactive for the Jets are WR Tim Dwight, RB Cedric Houston, LB Anthony Schlegel, DT C.J. Mosley and DE Trevor Johnson.

I just happened to walk into the stadium this morning with Tedy Bruschi. He was carrying what seemed like two heavy duffel bags with him, one in each hand, so his wrist injury probably won’t hamper him too much. Does carrying a bag of clothes equate to an ability to make tackles? Probably not. But he’ll be active for today’s game nonetheless.

By Tom Rock

Eric Mangini said he is looking forward to the Jets’ first home game. He said having a stadium loaded with Jets fans will be beneficial. He said it quickly, however, and it almost sounded like he said “a stadium with loaded Jets fans.” He clarified his remarks with a chuckle and moved on. “Please make that distinction,” he said.

Mangini also backtracked on his stunning statement earlier this week that Wesleyan does not play good football. He apologized for the remarks and encouraged all students who are considering Williams or Tufts or Bowden to give deep thought to Wesleyan.

As you can tell from these hard-pressing issues, there’s a pretty light-hearted atmosphere here in Jets-land. A lot of smiles after the 1-0 start. Mangini does not want the team to get too full of themselves after just one game, so he had Public Enemy’s “Don’t Believe the Hype” played during stretching at today’s practice. Of course, it could have been directed toward the media, this medium included, which has grabbed onto the Mangini-Belichick storyline. But since he followed Chuck D and Flava Flav with Tom Petty’s “Won’t Back Down,” I suspect the tunes were pointed more toward the players.

Mangini said Mike Nugent responded well at practice on Wednesday, even though he did his best to rattle the young kicker with loud music and game-like conditions. He may have also tried to rattle Nugent by bringing in three veteran kickers for a look-see on Tuesday. Kickers more than any other football position survive on a what-have-you-done-lately precipice. If he kicks a few through against New England, he’ll kill this story … for now.

Offensive lineman Trey Teague participated in practice today, though we won’t know until the injury report comes out later today whether he was involved in 11-on-11 drills (that’s how “practicing” is defined on an injury chart). Teague, who broke his left ankle during minicamp, said there is a possibility he could be available to play in Sunday’s game. Teague, who has played center and tackle, said he could play guard if necessary.

I’m not one to stand in the way of democracy, and with Grace calling for a vote by the fans on the Fireman Ed issue, I’ll let the peoples’ voice be heard. The board is open to (civilized) debate. Let’s give the issue a week and then count the votes next Thursday. In the interest of organizing the ballots, please post your comments on this thread rather than whatever threads appear in the next few days.

The question: Has Fireman Ed worn out his welcome? V-O-T-E, VOTE VOTE VOTE!

Vox populi vox Dei!