Mini-Camp Recap June 14

[JetNation]

Today was the last of the Jets minicamp practices and Jetnation was fully represented with Courtney Aurillo, myself and “Boss-Man” Phil Sullivan helping with observations.  Practice was shorter and less intense then yesterday as the team prepares to break away from any mandatory activities for awhile.  Of course quarterback Mark Sanchez will hold his annual “Jets West” voluntary practice with many of the skilled players before training camp opens.

As far as quarterback goes it’s been reported that Tim Tebow worked with the first team and was with them again at points, not in full drills, in practice today.  Still don’t really know what this means because Sanchez performed better then Tebow in practice and as someone who has seen Sanchez throw up close before, Rex Ryan is correct, Sanchez is throwing the ball with more authority.  It does make sense for Tebow to get some work with the first team, he’ll likely be running plays in games with them, but of course the main-stream media makes some ridiculous controversy out of it.

It’s not as much as the stats that many beat reporters tweet (Sanchez 4-9 in 11-on-11 drills) but using the “eye test” which matters.  Sanchez looked better dropping back and going through his read progression.  Tebow “is what he is” a pro-style quarterback in progress, but he threw plenty of nice passes and, as advertised, runs well.  The feeling one showed get is the stars are aligned properly Tebow is the back-up and will run plays designed for his strengths while Sanchez will run the base offense.  Training camp and pre-season may change this but the Jetnation contingent felt the above analysis is solid for now.

There is some cause for concern on the offensive line while it is difficult to evaluate fully without pads Jets fans should hope Matt Slauson is ready for camp.  Vladimir Ducasse is not where he needs to be and looks confused at times, so don’t buy what Rex is selling about him.

Much maligned tackle Wayne Hunter often looked a step slow to the outside rusher, a problem which persisted last year.  He can’t give up almost 9 sacks and have 11 penalties in 2012 for the offense to be successful. Personally I’m pulling for Hunter who works hard but he’ll need to show better first step in training camp and pre-season otherwise it might be a long year again. 

Now is fairness to the offensive line defensive ends Quinton Coples and Muhammad Wilkerson look like complete players on the field.  They move well stunting or power rushing and most impressive still getting pressure even when being double teamed.  The more players the defensive line eats up the more effective the defense is and Coples/Wilkerson are difficult to move even with two blockers. 

Saw enough of Kenrick Ellis working in for Sione Pouha to make you feel he’s ready to have a productive year.  Hopefully his legal problems behind him before training camp opens will allow for more than the seven tackles he had as a rookie.  Ellis seems to posses the size needed to play the nose-tackle and with more four-man defensive fronts being used he will be an important piece to the defenses success.

Rookie Josh Bush was being used once again as he was sent on a blitz and got pressure.  You can defiantly see the versatility in the different defensive packages rookies Bush and Demario Davis look promising while Aaron Maybin has a chance to thrive this year.

Undrafted cornerback Royce Adams was a lesser name who stood out during the practices.  He was worked in with different defenses and was sent on blitzes and dropped in coverage.  It seems like the Jets like what they see out of Adams and are giving him opportunities to show case his talent. 

Adams played corner and receiver in college at Purdue and was with the AFL in 2011.  Signed on January 7, 2012 to a reserve/futures contract apparently Adams and the Jets feel he is best suited to play defensive back.  With the Jets in need of a fourth corner fans should put Adams on their radar as a player to watch during training camp.

Another undrafted rookie is wide receiver Royce Pollard he had some nice catches and returned kickoffs.  Pollard is getting more reps with Santonio Holmes, Stephen Hill and Patrick Turner limited and may have a shoot with the special teams.  He is more likely to end up on practice squad but is someone to keep an eye on in the future.

Just to touch on the tight ends like yesterday Dustin Keller and Jeff Cumberland looked good.  Cumberland dropped a couple passes early but came on with some nice grabs late.  He is running well and was starting to come on as a player last year before his injury.  If Cumberland can recover fully he has a good chance to solidify that number two tight end position. 

It is obvious that coordinator Tony Sparano wants to feature Keller in his offense.  Sparano will look to create miss-matches or draw coverages moving him around.  Looks like Keller will be a focal point of the offense which is good since Sanchez has had good chemistry with him in past seasons.

 

 

 

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[flgreen]

Great article Dennis. Good job guys Thanks

[The Gun Of Bavaria]

Dennis - Good job.

[Villain The Foe]

I cant wait for preseason. I really like what I'm hearing.

[Maxman]

Dennis Agapito

Courtney Aurillo

Tailgate Joe (I refuse to use his real name, he is just Tailgate Joe lol)

Phil Sullivan (aka Maxman)

were all at camp today. That is a lot of brain power for one minicamp.

[SenorGato]

I just want it known that I didn't go to practice because I wanted Courtney to focus on her work. I'm always thinking of the best interests of JetNation, quite possibly the only truly tolerable website left on the internet.

The defense is seriously going to lay waste to opponents. I'm extremely high on the two young bookends, and I can't say it enough. I can not wait to see Coples and Wilkerson on the field in September. Hell, I'm half considering buying Madden (no I'm not) just for the fun of playing with a video game version of those two.

As far as Wayne Hunter...Mark Sanchez will be the reason Wayner Hunter gives up less sacks, just like Peyton Manning is the reason Tony Ugoh was praised as a LT his rookie year. This is not comparing Sanchez to Manning, this is saying a franchise QB protects his own a$$.

[T0mShane]

Mark Sanchez will be the reason Wayner Hunter gives up less sacks.

And via what sorcery shall this occur?

[T0mShane]

“Boss-Man” Phil Sullivan helping with observations.

"Hey, you guys know where the bathroom is? I just tried peeing behind that tree over there where the kids are playing. You can pee there if you're quiet. I'm a quiet pee-er. Always been, ya know? Ha ha. Stupid kids man, jeez. I'm just gonna hold it."

"Hey, you guys ever notice that Sanchez looks like Raj from The Big Bang Theory? Ha ha. Bazinga!"

"You know how they fix Tebow? Hang a tire from a tree limb and make him throw the ball through it. Totally worked for James Van Der Beek."

"Any of you guys got change for a fifty? Stupid hot dog truck won't break a fifty. Who does that? Hellooooooooo. Doesn't take debit cards, either. It's like he's from the fifties or something."

"Which one is Revis?"

"Hey, look at Rich Cimini. I used to PM him. A lot. He asked me to stop, though. Something about ESPN policy. I created the web-chat, btw. Courtney. Courtney. You hear that? I created the web-chat."

"Holmes doesn't look big enough to be a thug, ya know? Thugs are usually beefier."

"Oh my God! Did you see that pass from that one guy to that other guy!?!?"

"Screw it. I'll just buy ten hot dogs and re-sell them. Courtney, Dennis, you want a hot dog? Nine bucks."

[Bleedin Green]

Dennis Agapito

Courtney Aurillo

Tailgate Joe (I refuse to use his real name, he is just Tailgate Joe lol)

Phil Sullivan (aka Maxman)

were all at camp today. That is a lot of brain power for one minicamp.

Are you sure "brain" is really the word you were looking for there?

[sirlancemehlot]

As far as Wayne Hunter...Mark Sanchez will be the reason Wayner Hunter gives up less sacks, just like Peyton Manning is the reason Tony Ugoh was praised as a LT his rookie year. This is not comparing Sanchez to Manning, this is saying a franchise QB protects his own a$$.

Totally. Nick Folk says Sanchez will be the reason he succeeds or fails too. He likes the ball on the left hash inside the twenty when he kicks. If he gets the ball on the right hash at the 31, the miss is on Sanchez.

Also, if Shonne Green drops a pass, it's because Sanchez doesn't stretch the field enough to give Shonne room to bobble the ball before securing it.

And if Keller comes out on fire the first three games then dissapears for the next 12, it'll be because Sanchez is getting sacked by the left defensive end too often, which, as we all know, is Sanchez's fault since good Quarterbacks protect their own asses.

[flgreen]

"Hey, you guys know where the bathroom is? I just tried peeing behind that tree over there where the kids are playing. You can pee there if you're quiet. I'm a quiet pee-er. Always been, ya know? Ha ha. Stupid kids man, jeez. I'm just gonna hold it."

"Hey, you guys ever notice that Sanchez looks like Raj from The Big Bang Theory? Ha ha. Bazinga!"

"You know how they fix Tebow? Hang a tire from a tree limb and make him throw the ball through it. Totally worked for James Van Der Beek."

"Any of you guys got change for a fifty? Stupid hot dog truck won't break a fifty. Who does that? Hellooooooooo. Doesn't take debit cards, either. It's like he's from the fifties or something."

"Which one is Revis?"

"Hey, look at Rich Cimini. I used to PM him. A lot. He asked me to stop, though. Something about ESPN policy. I created the web-chat, btw. Courtney. Courtney. You hear that? I created the web-chat."

"Holmes doesn't look big enough to be a thug, ya know? Thugs are usually beefier."

"Oh my God! Did you see that pass from that one guy to that other guy!?!?"

"Screw it. I'll just buy ten hot dogs and re-sell them. Courtney, Dennis, you want a hot dog? Nine bucks."

This is very weird.

Even for you

[SenorGato]

And via what sorcery shall this occur?

No I mean if it happens at all.

[SenorGato]

Totally. Nick Folk says Sanchez will be the reason he succeeds or fails too. He likes the ball on the left hash inside the twenty when he kicks. If he gets the ball on the right hash at the 31, the miss is on Sanchez.

Also, if Shonne Green drops a pass, it's because Sanchez doesn't stretch the field enough to give Shonne room to bobble the ball before securing it.

And if Keller comes out on fire the first three games then dissapears for the next 12, it'll be because Sanchez is getting sacked by the left defensive end too often, which, as we all know, is Sanchez's fault since good Quarterbacks protect their own asses.

I'm going to score that a 1 based on the naht funny sarcasm.

I'd say that a good amount of those sacks Sanchez took last year comes and came from his indecisiveness and happy feet. Part of that was the OL play, but a whole lot of that is just being a bad QB. Aaron Rodgers has played behind a bad OL, that's why he's got a few career concussions. That doesn't stop him from being the best QB in the NFL. Peyton Manning switched out Glenn for a rookie in Ugoh one year. That didn't stop him from being the best QB in the NFL at that time.

[sirlancemehlot]

I'm going to score that a 1 based on the naht funny sarcasm.

I'd say that a good amount of those sacks Sanchez took last year comes and came from his indecisiveness and happy feet. Part of that was the OL play, but a whole lot of that is just being a bad QB. Aaron Rodgers has played behind a bad OL, that's why he's got a few career concussions. That doesn't stop him from being the best QB in the NFL. Peyton Manning switched out Glenn for a rookie in Ugoh one year. That didn't stop him from being the best QB in the NFL at that time.

Or, we can pay a good RT millions of dollars to do the job assigned to him. How is it that having a bad Rt is the quarterback's fault? Peyton Manning has taken his hits (see neck surgeries) Rogers has taken his hits (see: little birdies circling his head) and Sanchez has taken his hits. How are we mentioning these three in the same sentence? Two are experienced all-pro, possibly hall of fame caliber QB's. And they still have taken beatings. The other one is an inexperienced kid running a Shottenheimer offense that would confuse Copernicus. If Wayne Hunter sucks and gives up sacks, it's because Wayne Hunter sucks and gives up sacks. Damien Woody never had such issues. Perhaps Sanchez is the reason Woody was so good?

[SenorGato]

Or, we can pay a good RT millions of dollars to do the job assigned to him. How is it that having a bad Rt is the quarterback's fault? Peyton Manning has taken his hits (see neck surgeries) Rogers has taken his hits (see: little birdies circling his head) and Sanchez has taken his hits. How are we mentioning these three in the same sentence? Two are experienced all-pro, possibly hall of fame caliber QB's. And they still have taken beatings. The other one is an inexperienced kid running a Shottenheimer offense that would confuse Copernicus. If Wayne Hunter sucks and gives up sacks, it's because Wayne Hunter sucks and gives up sacks. Damien Woody never had such issues. Perhaps Sanchez is the reason Woody was so good?

Ooph.

Possibly you're intentionally not following. They pay Sanchez what...5x(?) what Hunter makes for a reason. Perhaps it's time for Sanchez...that poor inexperienced boy with only almost 60 NFL starts under his inexperienced belt...no longer bogged down by the weight of all the circles and x's in a Schottenheimer playbook...does the job assigned to him. It just happens to be at the positions that makes it easier for everyone else to do their job and look good.

[sirlancemehlot]

Ooph.

Possibly you're intentionally not following.

No, I'm following. At least I think I am. Hunter will be as good or as bad as Sanchez's play. Because Sanchez holds the ball too long or scrambles when he shouldn't. That's the argument right?

My argument is that if you have a weak link in the line, you need to replace him with a stronger one, particularly if your QB is not Manning or Rogers and needs an extra beat or two to get the ball off. Hunter has graded out very poorly among NFL RT's, or any OL in general. That's Hunter's doing. Lay the blame where it belongs, that's all I'm saying. Not everything that happens on the field can be the responsibility of a single player. If it was, Dan Marino would have a handful of rings.

[SenorGato]

No, I'm following. At least I think I am. Hunter will be as good or as bad as Sanchez's play. Because Sanchez holds the ball too long or scrambles when he shouldn't. That's the argument right?

My argument is that if you have a weak link in the line, you need to replace him with a stronger one, particularly if your QB is not Manning or Rogers and needs an extra beat or two to get the ball off. Hunter has graded out very poorly among NFL RT's, or any OL in general. That's Hunter's doing. Lay the blame where it belongs, that's all I'm saying. Not everything that happens on the field can be the responsibility of a single player. If it was, Dan Marino would have a handful of rings.

Or go out and hire an OC that specializes in OL play along with a brand new OL coach. Who's the stronger one anyway? Some rookie? Eric Winston, who will be making almost 3 times as much as Hunter?

Hunter has graded out very poorly in the one year he's started that grades are available to see. He's had an otherwise very solid 9(!) year career where he DID play well. The year he started happened to be for a bottom rung QB in a year when Mangold went down, Slauson played with a messed up shoulder, Moore had his hip thing, and D'Brick had a bad year himself. He doesn't need to be Damien Woody to be a serviceable starter.

In the NFL, especially right now, a whole lot can be attributed to the QB. That's why teams with QBs are perennial contenders with legitimate SB shots while everyone is just hoping to strike lightning. I think I'm laying the blame exactly where it belongs. Great QBs have played behind non-elite OLs before and thrived. That's why QBs, and not offensive tackles, are the highest paid.

FYI: The Giants entire OL graded out poorly last year. That only resulted in a SB. I wonder why...

[sirlancemehlot]

The year he started happened to be for a bottom rung QB in a year when Mangold went down, Slauson played with a messed up shoulder, Moore had his hip thing, and D'Brick had a bad year himself. He doesn't need to be Damien Woody to be a serviceable starter.

Right off the bat, I'm going to apologize for cherry picking this quote. I know you said a lot more. And I hate when a single line is pulled out of a full paragraph and attacked.

But you are saying that the entire line had a down year due to poor performance and injury. You also state that Hunter's performance was affected because he started for a bottom rung QB. The same QB D. Woody had no problem protecting the two prior years. You also state Hunter was solid for NINE years. As a backup. The guy couldn't crack the starting lineup in 9 years and suddenly he's good enough, regardless of what his grades and stats say? Isn't it possible Sanchez had trouble due to the bad oline, and not the other way around? Eli Manning had a better line than Sanchez. And Eli is a better QB with a ton more experience. Comparing the two says nothing about Wayne Hunter's poor performance.

[Bleedin Green]

Right off the bat, I'm going to apologize for cherry picking this quote. I know you said a lot more. And I hate when a single line is pulled out of a full paragraph and attacked.

But you are saying that the entire line had a down year due to poor performance and injury. You also state that Hunter's performance was affected because he started for a bottom rung QB. The same QB D. Woody had no problem protecting the two prior years. You also state Hunter was solid for NINE years. As a backup. The guy couldn't crack the starting lineup in 9 years and suddenly he's good enough, regardless of what his grades and stats say? Isn't it possible Sanchez had trouble due to the bad oline, and not the other way around? Eli Manning had a better line than Sanchez. And Eli is a better QB with a ton more experience. Comparing the two says nothing about Wayne Hunter's poor performance.

One thing you need to know about Gato is he's incapable of grasping the concept of more than one person being to blame for anything. As far as he's concerned, as long as Sanchez isn't an elite, future-HOF QB, every single thing that happens on the offense will always be 100% his fault. Everything from idiotic play calls that are destined for failure before the ball is snapped to a RT getting beat like a drum right off the snap is his responsibility.

The truth is a sh*tty RT has his job made easier by having an elite level QB, but a sh*tty QB also has his job made easier by having an elite level OL. When they both suck is when you start to have some serious problems, and the reality is that neither one is exempt from blame.

[SenorGato]

I just blamed like 5 people for Hunter's play last year, and I haven't even denied that he's one of them.

Fact is, the fact that the rest of the OL had down years themselves played heavily into the performance of both Sanchez AND Hunter. Sanchez, being the QB, is the one guy on the field who should be capable of overriding all of that. It's really not complicated what I'm saying but Bitter Green up there likes to make what I'm saying more complicated than it is.

[SenorGato]

Right off the bat, I'm going to apologize for cherry picking this quote. I know you said a lot more. And I hate when a single line is pulled out of a full paragraph and attacked.

But you are saying that the entire line had a down year due to poor performance and injury. You also state that Hunter's performance was affected because he started for a bottom rung QB. The same QB D. Woody had no problem protecting the two prior years. You also state Hunter was solid for NINE years. As a backup. The guy couldn't crack the starting lineup in 9 years and suddenly he's good enough, regardless of what his grades and stats say? Isn't it possible Sanchez had trouble due to the bad oline, and not the other way around? Eli Manning had a better line than Sanchez. And Eli is a better QB with a ton more experience. Comparing the two says nothing about Wayne Hunter's poor performance.

Damien Woody's big gift to the Jets was his ridiculous run blocking, not his pass protection. That said, I think it's fairly obvious that he's a significantly better player than Hunter. He's a better player than Hunter, and it still wasn't enough to win a Super Bowl. Why?

Hunter has had his moments as a starter as well. He did just fine filling in for Hunter at the end of 2010. Meanwhile, the grades and stats being given a tremendous amount more weight and stature are the ones from last year. It's fair because it's his first real season of being a starter, but that does not mean he's incapable of being a serviceable player at RT. Far, far worse players have guarded QBs before and those QBs (good ones) have lived to tell the tale.

Sanchez most definitely had trouble due to the OL play last year. Hunter had the same problem, as literally everyone on the OL had their worst years or damn near their worst years. Eli did not have a better OL, the same grades you're semi-citing for Hunter will tell you that. Sanchez had almost 40 starts going into last year and almost 60 going into this year. At some point "inexperienced" has to get thrown out. Now is about that time.

[Bleedin Green]

I just blamed like 5 people for Hunter's play last year, and I haven't even denied that he's one of them.

Fact is, the fact that the rest of the OL had down years themselves played heavily into the performance of both Sanchez AND Hunter. Sanchez, being the QB, is the one guy on the field who should be capable of overriding all of that. It's really not complicated what I'm saying but Bitter Green up there likes to make what I'm saying more complicated than it is.

What do I have to be bitter about? You're the one who months later still can't help but having every thread you post in have pouting about the fact that even the Jets have now said you were wrong about your man-crush. I just enjoy pointing out how much you like making an endless list of excuses for why it's not a person's fault when they suck a$$ at their job.

[T0mShane]

You know who's to blame? Schottenheimer. How St. Louis decided to trust him with their promising young QB after watching what he produced here with Clemens and Sanchez is a mystery.

[sirlancemehlot]

Damien Woody's big gift to the Jets was his ridiculous run blocking, not his pass protection. That said, I think it's fairly obvious that he's a significantly better player than Hunter. He's a better player than Hunter, and it still wasn't enough to win a Super Bowl. Why?

Because Sanchez couldn't tackle Rashard Mendenhall the entire first half of the Steelers AFC champiobship game, that's why.,

[Ryno the Jet]

You know who's to blame? Schottenheimer. How St. Louis decided to trust him with their promising young QB after watching what he produced here with Clemens and Sanchez is a mystery.

Whatever do you mean? Clemens turned out just fine. He signed with St. Louis to be a backup in Schitty's offense. Just like old times...

[Damaged89]

Because Sanchez couldn't tackle Rashard Mendenhall the entire first half of the Steelers AFC champiobship game, that's why.,

Yo, the defense sucked the first half but the offense was equally bad, if not worse. I'm on my phone and can't look it up right now but if you check the game log you'll see what I mean.

[sirlancemehlot]

Yo, the defense sucked the first half but the offense was equally bad, if not worse. I'm on my phone and can't look it up right now but if you check the game log you'll see what I mean.

Mendenhall rushed for 95 yards in the first half. The entire Jets offense rushed for 1 yard in the first half. Agreed the offense was bad. the rushing offense in particular. The jets then scored on passes to Holmes and Cotchery in the second half and got within striking distance. I remember it well. too well. The way we thumped NE prior to the Steelers game, i thought it was our year. Sanchez faced Manning, Brady and Rothlisberger and beat all three of them (Jets won in game 16 vs. Steelers 22-17). In NE Sanchez threw for 3 TD's and 0 ints's against Brady's 2 TD's and 1 Int. Earlier in the season he led a huge last second comeback vs. the Texans. Sanchez threw for 315 yds and 3 TD's including two clutch last drive throws to Edwards and Holmes. In weeks nine and ten, Sanchez throws for 336 yds and a TD and 299 yards and two TD's rrespectively. Making him the first QB in league history to win back-to-back overtime games on the road. Jets beat the Pats, Dolphins, Bills (2X), Vikings and Broncos, Bengals and Steelers in the regular season with Sanchez at the helm in only his second season. The kid's had some growing pains, but his surrounding cast hasn't helped much recently. The Oline in particular. No run-game, no playaction. No protection, no downfield passing. I think we need to be fair to the kid.