Jets News 9-14

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Report: Cowboys Fan Charged In MetLife Stadium Stun Gun Fight Claims Self Defense

September 14, 2011 7:49 AM

NEW YORK (WFAN) – The man who was charged with sneaking a stun gun into MetLife Stadium on Sunday — and using it in an upper-deck fight — is claiming self defense.

“I did what I had to do,” Leroy McKelvey told the New York Daily News.

The 59-year-old was released on $22,500 bail from the Bergen County jail Monday after being charged with three counts of aggravated assault and two weapons counts.

According to the paper, Section 324 began to get heated before the Jets even got started on the field against the Cowboys. That’s because McKelvey and his entourage allegedly wouldn’t stand for the national anthem and spoke loudly during “Taps” and “Amazing Grace.”

One annoyed Marine wouldn’t let McKelvey pass to use the bathroom at halftime, witnesses told the paper. That’s when they said McKelvey used the stun gun on three people.

“Don’t make be out to be a criminal,” McKelvey told the Daily News. “I was just doing what I had to do to protect myself.”

But the question is: how did he get the stun gun into the stadium on the 10th anniversary of the 9/11 terrorist attacks? The thought is especially scary, considering former President George W. Bush was in the arena.

“He didn’t sneak it in,” McKelvey’s son, Power 105.1′s Charlamagne Tha God, said on-air Tuesday. “It was right on his hip.”

The fracas happened on the heels of Jets coach Rex Ryan’s jest: “It’s probably not recommended that you wear Cowboys stuff” to MetLife Stadium, the outspoken coach said last week. Ryan drew heavy criticism for the remark leading up to Sunday’s game.

Tha God’s father was decked out in Cowboys garb for the game.

“A higher power absolutely knew there was going to be some jerks in the stands who would assault him,” said the deejay.

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First “Tryout Tuesday” involves some recognizable names

Posted by Mike Florio on September 14, 2011, 7:39 AM EDT

gongsh2

During the season, players are typically off on Tuesdays. And so, with the players in most cities not in the building, coaches and personnel types often bring in some new players for a look-see and, possibly, a contract. (It’s often called a Gong Show, especially when a team has a specific need that it’s trying to fill. And, yes, we mentioned that in order to justify the choice of picture for this story.)

Per a league source, the following tryouts occurred on Tuesday. More than a few recognizable names are among the guys looking for work.

In Buffalo, defensive backs Brandon Bing, Tony Carter, and Terrence Wheatley had some wings and a workout.

In Chicago, defensive back Phillip Adams and linebacker Kion Wilson got their tires kicked.

In Cincinnati, defensive backs Lito Sheppard and Trevard Lindley had a chance to win spots with the unexpectedly undefeated team, along with tight end Donald Lee.

In Detroit, defensive end Jacob Ford and tight end Nathan Overbay got shots at spots on a team that has won five straight games.

In Houston, receiver David Anderson (who was signed) had to compete with David Clowney, Quan Cosby, Craig Davis, Dominique Edison, Darnell Jenkins, and Keith Null. Quarterbacks Rhett Bomar and Keith Null also had tryouts — likely because the Texans needed someone to throw to the seven receivers they auditioned.

In Miami, Brian Westbrook (as he tweeted) got a tryout, along with running backs Julius Jones, Kevin Smith, Dimitri Nance, and Thomas Clayton.

In New England, three linebackers got a chance: Keith Darbut, Heath Farwell, and Lance Laury. Defensive ends Hall Davis and Jake Laptad also had tryouts.

The Jets looked at linebackers Tully Banta-Cain and Chris Wilson.

The Steelers, who signed tackle Jamon Meredith after his tryout, also looked at tackle Ray Willis.

The Chargers had a kick-off that Nick Novak won, beating out Dave Rayner and Shayne Graham.

The Seahawks tried out defensive back Reggie Jones, receiver Cameron Kenney, and tight end Fendi Onobun.

The Bucs looked at defensive tackles Travis Ivey, Johnny Jones, and Jay Ross, along with offensive linemen Jake Kirkpatrick, Chris Riley, and Phil Trautwein.

Finally, the Titans tried out defensive end Everette Brown (a 2009 second-round cut earlier this month by the Panthers), defensive end Keyunta Dawson, defensive tackle Lamar Divens, and linebackers Aaron Maybin (a first-round bust from 2009), Alex Hall, and Antwan Applewhite.

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Scouting the Jaguars

September, 14, 2011

Sep 14

6:00

AM ET

By Rich Cimini

Here's an early look at the Jets' next opponent, the Jaguars, who opened with a 16-14 win over the Titans:

• The Jaguars rocked the NFL last week when they cut longtime starting QB David Garrard. His replacement, Luke McCown, did what you'd expect in his first start in four years: He just managed the game. He passed for only 175 yards and didn't throw any touchdowns, but he also had no interceptions. If coach Jack Del Rio wanted to paraphrase Rex Ryan, he'd said, "I don't have him on my fantasy football team. All I care about is wins."

• Speaking of fantasy ... the Jets will face RB Maurice Jones-Drew for the first time since his intentional knee at the Jets' 1-yard line in 2009. The Jets, ahead by a point late in the fourth quarter, were out of timeouts, so they decided to let MDJ score a touchdown to get the ball back. But MDJ didn't take the bait, angering fantasy owners. Later, he admitted he cost himself fantasy points because he had himself on his team. The Jaguars kicked a field goal and won, 24-22.

• On a serious note, Jones-Drew was upset after Sunday's game because he found out that Del Rio has him on a play count. He was blindsided and spoke out after the game. He rushed 24 times for 97 yards, including a TD, but he sat out most of the fourth quarter while Deji Karim was spinning his wheels. MJD played with a torn meniscus most of last season, so Del Rio apparently wants to keep him fresh. That made MJD an unhappy camper.

• Will the real Ground & Pound team please stand up? The Jaguars hammered the Titans with their rushing attack, running 47 times (yes, 47) for 163 yards. Chew on this: The Jaguars had more rushing attempts than the Jets had rushing yards (45) in Week 1. Ryan said he'd like to run the ball better, but this isn't going to be a get-well week. The Jaguars, with their 4-3 defense, held Chris Johnson to 24 yards.

• TE Marcedes Lewis, big and fast, is a potential matchup nightmare for the Jets. But -- and this is a big 'but' -- he's nursing a calf injury and could be listed as questionable. The Jet, as pretty much everybody knows, struggle with tight ends, having just been clipped for 110 yards by Jason Witten.

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Jets give Mark Sanchez precautionary concussion test after win over Cowboys, QB passes, feels fine

BY Manish Mehta

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

Wednesday, September 14th 2011, 4:00 AM

The Jets didn't take any chances with Mark Sanchez after their franchise quarterback was drilled repeatedly by the Cowboys in the season opener. Gang Green took the precaution of testing for a concussion right after Sunday night's game and also on Monday.

"I just took a couple good shots," Sanchez told ESPN radio Tuesday. "I feel good. (I) did some balance tests. They checked my baseline tests and compared it to my balance tests (on) Sunday night and Monday. I feel good and I'm ready to go."

"I think they were just being really cautious," he added. "They tend to do that with all of our players. They want to make sure we're feeling good and we're ready to go and we're obviously not at a health risk."

New defensive coordinator Rob Ryan and the Cowboys gave the Jets fits all game. Sanchez was sacked four times and hit plenty more.

"This was just everything you can imagine that they could have done," Sanchez said of the Cowboys defense. "You would have thought it would be a little easier to decipher and understand (due to similarities with Rex Ryan's defense), but he went all-out and he didn't hold anything back. He wanted to get hits on me and he got a couple good shots. We took some licks early and hung in there. They had a really good plan for us."

EYING UP BANTA-CAIN

Free agent OLB Tully Banta-Cain, who won two Super Bowls with the Patriots, is meeting with Jets coaches in Florham Park Wednesday, according to a source. The 6-2, 250-pound Banta-Cain, who passed a physical for the Raiders recently, is fully healed from off-season abdominal surgery, the source said. A few other teams are interested in the 31-year-old Banta-Cain, who has 15 sacks in his last 31 games. The Jets had four sacks in the season opener. Banta-Cain's salary wouldn't be guaranteed for the season if a team signs him now. He was released by New England in the summer.

RIGHT BACK AT YA

Gang Green will see a pair of familiar faces on Sunday. Ex-Jets' defensive backs Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery get a crack at their former team for the first time. Coleman, who signed with Jacksonville as a free agent this offseason, and Lowery, who was traded for a conditional future draft pick, each made successful debuts in the Jaguars' win over the Titans in Week 1. Coleman tied for the team-high with seven tackles and picked up a strip sack. Lowery, dubbed "The Closer" by Rex Ryan for his penchant for making game-sealing plays, had an interception late in the game to secure the win for Jacksonville.

"I don't want to say how huge this game is as far as me or Dwight going back to New York," Coleman said on the Jaguars' website. "It's just a game, definitely an opportunity for the Jaguars to start 2-0. Going to New York, it's going to be very hostile, playing against a very good team."

SMART CHOICE

Add Sports Illustrated to the magazine covers that Sanchez has graced. The Jets quarterback is on the SI cover this week after the season-opening win over the Cowboys. The cover story features a look back at Gang Green's wild comeback win and a closer look at the Ryan brothers.

"There are so many coaches in the NFL who say one thing to the media and another behind closed doors," safety Brodney Pool, who has played for both brothers, told the magazine. "Guys don't want to play for phonies. We want to play for coaches like the Ryans. I don't know why the rest of the league hasn't figured that out yet. Maybe they aren't smart enough."

RETRO JETS

The Jets will be wearing their throwback Titans uniforms on Sunday vs. the Jaguars.

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/2011/09/14/2011-09-14_jets_careful_with_mark.html#ixzz1Xvyn62GE

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Exam reveals no concussion for Sanchez

Jets Blog

By BRIAN COSTELLO

Last Updated: 3:23 AM, September 14, 2011

Posted: 2:49 AM, September 14, 2011

More Print

Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez took enough punishment Sunday night for the team to conduct concussion tests on him after the 27-24 win over the Cowboys.

Appearing on 1050 ESPN Radio yesterday, Sanchez said the tests showed he was fine. After the game Sanchez appeared groggy while talking to reporters and seemed to have trouble answering some questions.

“They checked my baseline tests and then compared it to my balance test and everything now,” he said on 1050 ESPN Radio yesterday. “I’m feeling good. I’m ready to go.”

Sanchez was sacked four times, and got drilled on several other plays, including on his third-quarter interception. Sanchez said he is not concerned.

“I just think they were being really cautious,” he said.

Sanchez was 26-of-44 for 335 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. But Cowboys defensive coordinator Rob Ryan, the brother of Jets head coach Rex Ryan, brought a ton of pressure on Sanchez all night.

“This was just everything you could imagine that they could have done, especially with their personnel,” Sanchez said on “The Michael Kay Show.”

“You would have thought it would be a little easier to decipher and understand [due to the similarity to Rex Ryan’s defense,] but he went all out. He didn’t hold anything back. He wanted to get good hits on me and he got a couple of shots.”

Concussions have become a hot-button issue in the NFL in recent years as more and more evidence has surfaced of what the long-term effects are on former NFL players.

On Monday, Rex Ryan said he spent four hours with Sanchez at a charity event and the quarterback “seemed fine.” Ryan added that he was not on the team’s list of players who received treatment.

“We all saw the game,” Ryan said. “I’m sure he was sore. I’m sure he was beat up.”

When asked about appearing groggy to reporters, Sanchez said, “I think we just took a couple of good shots. That’s part of this game.”

Sanchez was critical of what he called his “bonehead mistakes.”

Sanchez threw an interception at the end of the third quarter that led to a Cowboys touchdown. He also fumbled in the fourth quarter.

* Free agent linebacker Tully Banta-Cain visited the Jets yesterday, according to a source. The former Patriots starter has reportedly recovered from surgery to repair a strained abdominal muscle and passed a physical with the Raiders during a visit there last week. The 30-year-old had five sacks last year.

* The Jets waived safety Andrew Sendejo yesterday. The Jets had signed the former Cowboy last week, then cut him two days after facing Dallas. He was inactive for the game.

Linebacker Matthias Berning was also released from the practice squad.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/sports/jets/exam_reveals_no_concussion_for_sanchez_YYlMqYPWLogIvZlioiQrLP#ixzz1XvzIjoER

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Jets-Jaguars breakdown

Wednesday, September 14, 2011

The Record

Print | E-mail

Jaguars (1-0) vs. Jets (1-0)

At MetLife Stadium

Sunday, 1 o’clock

TV: Ch. 2; RADIO: ESPN-AM 1050

Line: Jets by 9 1/2

Matchup

Rex Ryan has talked a lot about establishing home-field advantage at MetLife Stadium, which was loud Sunday night for the comeback win over Dallas. Still, the Jets are only 5-9 against the spread as home favorites in Ryan’s two-plus years as head coach, including a 24-22 loss to the 6 1/2-point underdog Jaguars on Nov. 15, 2009. This Jacksonville edition opened a 13-0 lead on visiting Tennessee on Sunday and held on for a 16-14 victory.

On the hot seat

Wayne Hunter: Hunter, a career backup who made his first opening day start against Dallas, had trouble handling the Cowboys’ DeMarcus Ware, who beat him for a sack. True, Ware has made many NFL offensive linemen look bad, but Hunter and his O-line teammates also had trouble blocking for the ground game, which netted a measly 45 yards against the Cowboys. LDE Matt Roth, who signed this year with Jacksonville as a free agent, had a sack in his Jaguars’ debut Sunday.

Game plan

Ryan doesn’t want the same run-pass ratio as in the Jets’ opener, when they threw the ball 44 times and ran it only 16. So with FB John Conner likely healthier after playing sparingly in the opener, the Jets figure to use more traditional two-back sets to establish the running game. QB Mark Sanchez must be wary of former teammates Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery. Both DBs had key plays against the Titans, with Coleman contributing a strip sack and Lowery a game-clinching interception. On defense, the Jets’ top priority will be to stop RB Maurice Jones-Drew, who rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown on 24 carries in the last meeting.

—J.P. Pelzman

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The New York Jets Need New Starting Right Tackle Wayne Hunter to Step His Game Up

Published: 7 hours ago

Jon Presser

New York Jets Lead Columnist

There’s no doubt the New York Jets need to get more consistency from third-year quarterback Mark Sanchez in 2011.

In the regular season of his first two seasons, Sanchez has been shaky at times, as many young quarterbacks are coming out of college.

Yet when the playoff lights have shined bright, somehow Sanchez seems to bring his best football to the biggest games, which is why he has as many road playoff victories as anybody in NFL history.

Sanchez may not be an elite quarterback yet; far from it. Some would say his regular season numbers are mediocre at best. Yet when the game is on the line, and the Jets need him to make plays, Sanchez has had a knack for being clutch and playing his best football.

Good teams find ways to win close games when they’re not playing at their best, and the Jets have had their fair share of thrilling finishes since head coach Rex Ryan was hired and Mark Sanchez was drafted back in 2009.

But if Sanchez is to make the leap to a guy who the Jets can rely on consistently, the Jets must find a way to keep him upright and comfortable in the pocket.

Most of the game against the Dallas Cowboys last Sunday, Sanchez had to deal with constant pressure from the Dallas front seven, as Demarcus Ware and company wreaked havoc all night long.

New starting right tackle Wayne Hunter struggled mightily in particular, as many astute Jets fans feared following the retirement of All-Pro veteran Damien Woody this offseason.

On theJetsBlog.com’s BGA analysis, TJB writer Bent offered his thoughts on the performance of the offensive line, including the subpar game from Hunter.

By my unofficial count, [Hunter] gave up one sack, one hit and five pressures. He was also saved by [right guard] Brandon Moore on at least one occasion where he got beaten and there were two sacks and two QB hits where it was impossible to apportion blame, so he may have been partially responsible for some of those.

Of course, Demarcus Ware is an elite player and it’s not surprising to see any offensive lineman struggle against him. But as Bent noted, it wasn’t as simple as the Jets’ right tackle struggling against and elite pass rusher.

It’s fair to say that DeMarcus Ware is one of the elite defensive players in the whole NFL, so there isn’t necessarily any shame in giving up that much pressure when you’re facing him. Ware had at least five QB disruptions in EVERY game of the second half of last season. However, Ware wasn’t responsible for all of the pressures Hunter surrendered. Both Kenyon Coleman and Anthony Spencer got by him too – more than once in Spencer’s case.

He goes on to mention, however, that it wasn’t just Hunter who struggled in pass protection. Even Pro Bowlers D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold struggled at times, as the offensive line looked out of sync in their first game in nearly eight months.

But we’ve seen Mangold, Ferguson and Brandon Moore play at an elite level many times. The Jets are even fortunate enough to have a left guard in third-year pro Matt Slauson who has shown the ability to play the position pretty solidly since becoming a starter in 2010.

That’s why I believe Wayne Hunter is the Jets’ biggest X-factor on offense this season. His level of play may very well correlate with the entire offense’s level of play, provided his line-mates get back to their usual levels of play as the season progresses.

The Jets need Hunter to step his game up if they expect to be the team that their coach believes they can be. Assistant head coach/offensive line coach Bill Callahan’s top priority right now is getting the most out of the veteran tackle.

When Damien Woody was in New York, Hunter excelled in his role as a versatile swingman, playing as a sixth lineman, extra tight end in the jumbo package, and even goal line defense.

Now, as the starting right tackle, the proverbial pressure is on Hunter to keep the physical pressure off of Mark Sanchez. It certainly won’t help Sanchez’s development if he’s under pressure on a high number of his dropbacks.

The success of the Jets offense may reasonably rely on the play of their weakest link, and right now that weakest link is not Sanchez, it’s right tackle Wayne Hunter.

The Jets have pretty much made their bed with Hunter. Damien Woody is working as an NFL analyst for ESPN now, and he’s not walking through that door.

The Jets will have to stay in-house to solve their offensive line woes. Luckily, there’s a lot of room for improvement, and all of the Jets lineman have shown the ability to play good football, even Hunter in his time as a starter last year when Woody went down with an injury.

Keep an eye on big number 78 on the right side. He may be the biggest key to the Jets’ 2011 season.

[bitonti]

The Jets have pretty much made their bed with Hunter. Damien Woody is working as an NFL analyst for ESPN now, and he’s not walking through that door.

there's this idea that somehow the Jets wanted to move on from Woody or they could call him up or something. the dude rolled up his achilles like a windowshade, he's done. the jets didn't choose to replace Woody he got old, hurt and retired.

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Agree

An achilles is one of the more serious injuries an older player can get. Usually takes 18 months to heal. Woody's was late in the season, and he is late in his career.

He was done. To bad. Hunter better step up or the Jets have a major problem

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Jerry Jones: Romo played ‘one of best games I’ve ever seen’

By Chris Chase

Jerry Jones: Romo played ‘one of best games I’ve ever seen’

Jerry Jones thought Tony Romo(notes) played great on Sunday night, despite the crippling fourth-quarter fumble and interception and the failure to maintain a 14-point fourth quarter lead Sunday night against the New York Jets.

In an interview with KRLD-FM in Dallas (via ESPN Dallas), Jones was effusive in his praise of his quarterback in the way a Little League coach would talk to his players at the ice cream shop after a tough loss.

"This may draw a little criticism, but I thought Tony played one of the best games I've ever seen him play."

The only plausible explanation for this is that Jones is living some sort of double-life like in "The Prestige" where he and an unknown twin run the Cowboys and trade off who goes to which game. This Jerry clearly had only been to that Seahawks playoff game and that time in 2007 he threw three interceptions against the Eagles and lost homefield advantage for the playoffs.

"You can make a big case that the way he played for three quarters was how we got there at the end and looked like for sure we were going to get the win."

And I can make a case that the Patriots went 19-0 in 2007 because they led with five minutes to go. Or that Mark Hamill became bigger after "Star Wars" than Harrison Ford. Or that, except for the past 18 years, O.J. Simpons was a stand-up guy. I can make these cases, yes. They will be flimsy, erreoneous and idiotic.

"He played outstanding."

Darrelle Revis(notes) is the best cornerback in football but 90 percent of the Jets fans in attendance could have made that interception he grabbed late in the game, including the guy who got Tased.

"He's a winner. We are going to rise and fall based on what Tony Romo's about over the next several years, and I'm excited about that."

Oh, there'll be plenty of falling if his "best games" look like the one from Sunday night.

"We've got someone here that can, if we can get some other things together, we can have a team that gets us in position to have a shot."

The main thing the Cowboys need to get together is making sure their quarterback doesn't dive headfirst near the end zone for no reason nor throws floaters to a guy like Revis while trying to orchestrate a game-winning drive.

"This isn't to pat him on the back or make him try to play better."

Wait, wasn't this one of the best games he had ever played? Why would he need to try to play better?

This is why owners should be seen, not heard. (Or in the case of Dan Snyder, neither seen nor heard.) If the press expects you to give a soundbite after every game, you're either going to have to speak in trite banalities or speak the truth and rip your quarterback for being a poor man's Brett Favre(notes).

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Burress could be major factor for Jets

By BOB GLAUBER

It was nearly an hour after the Jets' 27-24 comeback victory over the Cowboys on Sunday night, and Plaxico Burress was about to leave the locker room after his first regular-season game in nearly three years.

There was a swirl of emotions for the Jets receiver, who last played a regular-season game Nov. 23, 2008. There was relief over his long-awaited return, which followed a 20-month prison sentence resulting from a self-shooting at a New York nightclub five days after his last game. There was excitement over scoring a touchdown with a dramatic fourth-quarter catch. And there was contentment at helping his team win the first of what he believes will be many games this year -- and perhaps a Super Bowl championship.

But the emotion that may have transcended the rest : disappointment.

"I left a few plays out there," Burress told Newsday before joining his family and returning home. "I know I didn't come to the ball on one play, which was my fault. I left a couple other plays out there, and I still have a lot of work to do. It's good to make mistakes and still win, but I know there's a lot more for me. I've got a long way to go."

Attention, NFL : Burress believes his four-catch, 72-yard, one-touchdown performance was just the start of something much bigger.

And who's to argue? Burress may be a 34-year-old with plenty of rust to shake off, but if Sunday's performance was a sign of things to come for the former Giants star, then the Jets may have gotten themselves one of the NFL 's most dangerous receivers at the relatively inexpensive price of $3.017 million for this season.

And yes, the .017 -- in honor of Burress' uniform number -- was general manager Mike Tannenbaum 's idea, part of a recruiting strategy that convinced Burress the Jets were the right fit. "Just wanted to do something nice," Tannenbaum said.

Motivation not an issue

There are no guarantees for what lies ahead; there never are in football, where every player is one play away from being lost for the season. And it's possible Burress will wear down over the course of the season, especially after being limited through much of training camp by a sprained ankle.

But don't bet against him. There is just too much talent in his body and too much "want to" in his mind-set to think that Burress will be anything short of a big-time player on a team with legitimate Super Bowl aspirations.

"I don't have anything to prove to anybody," Burress said. "All I'm doing now is just getting into football shape, and the better shape I get into, the sharper I'm going to get and the better it's going to be. If I can go out and make plays, then defenses are going to have to do some things to not let me make those big plays. That's what I'm trying to get back to. It's going to take some time."

But it may take far less time than even some of Burress' suitors during free agency could have imagined. One high-ranking executive said he considered signing him, but only if it also tied him to the team in 2012.

"You can't expect a guy who hasn't played in more than two years to get it back overnight," he said. "Look at Michael Vick . He needed a year to settle in with Philadelphia as a backup, and then get his muscles twitching like you have to when you're ready to go full out."

The Giants apparently had similar reservations, although they were willing to give Burress only a one-year deal heavy on incentives for playing time and receptions. The Jets thought Burress could be more of an immediate threat and were the only team to offer him a fully guaranteed contract.

"It's good to be wanted," Burress said. "The Jets showed they were willing to take a chance on me, and that meant a lot. This is the right spot for me, no question."

In the mix immediately

The Jets had no qualms about giving Burress a significant role right away, even with his limited practice time. He was targeted on nine passes against the Cowboys. Only Santonio Holmes (10) was targeted more often.

Two of Burress' biggest catches came at a point in the game when he had wondered if he would have enough endurance to be effective. When asked last week about his biggest concerns, Burress pointed immediately to his conditioning late in the game.

"Probably the fourth quarter," he said. "I know I'll probably be winded, but that's part of getting in shape."

As it turned out, the fourth quarter was when Burress showed flashes of the kind of receiver he was with the Giants . On his 26-yard touchdown pass off a back-shoulder throw down the left sideline from Mark Sanchez , Burress made a terrific adjustment on the ball and just got into the end zone for the touchdown that cut Dallas' lead to 24-17 with 11:56 to play.

On the Jets' next drive, Burress made another fine catch. On second-and-4 from the Jets' 9, he ran a post route and caught Sanchez's pass down the middle for another 26-yard reception.

So at a time when Burress was concerned he would be out of gas , he was actually at his best.

With Burress and Holmes as big-time targets on either side of the formation, and with tight end Dustin Keller and slot receiver Derrick Mason ready to take advantage of double-teams on either wideout, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer has his most formidable aerial threat since coming to the Jets in 2006.

"Obviously, some teams want to try to shove the coverage and get up over the top," Schottenheimer said of the way teams will try to cover Burress and Holmes. "If you do that, you isolate someone on the back side, whether it's the tight end like Dustin or Derrick Mason or somebody like that. You'll see those guys in a lot of different spots. That will continue to grow, and we'll try to feature some matchups and things."

Plenty of options for Schottenheimer and plenty of upside for Burress, who already has made his presence felt after such a long layoff.

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LB David Harris held out of Jets practice with unknown injury

Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 12:41 PM Updated: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 12:53 PM

By Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger

David Harris worked off to the side with the strength and conditioning staff during today's practice.

Jets linebacker David Harris was not dressed for practice today, instead working off to the side while his teammates did individual drills in the portion of practice open to the media.

Harris did not appear to have any part of his body taped or wrapped, and coach Rex Ryan did not tell the media during his press conference Monday that Harris had been injured. While he worked with the strength and conditioning staff, Harris did leg stretches and swings and appeared to be working on balance as he stood on one leg.

Ryan will address the media after today's practice.

QB Mark Sanchez, who underwent concussion tests after Sunday night's games but was cleared, was dressed in full pads and participating in drills. Sanchez was sacked four times and hit six in Sunday's win against Dallas.

FB John Conner, who sprained an ankle in the preseason, briefly joined Harris off to the side, doing light sprints on his own. But this is not unusual; he did this late last week, and Ryan explained at the time that he was putting in his own work while the running backs were occupied with their own drills.

Back-up QB Mark Brunell (calf) was also dressed and participating in practice.

The Jets are in pads today, their third padded practice during the regular season. Under the new CBA, teams are allotted 11 padded practices in the first 11 weeks.

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Introducing the Sanchez-Henne-Fitz Watch

September, 14, 2011

Sep 14

12:00

PM ET

By James Walker

Sanchez, Henne & Fitzpatrick Icon SMIWho is the second-best AFC East quarterback: New York's Mark Sanchez, Miami's Chad Henne or Buffalo's Ryan Fitzpatrick?

When I recently surveyed our AFC East community, I was surprised the amount of times Mark Sanchez versus Chad Henne came up. It's clear there is unfinished business with this debate.

Buffalo Bills fans also mentioned their guy -- Ryan Fitzpatrick -- deserves consideration. So I put some thought into how to finally settle who is the second-best quarterback in the division.

Introducing the "Sanchez-Henne-Fitz Watch." Each week, the AFC East blog will keep an updated scorecard on the three quarterbacks, grade each performance on a variety of factors, and determine who's better at the end of the season.

Here is the first installment:

Ryan Fitzpatrick

Result: W, 41-7 vs. Chiefs

Stats: 17 of 25, 208 yards, four TDs

QBR: 91.2

Analysis: Fitzpatrick had the best QBR in the NFL in Week 1. He was extremely efficient and led Buffalo to a 34-point victory on the road. I was impressed with was the Bills' efficiency on third down (50 percent). Although he didn't throw for many yards, Fitzpatrick had 13 completions for first downs against Kansas City. It's a lot easier to win games when the offense stays on the field and keeps the chains moving.

Walker's grade: A-

Mark Sanchez

Result: W, 27-24 vs. Cowboys

Stats: 26 of 44, 335 yards, two TDs, one INT

QBR: 17.6

Analysis: Sanchez's QBR is misleading. He made some mistakes -- which weighs heavily here -- but Sanchez also made a lot of plays down the field. New York's offense would not have moved the ball if not for Sanchez's arm. The running game sputtered against Dallas. I consider throwing for 335 yards and two touchdowns a pretty good game. Sanchez just needs to eliminate big turnovers in key moments.

Walker's Grade: B

Chad Henne

Result: L, 38-24 vs. Patriots

Stats: 30 of 49, 416 yards, two TDs, one INT

QBR: 70.7

Analysis: Henne had a career-best performance in a loss to the New England Patriots. He led the Dolphins in passing (416) and rushing (59) yards. Henne accounted for three touchdowns total and did a good job of moving Miami's offense. The Dolphins can win some games this year if Henne plays at this level. I thought he was poised and in control. Henne is off to a good start in 2011.

Walker's Grade: A-

This week's winners: Chad Henne and Ryan Fitzpatrick (three points)

Third place: Mark Sanchez (one point)

Overall standings

1 (tie). Henne (three points)

1 (tie). Fitzpatrick (three points)

3. Sanchez (one point)

Henne and Fitzpatrick take an early lead in the "Sanchez-Henne-Fitz Watch." But it's a long, 16-game season to determine the AFC East's No. 2 quarterback. We will have an updated scorecard after Week 2.

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Dallas Cowboys QB Tony Romo

New York Jets 27, Dallas Cowboys 24

"I was feeling real good and real manly. Until a real cowboy walked by and told me I had my hat on backwards." -- Michael Biehn

Now that Brett Favre seems to be retired for good, the lead quarterback stories among the mainstream media seem to be, in no particular order: Detailing the clutchiness or non-clutchiness of every New York-based quarterback not named Ryan Fitzpatrick; wondering which quarterback with the most “playoff wins” is going to take the next step; which team might be trying to Suck for Luck, and wondering what the hell Tony Romo was thinking on {INSERT NAME OF GENERIC PLAY HERE].

Of course, those looking for ammo on the fourth issue certainly could load up their guns when Romo threw a game-killing pick to Darrelle Revis with less than a minute left in the Dallas Cowboys’ eventual Sunday Night Football loss to the New York Jets. My first thought when the play happened was, “Dude ... why the _(*&^%$^ are you throwing to Darrelle Revis’ side when he has help over the top?!?!?” And after hearing four different, and eminently qualified, people explain what happened on that play, I came away with a more informed version of the same question.

"It was a trap play," Revis said right after the game. "The corner comes to trap the inside guy, [Romo] threw the fade, I saw the ball coming, I was underneath, and I picked it off ... We bluffe. We were playing Cover-5 and we disguised it as Cover-0. We wanted to show Tony blitz coverage, and when the ball was hiked, everybody went to their spots on the field. We baited him, and he threw the [fade].”

“We wanted to get in a formation and a protection that we felt could block out some of their pressures and give Tony a chance to work their outside receivers,” Cowboys head coach Jason Garrett said. “It looked like they went to 2-man, and went up underneath – I don’t know if Tony was fooled by it a little bit, but unfortunately, we made that turnover and gave them a chance to win the game.”

“It was a comeback-type route, with Dez on the outside,” Romo said. “But the coverage dictated that ... I think he was right in what he did; he kept going on [the route]. It was a dumb decision. Too reactionary – I should have been sure, and that was my fault.”

As Brian Baldinger of the NFL Network points out in this video (the only All-22 of the play I’ve seen so far), the Jets did a great job of disguising what they wanted to do – they gave Romo a 3-on-2 look on his left side, and a very effective man coverage disguise with Revis on Dez Bryant on the opposite end. Of course, it helps that Revis is the NFL’s best man-on-man cover corner right now, especially on routes that head straight back. Since Romo was thinking comeback, he probably thought he had the efficient pass – when he did not account for at all was Brodney Pool coming over, giving Revis the backside help over the top, and allowing him to wait and gamble on the route with no fear of being burned deep.

In a way, Romo was burned by the efficiency and reliability of his own tight end – he assumed that Pool would see Jason Witten as a threat out of the backfield and spy him as he ran his route. But the play all the way was to watch Romo up top, and see where he went with it. It’s an inexplicable and inexcusable failure by Romo to read the situation – with the Jets bringing six defenders at the line, odds were that Witten was going to stay in to block ... especially out of the backfield, and especially if the Cowboys were reading the disguise the way the Jets wanted them to.

Or, you could just summarize it far more simply: DO NOT EVER throw to Darrelle Revis when he has help up top and doesn’t have to worry about losing a guy in man trail, which he almost never does anyway. That would seem to be a pretty good tip for the future.

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Ines Sainz Showed Up To Jets Practice Today In Four-Inch Heels And An Azure Cocktail Dress

You'll recall that Sainz, the TV Azteca person who started a big kerfuffle last year over professionalism and women in locker rooms, also attended the Jets-Cowboys game Sunday.

This means Ines Sainz might just be top dog among Jets beat writers right now. So, then, lady, why isn't David Harris practicing?

Image via @RodBoone.

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Jets' Harris not practicing

| More Print

1:04 PM, September 14, 2011 ι By BRIAN COSTELLO

Jets inside linebacker David Harris did not practice Wednesday. It is not known what his injury is.

Harris, the team's leading tackler last year, was not in uniform during the portion of practice open to the media. He did some stretching and a few exercises with the trainers. Jets coach Rex Ryan said the team had no serious injuries on Monday. He will speak to reporters again later this afternoon.

Fullback John Conner (sprained ankle) did some light running while his teammates did individual drills. Conner did the same thing last week, and played in the game.

Quarterback Mark Sanhez practiced, so it appears he is fine after getting tested for a concussion.

**

The Jets signed wide receiver Patrick Turner to the active roster from the practice squad on Wednesday. They also added tight end Josh Baker to the practice squad.

**

Cornerback Darrelle Revis will be featured on "Turning Point," the new NFL show on Versus. Revis wore a microphone during Sunday's game. The show airs Thursday at 10 p.m.

**

Ines Sainz, the reporter whose presence at Jets practice last year led to an inappropriate reaction and ignited a controversy, was at practice Wednesday.

Read more: http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/jetsblog/jets_harris_not_practicing_kCLM5QA5ktg9kmOD6oABbL#ixzz1XxOjLTd0

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Maurice Jones-Drew talks about taking a knee on goal line against Jets in 2009

Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 3:07 PM Updated: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 3:17 PM

By Conor Orr/The Star-Ledger

Jones-Drew said that his battle against the Jets defense was made harder with rookie Muhammad Wilkerson in the fold.

Back in 2009, when the Jaguars trailed the Jets by one with less than two minutes to go in the fourth quarter, Maurice Jones-Drew had a clear shot at the end zone and took a knee just inches short of the goal line.

The Jaguars would eventually kick the game-winning field goal three plays later as time expired.

Today, after apologizing to the people who owned him in fantasy football, Jones-Drew can laugh about the decision. He picked up on the Jets trying to let him score, so coach Jack Del Rio told him to burn some clock.

"Well, actually the play before, I heard they were trying to (let me score) and one of the (Jets) tackled me and I remember all the guys yelling at him for doing it. And I was like 'Why are they doing this?'" Jones-Drew said on a conference call today. "So I came back to the sidelines and coach (Jack) Del Rio and the running backs coach at the time were like 'They're trying to let you score, the best thing for us would be not to put our defense out there and take a knee, get the first down and we'll be able to to run the clock out.'

"We always play to win the game, to quote Herm Edwards at the time, and it just ended up happening that way and the opportunity presented itself and we just executed the play."

On a more serious note, Jones-Drew said he's very aware of the trouble the Jets defense can pose. He thinks the addition of Muhammad Wilkerson and Kenrick Ellis -- who was not active last week -- makes his job even harder.

"Last time we played they had Kris Jenkins but they added a similar type guy (in Ellis)," Jones-Drew said. "Obviously, David Harris, two more years in the league has given him so much more experience. He understands the game, he got a big contract and he deserves that.

"We have some problems we have to deal with. Not only that, but Bart Scott -- we always have to deal with him, as well. I think Calvin Pace was out last year, as well -- there's a lot of things that we have to deal with and that's what we're working with now."

* * *

Del Rio said he wouldn't get into specifics about a play count for Maurice Jones-Drew.

"We'll work through that, we're putting a plan together and I'm not going to really get into specific play counts and numbers," he said.

Del Rio said that Marcedes Lewis (calf) was held out of practice today, and that they'll see what the rest of the week holds before making a decision for Sunday.

And on having Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery, both former Jets, Del Rio offered this:

"They've been well-schooled," he said. "Rex and those guys up there did a nice job. They had such great numbers in their secondary that they were able to let us have a couple, so we appreciate that."

* * *

The Florida Times-Union also reported today that, in addition to Lewis, defensive end Aaron Kampman and cornerback Derek Cox sat out of practice.

Cox's rib injury will land him on the injury report but is not expected to plague him over the long-term.

Kampman, meanwhile, could miss his second straight game with a complications stemming from right knee surgery last November. Matt Roth started for Kampman in the season opener.

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Rex Ryan says Mark Sanchez aced concussion test, David Harris will be fine with toe injury

Published: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 4:28 PM Updated: Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 4:43 PM

By Jenny Vrentas/The Star-Ledger

Jets coach Rex Ryan had no concerns about either QB Mark Sanchez, who took concussion tests after Sunday night's opener, or LB David Harris, who missed practice today with a toe injury.

On Sanchez, Ryan said "I’m happy to report that he passed with flying colors." He also said while Harris sat out today, "we expect him back."

That's relieving news for the Jets on both fronts.

Sanchez was hit 10 times in Sunday's win against Dallas and revealed yesterday that he had been given concussion tests, but passed. He seemed somewhat groggy in post-game interviews with reporters, but Ryan said he did not think the tests were administered for any reason other than the number of hits Sanchez took from the Cowboys defense.

"We all saw that he took some hits, so everything we did was more precautionary," Ryan said. "We’ll do that with any of our players. One thing we know about players, sometimes they’re so competitive, you do want to make sure that everything is fine."

Ryan also wants to make sure Sanchez being hit so frequently is not a regular occurrence. The four sacks and six hits came on the 48 pass plays, in 64 offensive snaps, run by the Jets offense.

"He got knocked down about 10 times last week; clearly you don’t want that to happen," Ryan said. "We've got to do a better job of protecting him, and we've got to be able to run the ball better."

* * *

Harris was the only player who missed practice yesterday, with the exception of Rob Turner (ankle) and Logan Payne (wrist), who are both out long term after preseason surgery.

WR Plaxico Burress (ankle), QB Mark Brunell (calf), CB Marquice Cole (ankle), FB John Conner (ankle), TE Jeff Cumberland (hamstring), DL Marcus Dixon (knee), WR Santonio Holmes (knee), RT Wayne Hunter (knee), WR Derrick Mason (knee) and NT Sione Pouha (knee/ankle) all practiced fully.

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Tale of the Tape Reminds Jets of Physical Jaguars

Posted by Randy Lange on September 14, 2011 – 5:34 pm

Game 2 of the Jets’ young season is looming on the horizon and head coach Rex Ryan is already in the process of warning his players that the Jaguars are not going to be any easier than Sunday night’s 27-24 nailbiter of a win over the Cowboys.

“This one’s easy. All you’ve got to do is pop in the tape of when we played Jacksonville two years ago,” Ryan said at his news conference today at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. “We pride ourselves on being a physical team, and Jacksonville handed it to us. They were more physical than we were, they ran the ball well, we had three turnovers.”

That video will show that the Jaguars, who came into that Game 9 matchup at the old Meadowlands stadium at 4-4, were not bothered by the equally 4-4 Jets coming off their bye week, playing in front of their fans and trying to impose their swag on the Jags. Feeling perhaps that they had dodged the bullet when Thomas Jones’ TD run gave them a 22-21 lead with five minutes left, they yielded Jacksonville’s notorious final drive to Maurice Jones-Drew’s kneeldown at the 1-yard line, setting up Josh Scobee’s 21-yard field goal at 0:00 for the win.

“This one won’t be hard for us to get up for. That last time they beat us at our place. We’ll let the video do most of the talking,” Ryan said, adding that he and his staff will be going to that videotape a lot more the rest of this week. “I look at it that this one is a huge game for us. I love the fact that we’re playing at home, feeding off the energy of our crowd as well — I think that’s going to be huge for us.”

Sold-out MetLife Stadium was instrumental in rattling the Cowboys for two sets of back-to-back penalties and seven in all, while the Jets showed great discipline in not getting flagged once. The emotion and energy might naturally get toned down a bit because this game won’t be played on September 11th in primetime but rather on Sept. 18 at 1 p.m.

But Ryan, who came to the podium in his “Titans of New York” sweatshirt, has one little added incentive for his players and the fans, and he asked all supporters of the Green & White to hang in there for this game with their team wearing the Navy & Gold of those Titans.

“I heard there’s some grumbling about us wearing the Titans stuff, the blue,” he said. “Let me just explain it to you this way. We’re 4-1 in those blue uniforms. Anything for a win. It doesn’t matter if it was purple, we’d be wearing purple. Anyway, I think our players kind of like it. Our fans are not real happy with it. Just bear with us for this one game. Let’s make it 5-1 [in the Titans navy jerseys]. I think we’ll all be happy.”

Injury Watch

QB Mark Sanchez is not listed on today’s first injury report of the week. Ryan said he has “no concerns” about his quarterback, who said on his ESPN Radio segment Tuesday that he received baseline and balance testing for a concussion by the Jets trainers after the Dallas game.

“We all saw he took some hits, so everything we did was more precautionary,” Ryan said. “We’ll do that with all our players. Everything we know about players, sometimes they’re so competitive, and you do want to make sure everything’s fine. I’m happy to report Mark passed with flying colors.”

The other big-name injury development for the Jets was MLB David Harris sitting out practice with a toe injury. There were 10 others on the first injury list of the week (not including Rob Turner and Logan Payne) and all practiced full in team drills. But Rex said, “We think we’re healthy and we had a great practice, so I’m fired up about that.”

The Jaguars had an odd injury list breakdown. Four players didn’t participate in practice — TE Marcedes Lewis (calf), DE Aaron Kampman (knee), WR Jason Hill (hip) and CB Derek Cox (chest). Four others were limited — RBs Maurice Jones-Drew and Greg Jones, CB Rashean Mathis and DT Tyson Alualu — but the limitations for all four were listed as “not injury-related.”

The Comeback Kids

The thing about come-from-behind victories is that many folks get energized by the comeback while many others get depressed that the comeback was necessary in the first place. But all things considered, it’s still better to win those games than to not finish the comeback or to lose while going from ahead to a defeat. And the Sanchez Jets continue to have a flair for the dramatic win.

Sanchez’s come-from-behind victory was his fifth in his last 15 games dating to last year’s Game 6 win at Denver. The only QBs who were part of five comebackers in a shorter span were Vinny Testaverde, who did it in a 12-game span twice, and Joe Namath, who went 5-in-12 during the hallowed 1968 season.

Namath and Testaverde are tied for the most come-from-behind wins, including the playoffs, for the Jets, 14 in all, with Ken O’Brien right behind at 13. Sanchez is tied with Chad Pennington and Richard Todd at six apiece.

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Jaguars Conference Calls

By Jets Media Relations Department

Posted 40 minutes ago

Transcripts of conference calls by Jacksonville RB Maurice Jones-Drew and head coach Jack Del Rio with Jets reporters on Wednesday afternoon:

JAGUARS RB MAURICE JONES-DREW

On if he knew the Jets were trying to let him score two years ago…

Actually, right before I think that play or the play before he was saying that they tried to do it. And one of the guys tackled me and I remember the guys yelling at him for tackling me. I was like, “Why would they do that?” You know? So the coaches call timeout, we came back to the sidelines, Coach Del Rio and Coach Pola, the running backs coach at the time, were like, “Listen, they’re trying to let you score, the best thing for us right now as a team would be not to put our defense out there. Take a knee, get the first down and we’ll be able to run the clock out."

Like I said, we always play to win the game, if I can quote Herm Edwards at the time. So it just ended up happening that way, an opportunity presented itself and we just executed the play.

On the reaction to that play…

My teammates were pretty ticked off but I told them it was for the right reasons and then Coach Del Rio kind of explained it after. The fans obviously, fantasy, they hated it. At the same time, fantasy is a fun thing, it’s a hobby for me. It doesn’t pay the bills. So I have to take care of what pays the bills, you know?

On his style…

For me, really I just try to run as hard as I can every play or anytime I touch the ball or anytime I’m blocking I try to do everything as hard as I can. So obviously, there are some situations where I have to run people over, there are some situations where I have to shake people or I have to dive for the first down. Here we just try to play as hard as we can. That’s how I was raised, playing every game, leaving everything you can out on the field on every play. That’s kind of how we’ve been playing here as of late and that’s a good thing to see.

On if Garrard’s release was surprising…

That’s always tough, definitely we were surprised. He was our quarterback, all those things. But we’ve all been around this, I’ve been around it for six years and that is the business side of the NFL, the part we hate about it. It was a decision the front office made. As players we rallied around Luke. The next guy came in and Luke played awesome last week, did well besides doing the first down [signal] when it wasn’t a first down. But other than that he did a pretty darn good job. So we’re just going to keep working with him and keep growing as a team and improving each week.

On how the Jets defense is different…

Well, it doesn’t help that they draft these two big rookies in there that can stop the run. Definitely last time we played, they didn’t have Kris Jenkins, but they added a guy, a similar-type of guy in their third round pick out of Hampton. Is that right? Right, [Kenrick] Ellis. He’s about 300-and-they-say-56. I mean, that’s pretty generous. But they do a great job of stopping the run.

I think obviously David Harris, two more years in the league has given him so much more experience. When we played him, I think he was a rookie, maybe a second-year guy, still a little young. Now he understands the game, obviously he got a big contract, he deserves that. They add [Antonio] Cromartie, who definitely allows them to stack the box a little bit more and be able to take care of the outside. So we have some problems that we have to deal with. Not only that, Bart Scott, we always have to deal with him as well. So we have a lot of problems.

And then I think Calvin Pace was out last year, too, so he’s coming back in. I mean, there’s a lot of things that we have to deal with and that’s what we’re working with now. They present so many different matchup problems for us. Leonhard does a great job of getting everybody set, all those different blitzes they bring. Everything they do gives us some type of problem, so we have a lot of work to do right now getting ready for them, and it’s going to be a challenge that we’re up for and we’re going to see how it plays out come Sunday.

On if he received an explanation for being on a play count and sitting in the fourth quarter…

There’s no explanation needed. When you’re in the middle of the game, tempers flare, emotions are flying. That’s what it was. After the game, I was still a little gassed a little bit, but coaches are doing, like I said, they’re doing what’s best for the team, so I can’t argue with that at all. Actually, I sat down with coach Del Rio and told him I apologized about some of the things, how I acted, and he understood it was part of the game. You’re in a game, especially a division rival like that, and you’ve got all of those different matchups playing. They had two guys from UCLA on the other side, a little trash talking going on here and there. You want to be out there competing. That was kind of the competitor coming out in me, but that was last week.

I have a different type of competitive edge this week going against another trash talker in Bart Scott, so that’s going to be, that might be a little more physical. And then on top of that, I don’t know if you guys remember last time what we talked about. I don’t know if you guys remember we talked about the Hampton Cup, which now has been changed to the Bill Hampton Jr. Memorial Cup, but that’s what this game is all about. You can play all of those little LA vs. LA with Mark Sanchez and Marcedes [Lewis], and all the little matchups, the run game vs. their run-stopping defense, but at the end of the day it all comes down to the Hampton Cup, and I want you guys to write a story about that if that’s OK.

On if the trash talking between him and Scott is good-spirited fun or serious…

Football is a physical sport, so that’s just part of the game. Bart does a great job fitting the run game. When he blitzes, he blitzes with intent to knock the running back over and hurt the quarterback. That’s how you play defense. He plays defense the way I was taught to play, so I respect him a ton. For him, as we see it, as he goes, that defense goes. He brings that fire, that Bart, that tenacity, that physicalness to the defense.

You know when he gets going, they’re going to be definitely tough to stop. He does a great job, even if they’re down or if they’re up, you still see him working hard after the play. Doing the stuff that he does, getting guys off the pile, whatever it may be. He’s always there protecting his teammates. It’s football. We’re all adults. We do act like children every now and then, but the adult comes right back out of us, so it’s always in good fun.

On how much he enjoys trash-talking on the field during a game…

That’s just how I grew up. I kind of try to talk myself up, I guess you could say [laughs]. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn’t. Last time we went up there, they did good job of stuffing the run and making us get in long third-down situations, so that’s something we have to work on. Like I said, it’s another challenge this week. We’re going against a top defense and I can’t wait to get up there and see you guys face-to-face.

Can I tell you guys something that Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery already told me? They told me the only difference between your media and ours is that we have more and that we have Vito Stellino [Florida Times-Union writer] down here. I couldn’t believe it. I thought it was the other way around, but they said, “No, you guys have way more media than we do.” I was like, "OK, that’s awesome." I think we’re a bigger market [laughter]. I think we’re bigger than New York. We try to say we’re a small market so people will feel sorry for us, but we’re the biggest market in the league [laughter].

On if Coleman and Lowery have given away any secrets about the Jets…

No, we’re not going to ask them that because I know if I went to another team, I wouldn’t tell secrets or anything like that, so we haven’t asked them for anything. They do help us in practice, though, when we ask about a certain player, how they like to play and those types of things, but nothing more about the scheme of the defense. If you watch the tape, you’ll figure it out.

That’s all we’re doing. We’re studying, we’re sharpening everything down to get to what we want the game plan to be. We’re studying their personnel and how they like to play and we’re going to get ready to let it loose up there in the small lights of New York City [laughter].

On Marcedes Lewis…

Marcedes is definitely a big key. Obviously, losing him in the game to his injury was tough, but hopefully, he’ll be back ready to play. If not, the next guy has to step up, but we’ll have to continue. That’s part of the game. Similar to what happened with David, you have to be able to step up and just keep playing. We have a lot of talented guys. We have Zach Miller and Zach Potter at tight end, who are very capable of doing it, just as Luke [McCown] is. We’re going to keep going and keep playing and be ready to roll.

On how his knee feels and if there has been any indication of when he will no longer be on a play count…

I don’t know. You guys are going to have to talk to Coach Del Rio about that. My knee is fine. It’s actually feels like it did when I was eight years old, or maybe when I was born [laughter]. It feels like a fresh-out-of-the-womb knee. Nothing is wrong. You guys should talk to Coach Del Rio about the play [count] because I don’t know.

I’m not even worried about it too much. I have too much on my plate to worry about. I have to worry about Bart Scott and Rex Ryan’s defense, Jim Leonhard coming down into the box and maybe having to worry about [Darrelle] Revis doing crazy stuff. I have too much to worry about for that. We have a lot to focus on down here in the big city [laughter].

JAGUARS HEAD COACH JACK DEL RIO

On if things have settled down in the organization after the David Garrard release…

Yes, we just made decisions that needed to be made. All teams across the league are making them. There is just a little more drama involved when you have a quarterback in play.

On what he expects from the Jets this week…

We expect a strong effort. They’re a good football team. They have been in the AFC Championship game the last couple of years and Rex has done a good job with the team up there.

On if Maurice Jones-Drew will be on a similar play count again this week…

[Laughing] We’ll work through that. We’re putting a plan together to compete against the Jets. I’m not really going to get into specific play counts or numbers.

On the status of Marcedes Lewis…

He’s doing OK. He was held out today and we’ll see how the rest of the week goes and see if we’ll get him for Sunday.

On if there are any concerns about Jones-Drew’s knee...

No, he’s running well and he’s probably as conditioned as he’s been since when he first got here. He’s really done a remarkable job of conditioning his body and getting himself ready to be our bell cow and carry the load for us.

On how Luke McCown handled his first start this season…

It was his first start as a Jaguar, but he’s had a little experience and he handled himself exactly like he has from the day he got here. He’s been very sharp. He’s big on preparation. He has a good grasp of what we’re doing offensively. He’s been with us a number of years now, so things ran smoothly and he did a nice job operating the football team.

On how rookie Blaine Gabbert has picked up the offense so far…

He’s done real well. He’s been here six weeks now, going on his seventh week. He’s a bright kid. He has a lot of talent. I think that was obvious from the first throw he made in camp. He has arm talent. He can run, he has good size, he has a good understanding and that’s growing every day. This is valuable time for his development right now.

On how Drew Coleman and Dwight Lowery have been for Jacksonville…

They’re good. They’ve been well-schooled. Rex and those guys up there did a nice job. Obviously, they have such great numbers in their secondary, they were able to let us have a couple, so we appreciate that.