OTA practice session No. 8 is in the books. Let’s go to the video tape:
1. Chad Pennington - working with the 2s as it was Kellen Clemens turn to go with the first team - did not have a good day. In one seven-on-seven drill sequence, the veteran bounced a 12-yard out to Paul Raymond, came up short on a 20-yard out to David Ball and overthrew Laveranues Coles on a sideline “go” route. Later, David Clowney made a nice adjustment on an underthrown Pennington pass down the left sideline.
Pennington did finish the practice strong. He threw a perfect 22-yarder, against the strong breeze that blew most of practice, to Jerricho Cotchery in the end zone and two plays later made a strong throw on a sideline out to David Ball. Clemens, though not as impressive as last week when he threw the deep ball very well, had his moments, highlighted by a 30-yard sideline throw that hit Coles, covered well on the play by Hank Poteat, in stride. All was not perfect, though, as a bit later Clemens missed a wide open Wallace Wright, who had torched Andre Woolfolk coming off the line, on the sideline and instead dumped the ball underneath to Cotchery. In a competition that is still VERY early, chalk up this day to Clemens. During Thursday’s practice, which we’ll also get to see, Pennington will work with the first team. As an aside, Cotchery looked good, regardless of who was throwing him the ball.
2. David Barrett was NOT the starting corner opposite Darrelle Revis as he was the previous two weeks. No, today it was the athletic Justin Miller, whose workload each week of OTAs has increased. So, for today (Wednesday), your starting defense looked like this: Revis and Miller at the corners, with the rest being the same as the last two weeks – Eric Smith and Kerry Rhodes at the safeties and a front seven comprising Shaun Ellis, Kris Jenkins and Kenyon Coleman up front, with Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas as the outside linebackers, and David Harris and Eric Barton on the inside. Cornerback Andre Woolfolk, limited the last two weeks, saw time with the second team and also worked some as the nickel back.
3. Brad Smith was again limited, though not as much as he was last week when he spent 95 percent of the practice we saw on the exercise bicycle. Today Smith ran a handful of routes in some passing drills – though not in the 11-on-11s – and was back to holding on some field goals. This was the capacity in which he contributed two weeks ago so there seems to be some progress with his undisclosed injury, which made Smith a virtual spectator last week. At the end of a post-practice interview with Kellen Clemens – we were talking about Chansi Stuckey’s offseason thus far – I asked Clemens what Smith’s injury was. Clemens had a horrified look on his face [Jets players are forbidden to discuss their own injuries, let alone anyone else’s], before he realized I was joking. The man has a sense of humor. The PR man standing nearby, David Tratner, I'm not as sure about.
4. Thomas Jones looked solid catching several screen passes and then accelerating. Jones received the majority of carries, followed by Leon Washington. Musa Smith, signed to a contract late Tuesday afternoon, was used both as a blocking back and a ball carrier. Both Jones and Washington looked to be hitting their holes between the tackles quickly, though remember, these are non-contact drills, making running back evaluation difficult for obvious reasons. Still, little things can be gathered.
5. Rookie receiver Marcus Henry saw significantly more action than last week’s OTA practice that we observed. Henry today ran primarily short routes over the middle and did not have any drops. He doesn’t seem to have great speed but his hands don’t look to be a problem.
6. Mike Nugent missed a 48-yard field goal and 53-yarder back-to-back, but against the wind ended the practice by knocking through a 58-yarder. Just before that kick, Mark Myers delivered on a 53-yarder. And that leads us too…
7. This one, which is dedicated to Capt. Rich: in the Ben Graham vs. Jeremy Kapinos battle for punter, Wednesday was Kapinos’ day. Against the wind that gusted at times, Kapinos had the better share of good kicks. Graham rebounded after an early-practice kick against the wind that went no more than 20 yards but Kapinos, while getting away his share of below average kicks, avoided any outright shanks.
8. James Dearth was the primary long-snapper after spending the last two weeks mostly in the “limited” category. He still spent some time on the exercise bicycle but not as much. Will Montgomery again got some time at long-snapper.
9. Hofstra’s Shawn McMackin, a 6-3 287-pound offensive lineman who earned a contract after being invited to the rookie minicamp, saw some time with the third team at center and guard. Robert Turner, listed at 6-4 and 308 pounds, also worked at multiple positions on the offensive line.
10. Danny Woodhead, who muffed three kicks last week, didn't drop one ball.
11. And back by popular demand – and by that I mean me –is a return of last week’s feature: the Eric Mangini comedy moment of the day: Mangini, while discussing the “correction binders” all the quarterbacks get [essentially, it’s a compilation of things to work on], was asked if it was a bad thing to have a binder that increased dramatically in size from one week to the next. The exact question: who to this point has the thickest book?
“I don’t know,” Mangini said with a smile and a slight pause. “If size totally matters.”
Probably best to leave it there for now.
Comments (23)
Erik - at this point, would you say that Kapinos has an edge over Graham based on the size of Graham's contract? I would think that all things being equal, you'd keep the cheaper (and much younger) player.
Hey Erik,
Are any of the OTA's open to the public? What's your honest opinion of where the competition is at with the QB's? Who's winning?
Thanks for the update, Erik...great stuff as always. Keep up the good work.
you continue to impress, Erik. Thanks for all the prompt info!
as an aside, i've also thought that thomas jones was underrated as a reciever. in college, he was a very solid receiveing threat, and even occasionally lined up in the slot - in fact, he beat Va Tech on a diving finger tip grab in the end zone that has to be seen to be believed (if i had any computer skillz, i'd find the youtube clip...). that catch was as good as any i've ever seen
now we just need someone to throw him the ball...is Ainge still out with the hand injury?
how did Keller look?
Erik, great work as usual...you know Jet fans are the hardest fans in the league to please, but you deliver. Excellent, well-detailed post.
Erik: How did Woodhead look returning punts - or were they just catching them???
I have to agree with the other posts and say you're doing a great job keeping us posted on the teams progress. When do practices become open to the general public, does that not happen until training camp? I'd like to get out there and see one before they move to NJ
Eric: Really enjoy your blog. Great detail, keep it up!
Is Brick looking any bigger?
Erik, as always, outstanding post. A few quick questions...Do you think players such as Justin Miller, Marcus Henry or Chansi Stuckey have a chance to be dark-horse contributors? Miller seems to be maturing, and he is getting healthier, so maybe he could push for a starting job, if not playing time, at corner. Since the Jets drafted Henry, I've heard nothing but good things about him, save his sub-par speed. However, I remember analysts saying the same thing about Jerricho Cotchery when the Jets grabbed him in the 4th round. Henry may not be extremely fast, but he's certainly a taller receiver, something the Jets sorely lack. And finally, Stuckey, a potential burner, could maybe contribute in some packages if given a limited opportunity. Your thoughts?
poor quality images, crazy TJ catch vs Va Tech (LB in coverage)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zMfxOgy9uas
Great updates, Erik. Nice job.
Ok, about to leave Hofstra but to some of those questions...
Are-tee, to this point - only eight practices in - a slight edge to Kapinos. I wouldn't give up on Graham yet but Kapinos has been more consistent.
Mr. green T, the OTAs are closed to the public. My opinion so far on the quarterbacks? We've only seen three practices - tomorrow (Thursday) makes four - and to this point Clemens gets the nod. Tomorrow, however, will be the first time we get to see Pennington work with the first team. It's his turn in that rotation.
mike, my mistake on not mentioning Ainge in the post. He was on the field but still not throwing the ball. Timewise, given the surgery he underwent, this is normal. As for Keller, he was used about the same way he was last week -- in various receiver positions with the first and second teams. He did not have as many balls thrown his way today as last week but those that were, he caught.
Rich R., thanks, as always, for reading.
maizeDr., once the return guys catch the ball, the play is over after they take a few steps so there's not much more to it than the kick and the catch. Woodhead had all sorts of trouble with the catch part last week; today was much better.
chipdouglas, nothing is open to the public until training camp. OTAs and minicamp are closed so you have to wait until July.
Jethead, I can tell you Ferguson is listed currently at 6-6, 312 pounds. When I talked to him a few weeks back at an NFL event in Central Park, he said he had added a bit of muscle on his upper body.
Bryan, Miller started today and I think the Jets will give him every chance to win the other corner spot. Stuckey, at this point, is the third receiver and my thought right now is unless he gets injured, he's going to hang on to it. He's not a burner in that classic sense but he is a tremendous route-runner, something Clemens told me today really stands out about Stuckey. I'll get back to you on Henry. We didn't see a lot of him last week so today was the first day seeing him in a variety of packages. With his height (6-4), he certainly does stand out.
Great coverage, Erik. One thing though, approximately how many pass plays are you observing during the practice? Thanks.
Big A, I'll tell you what, I'll make more of an effort to actually count on Thursday. Before the 11-on-11 drills, the offense and defense split up on different fields at times so I might miss some throws here and there if I'm looking at something the defense is doing. I would guess - and it's strictly a guess - if you combine the seven-on-seven drills and 11-on-11 drills, both quarterbacks throw 20-30 passes. I'll try to give a more concise tally Thursday, or at least more of an educated guess.
And welcome back Darrell...
hey erik, u say opposite of revis is miller. then u go on to say sometin else. wouldnt it be nice if u could tell us how he did
Erik, this is by far the highlight of my day...well...besides seeing that Reyes is finally hitting in fantasy baseball or that my Yankees are starting to win...
Anyways, I can honestly say I don't have any questions...that was incredibly thorough. Thank you as usual.
Thanks, Erik, but I'm just trying to get a feel of how many plays you're witnessing compared to how many you're reporting on. I don't expect you to comment on everything. An educated guess is fine (20-30). That gives me an idea of how many plays are worth noting either because they went for distance or because who threw it/caught it. Way to go, your'e doing a good job.
nice to be back, buddy. Had a terrible week.
http://www.13wham.com/mostpopular/story.aspx?content_id=C0CB38A8-95F1-44E8-A51F-56A9E4BF2759&gsa=true
My cousin and her whole family (two girls in college and son in high school) perished. It's been... surreal around here. I'll be back to my @#$%$@ self in a while.
Wow, relatively new to this blog, but sorry for your loss Darrell.
Nothing happening in Jets camp matters.
I'm also sorry for your loss Darrell...what a shame...
Great write-up. I am new to this blog but the coverage and insight are above and beyond the other Jet's Blog's I have followed. I'm glad I was referred to this site.
My only question would be what Woody's playing weight is at currently. Unless I'm mistaken the Jet's put a weight incentive program in his contract to so they must think it's important for him to play at a specific weight.
Thanks.
Darrell, I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. My prayers are with you and your family. Peace.