E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

I was expecting a big party when I pulled into the parking lots this morning, but to me surprise there were very few tailgaters. I was even able to pull my care up next to my buddy Mike’s and snag a piece of chicken – the spot where he sets up camp is usually pretty thick with fans and cars when I get there on gamedays. I’m guessing there is sense that there will be more to celebrate AFTER the game rather than before.

The Jets aren’t celebrating their thin secondary. Andre Dyson is inactive – no surprise if, as was reported, he has a sprained MCL in his right knee. I think he might be available for the Jets in a first-round game. No sources on that, just a hunch from watching him improve as the week went along in practice. And if the Jets are facing the Colts, the most likely opponent, they’ll need all hands on deck.

So Dyson is out and Barrett, who was also “questionable” during the week, gets the start at CB. Miller and Drew Coleman will also get some turns there. It’s pretty lucky that the Jets found Hank Poteat to stabilize the other CB position.

Joining Dyson among the inactives are Derrick Blaylock, Kevan Barlow, Stacy Tutt, Anthony Schlegel, Na’Shan Goddard and Dave Ball. The Jets have both Askew and Hodgins for FBs, so they’ll probably try to pound the ball through the Raiders front. Kellen Clemens is listed as the third QB. That means Laveranues Coles and his head/jaw injury will be available, but as I've said, the minute the Jets go up by two scores I expect to see Justin McCareins playing with the starters. Mangini was touting McCareins this week, possibly as a last-second ego boost in preparation for such a scenario.

Randy Moss is inactive for the Raiders, so all those who showed up with their No. 18 jersey in black and silver, tough break.

Hope everyone has a fun, safe time tonight. Happy New Year. See you all in 2007.

By Tom Rock

Hello? Can anyone hear me?

I guess we've been having some technical problems with the blog, which keeps insisting that it is Christmas night and the Jets have yet to play the Dolphins. My computer guys tell me that it has to do with servers and blah blah blah. All I know is it's acting wonky, and I apologize. I was actually enjoying the postings you all were making, tearing me a new one on my analysis of the Dolphins game. Some of them were pretty creative and made strong points. One very nearly convinced me that I am a fraud and I should quit. Anyway, hopefully the system gets back on its cyber-feet sooner rather than later. On behalf of the entire Triibune Co., we're sorry.

No apology from Zach Thomas, but he did get him with a $7,500 fine for his helmet-to-helmet crunch on Laveranues Coles. Players usually get five grand for a first offense or a mild infraction, and this was neither, so the NFL upped the dollar amount. I hope learning of the sentence helped Coles enjoy his birthday a little more. He turned 29 today.

Coles is playing, by the way. Now, whether he plays the entire game if the Jets are up 10-0 in the first quarter remains to be seen. But I think the Jets want/need him on the field.

Not so for Andre Dyson, who still looks pretty gimpy. He was running today during practice in some drills by himself, but I don't think he'll be available for Sunday. Nor will the Jets need him. Mangini did make an interesting statement about Dyson this week, talking about his injury and noting that players need to recognize the difference between pain and injury. Now that's a pretty well-used cliche in sports, but it's the first time Mangini used it this season. I wonder if he thinks Dyson gets hurt too often and isn't injured nearly as often as he thinks he is. Probably just some over-analysis of Mangini's word choices, but it did jump out at me when he said it.

No one -- NO ONE -- even mentioned that today could conceivably be the final practice of the season for the Jets. The Jets are playing that whole we're not over-confident act to perfection, even spouting the Raiders' defensive stats to within a tenth of a yard. But there's no way the Jets will lose this game. The fact that the Raiders returned all of those tickets to the Jets -- over 1,000 I was told -- tells me that not even the players wives, families and agents want to make the trip to NY to see the final nail in a 2-14 coffin. Randy Moss was downgraded from questionable to doubtful for the game today. Wanna bet he's not even on the plane when it lands at LGA on Saturday afternoon?

The writers are not bound by Mangini's don't-look-ahead mantra. Yesterday we spent the morning making hotel reservations for next weekend in the three cities the Jets could wind up playing their first round playoff game in: Indy, Providence and Baltimore. The odds are that the Jets will be facing the Colts -- which is probably the best match-up for them anyway. Continuing my hypothetical look-ahead, they could then face O.C. Brian Schottenheimer's dad in San Diego in the second round. Brian had said earlier this year that he was disappointed not to be facing Marty this year, and that only his mom would be conflicted by a Schotty Showdown. Hope mom's fears come to fruition ... and not just because it means a trip to S.D. in January for me!!!

By Tom Rock

Not much time before kickoff here on Monday Night Football. Just wanted to pass along the inactives.

The big name is Cedric Houston, who will sit this one out with a calf injury. Kevan Barlow is activated for the first time in about a month. The Jets have wto FBs active -- Stacy Tutt and B.J. Askew -- and I think Tutt might get some carries this week. The Jets were itching to use him in th egameplan against the Vikes last week, but it just never panned out.

The other inactives are Blaylock, Jamie Thompson, James Hodgins, Schlegel, Goddard and Rashad Moore. Kellen Clemens is listed as the third QB, but who knows how accurate that is anymore.

Keep an eye on Nugent. He kicked a 53-yarder in warmups from the right hashmark, but was struggling from the left.

About an hour before the game starts the skies opened up and a torrential rain dumped buckets on the field. The weather radar says it will be raining throughout the evening.

By Tom Rock

According to my sources, there are few in the Jets organization more pleased that a new Chipolte restaurant has opened in Hicksville than center Nick Mangold. The rookie was in the burrito emporium earlier this week chowing on some chicken and black bean burritos. Apparently, while playing at Ohio State, Chipolte was one of Mangold’s favorites. The manager at the store in Hicksville may have slipped Mangold some Burrito Bucks. Such actions would have been an NCAA violation at the Columbus location.

The Jets have been spending some of their time practicing in the bubble this week. The music choice has been the Monday Night Football theme (duh-duh-duh-duh!) and the anthem from Rocky. Not sure how the latter fits into the weekly musical theme, other than the “Gonna Fly Now” chorus and the Jets being named after airplanes.

Mexican food and music aside, the Jets have been in good moods these last few days. Lots of smiles and jokes, even from Mangini at his daily pressers. I’m sure it has more to do with being in playoff contention rather than the holiday spirit.

And if you are looking for that last-minute (or few days late) Christmas present for the Jets fan in your life, the bidding is open for a chance to watch pre-game warm-ups on the field and participate in the pre-game coin toss at the Dec. 31 game against the Raiders. The item is the latest up for auction to support the New York Jets Foundation. The bidding closes on Dec. 27 at 8 p.m. To participate, go to http://www.nflauction.nfl.com/ and click on the Jets logo.

The winning bidder will receive an exclusive Jets experience which includes: A chance to stand on the sidelines to watch the Jets warm up and prepare for the game; one of the winning bidders will get to walk to the 50-yard line as an honorary captain for the coin toss; admission to the exclusive pre-game reception in the Toyota 50 Club which includes refreshments, activities and more; four good seats to the Jets/Raiders NFL season finale; and an exclusive VIP bag for each guest with New York Jets merchandise.

By Tom Rock

Welcome to the essence of multi-media! I wrote a story for the Wednesday paper talking about the three players who I believe are having career years -- Jerricho Cotchery, Bryan Thomas and Kerry Rhodes in case you missed it or are logging on here before the story is published. But I also promised to go further on this blog in terms of pointing to several players who came in with high expectations and delivered and those who have been disappointment either in the play or lack thereof. Intelligent comments and contradictory arguments are, as always, welcomed. Idiocy is not. This means you, Glauber!!!

THOSE WHO PROMISED AND DELIVERED

Laveranues Coles – The only proven offensive weapons entering the season, Coles has 87 catches for 1,065 yards. Though he has become the target of many defensive schemes, the Jets continue to find ways to get him the ball – 12 receptions on Sunday – and his toughness is invaluable for a Jets offense that relies so heavily on short underneath passes that abuse receivers’ bodies.

Andre Dyson – The Jets brought in the veteran to provide stability in the secondary, and he has done just that by starting every game at left cornerback and adding guidance to the four other players who have been given the right cornerback job. Dyson had two interceptions in the opening day win at Tennessee and has four on the season.

Pete Kendall – With a rookie on each shoulder, the 11-year veteran guard has had to be both professor and protector. The development of D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Mangold can be traced in no small way to Kendall’s tutelage. Oh, he’s also had a pretty decent season himself, rebounding from an early hamstring injury.

FAILED TO MEET EXPECTATIONS

Derrick Blaylock – After opening the season as the starting running back, Blaylock has been inactive the last eight games and hasn’t taken a handoff since Week 2. He may be making contributions – Mangini named him practice player of the week following the Vikings win – but his game production is a disappointment.

Adrian Jones – Jones was the starting left tackle when 2005 ended and penciled in as the starting right tackle for 2006. But Anthony Clement overtook him for the job late in training camp and, despite some inconsistent play by Clement, Jones has been unable to get it back. A DWI arrest in late November didn’t go over well with Mangini and Co.

Kimo von Oelhoffen – Brought in for his Super Bowl experience and his knowledge of the 3-4 defense, von Oelhoffen has one sack this season and his 25 total tackles are on pace to be his lowest since he became a steady starter in the league in 2000 and by far the lowest among the nine Jets who have started every game on defense.

AND JUST AS A REFRESHER, THE CAREER YEAR CREW

Jerricho Cotchery – Two seasons as a reserve made the wide receiver hungry, and a coaching change during the offseason has given him a chance to produce during his third year in the NFL. Cotchery has 71 catches for 858 yards – he had 25 for 311 in the previous two seasons combined – and has given opposing defenses pause about double-teaming Laveranues Coles. Coach Eric Mangini said he noticed the solid plays Cotchery always seemed to make when studying tapes as a Patriots defensive coach. Having Noel Mazzone, his college offensive coordinator, as the Jets receivers coach this season has added to his level of comfort.

Bryan Thomas – After registering 35 sacks in college, Thomas was a disappointment in his first four seasons with the Jets, playing behind Shaun Ellis and John Abraham and recording only 6.5 sacks. But the move from traditional defensive end in the 4-3 to outside linebacker in the 3-4 allowed Thomas to flourish. He was one of the first to truly catch on to the new system and leads the team with 7.5 sacks this season, including 4.5 in the last four games. Earlier this month he received a meaty five-year extension from the Jets.

Kerry Rhodes – The second-year safety made it clear that he wouldn’t be hanging back breaking up passes and tackling loose running backs from the beginning. He had three sacks and three forced fumbles in the first three games and has become a valuable part of the Jets’ aggressive defense that emerged in the second half of the season. Even when he isn’t blitzing quarterbacks, he’s up on the line of scrimmage giving them something else to think about. After one sack and one interception last year, he has four of each in 2006 to go with 12 pass defenses

For the second road game in a row, the Jets forced a docile Midwestern crowd to boo their home team. Quite an accomplishment for the Jets – especially against the Packers, who have known little but love in their history with the folks of Green Bay. But Sunday’s hostility toward the Vikings, and QB Brad Johnson in particular, was tough to watch.

Now I’ll admit, there were times when the Jets were pressuring Johnson and the fan voice in my head was screaming “Get rid of the &$%@ ball!!!” I can’t imagine watching a guy take sacks like that for an entire season. But Johnson has had a strong career, a Super Bowl win, and has twice been a part of the Vikings team. It was sad to hear the boos fall on him and the cheers when Tarvaris Jackson entered in the third quarter. The loudest ovation for the rookie came when he rolled to his right to avoid a rush and threw a ball away out of bounds. I guess when you are used to seeing sacks, even the littlest progress deserves a cheer.

Tough break for Bollinger with his shoulder injury. He’d probably have started the last three games for the Vikings. If he’s in Minnesota next year – he signed an extension with the Vikings after he was traded there from the Jets – he’ll probably be Jackson’s backup.

The Vikings played a sloppy game with bad penalties and poor decisions. It was just like the Packers game in that regard. And the Lions and the Texans, come to think of it. What do those four games have in common? They were Jets wins, but they were also Mangini wins over other first-time head coaches. If the last two games in particular showed anything, it is that Mangini has the Jets ahead of the curve in terms of execution and philosophy. The Packers and Vikings looked like they were all rookies, not just their head coaches.

Mangini couldn’t decide if it was Laveranues Coles’ ribs or back that took the brunt of the hit when he was knocked to the turf late in the game. Coles was walking a bit gingerly afterwards, shuffling along. Almost like … a penguin? No word on whether Eric labeled the receiver with the same ornithological nickname he received from Coles earlier this year for his own wobbly walk.

By Tom Rock

No hunches this week. After last week, when I said I had a hunch the Jets would beta the Bills easily, I’m out of the hunching business. At least temporarily. Hopefully next season I can get my hunch back. Get it? Hunch back! It’s a midwestern humor.

As you probably know by now, the Jets made a small roster move, releasing LB Ryan Riddle and bringing FB Stacy Tutt up from the practice squad. My guess (not a hunch, a guess) is that the Jets will want to use Tutt in the gameplan. He was practicing with the first and second teams this week, even taking some handoffs. He probably has more speed than B.J. Askew, so look for the Jets to pitch out or throw short screens to Leon Washington with Tutt in front of him.

Like WR Brad Smith, Tutt was a college quarterback. That makes the QB pecking order Pennington, Clemens, Smith, Tutt and Ramsey. Sorry, another Midwest joke. Ramsey is definitely ahead of Tutt.

Actually, Clemens was demoted to third quarterback according to the inactive list just handed out to the media. It’s been “triple verified” according to Jets pr guy David Tratner. Last week there was some miscommunication between the field and the press box and Clemens was the No. 2. Ramsey will be the backup today, but I truly think if Chad ever goes down for more than a play or two, Brad Smith will be under center.

Here’s the inactive list for today. Sitting out for the Jets are RBs Derrick Blaylock and Kevan Barlow, FB James Hodgins, LB Anthony Schlegel (who had been active the last few weeks and figured to take Ryan Riddle’s spot this week), OL Na’Shan Goddard, NT Rashad Moore and DE Dave Ball.

Mike Nugent appears to enjoy the indoors. He just booted a 53-yarder from the left hashmark, gave a high-five to holder Ben Graham, and nodded at special teams coach Mike Westhoff.

Lots of folks showing their Purple Pride. We saw one guy walking in wearing purple and yellow sweats with those old Magic Johnson Converse sneakers and a WAY too tight Vikes jersey. We decided he hasn’t looked in the mirror since 1994. And sitting right in front of us is a guy with what can only be described as an “authentic” Viking headdress. It even has a skull fastened to the top of it. As soon as he walked by, a few of us writers looked at each other and had only one word to say: “Blog!”

Speaking of outfits, Jets are wearing white on white for the game.

By Tom Rock

I saw Giants kicker A.J. Feeley on Cold Pizza earlier this week – yes I do watch that show when I get the chance – and he was talking about how the K balls that kickers use in games are very inconsistent and can sometimes result in a variance of 10 yards on a kickoff. I thought that was a little odd, so I asked Mike Nugent about it. He confirmed that while the idea behind having those balls separate from the other game balls is to provide a uniform kick, they do vary wildly in terms of texture and air pressure. Nugent said he’ll sometimes feel like he makes the same exact kick twice, but one will go to the goal line and the other will be caught at the 10.

Nugent said the biggest difference he sees is that the footballs used for the opening kickoffs in each half seem to be a lot newer that the ones provided during the rest of the game. It probably has to do with sitting out in the cold during play as opposed to coming out of the locker room and being placed on a tee.

“If its been sitting out in the cold all day it’ll lose air,” Nugent said. “In Green Bay, I could feel how much flatter the ball was getting throughout the day because of the cold. But even on a regular day that can still happen, you can still get a different ball.”

So the idea of the K ball providing a standard for kickers is phooey. Myth busted!

In the ever-changing world of the press room, we decided not to present the Good Guy award today and will do it sometime next week. There was no real reason as to why this was done, other than later in the season seems to make more sense. Anyway, I bring this up because I mentioned it yesterday and didn’t want anyone to feel cheated. The winner will be announced here as soon as it is announced in the locker room.

Thanks, by the way, to everyone who posted, called or emailed regarding Doug Robins, my high school baseball coach who was mentioned here a few days ago. I'll be sure to pass those sentiments along next time I speak to him.

By Tom Rock

I guess Eric Mangini really is an outdoors guy. Despite the rain, despite playing an indoor game on Sunday, despite his apparent resignation to using the bubble this week, the coach had the team begin its practice outside. The ubiquitous music that accompanies practices was coming from the protection of the bubble, but the players stretched and practiced special teams in the elements. By the time we were ushered away from practice, some of the team had already filed inside. So Mangini got the best of both worlds, a few raindrops to harden the troops and a chance to practice with a roof over his head.

Apparently the whole outdoors thing is a Mangini peccadillo and not something he picked up from TOP (“the other place”), where practices were moved indoors on a more regular basis. If Mangini ever leaves the Jets for another job, you can certainly bet it won’t be to a team that plays in a dome. Even a retractable roof would probably be too much for this guy.

After shaking off the raindrops, we had Brooks Bollinger on the conference call. Remember him? He was traded to the Vikes late in training camp and probably would have been the starter this weekend had he not hurt his shoulder while replacing Brad Johnson two weeks ago. Brooks said he felt he was given a fair shake during the four-way competition here this summer, but did note that for all he knew a decision on his fate had been made before the first warm-up lap of training camp and his days as a Jet were numbered. Many observers feel that was probably the case.

We voted on the Good Guy award today, and while the results are being embargoed until a proper announcement and presentation can be made on Thursday, I will tell you how I voted. My ballot had Matt Chatham at 1, Pete Kendall at 2 and Laveranues Coles at 3. Had I gone deeper I probably would have taken Kerry Rhodes and Kevan Barlow. Overall, there are a lot of “good guys” in the locker room this year. Good quotes can be hard to come by – which weighed heavily in my voting – but good guys are pretty common. Among the guys whose company I’ve learned to enjoy, but who I’ve learned not to head to for any deep analysis or story-telling in a professional sense, are D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Kimo von Oelhoffen and Andre Dyson. Maybe that would be my ballot for Good But Quiet Guy of the year!

By Tom Rock

Kellen Clemens’ ascension up the quarterback hierarchy has begun. The rookie was listed as the backup quarterback for the first time in his career on Sunday, taking a step up from that No. 3 emergency role. Patrick Ramsey slipped to No. 3. Eric Mangini said that he would reconsider the quarterback roles on a week to week basis (like all other positions). Before you gasp too loudly, he later said that was only the case between Clemens and Ramsey. Chad is still No. 1.

Clemens was a tough guy to track down yesterday, but we eventually got him. Maybe he was still stinging from last week when he was kicked around for that wrong answer on Mangini’s pop quiz about the records of other playoff contenders. Anyway, it looks like Clemens is now the backup, so if Chad does have to leave the game before the fourth quarter, he’ll go in.

Not that he looked all that comfortable in his few snaps on Sunday in mop-up duty. But that’s just another example of how much Pennington means to this team. Without him out there, everything went haywire. They were a little haywire WITH him in there, but that’s besides the point.

It was nice seeing Mr. G at the Jets game, even though my foot is a little sore today.

Speaking of sore. WR Brad Smith came into the locker room with a large wrap on his shoulder. He looked like a pitcher who’d just gone seven and two-thirds. Smith wouldn’t talk about the injury, but as the super-duper emergency quarterback, he said it was not sore from over-throwing.

Had a chance to hang out with Jimmy C. and his buds at a tailgate before the game. Really nice set-up they have over there behind the practice bubble. They have a school bus that they painted white and green and decorated the interior to make it look like a football field. Then they cook all kinds of great food, shrimp and sausages, the whole works. Jimmy said earlier this season they roasted a whole pig, which was ready just in time for the post-game traffic.

Jimmy is a friend (and brother-in-law) of my high school baseball coach, Doug Robins. Some of you probably know Doug was diagnosed with a brain tumor a while back, but he’s doing OK now. We had a great chat a few days ago. Doug’s one of the biggest influences in my life and one of the handful of people I always strive to make proud of me. The bulk of you, I could care less!!!