Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 June 8, 2008 Jets safety Smith gains edge with his smarts BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com June 8, 2008 There was no reason to doubt the statement from Jets coach Eric Mangini, but it was worth following up anyway. "Eric is a guy that is incredibly smart," Mangini said last week of third-year safety Eric Smith. That part wasn't what required the follow-up. The next was. "I think this might be a first," Mangini continued. "He turned down Harvard to go to Michigan State." Smith, quiet and reserved, seemed embarrassed when told of Mangini's comments, which were not meant to disparage Michigan State. "Coming out of high school, I could have gone to Harvard, I got accepted to both," said Smith, whose GPA at Groveport Madison High School in suburban Columbus, Ohio, was 3.95. "But they don't give athletic scholarships and that was a lot of money so I went with the scholarship." The 6-1, 209-pound Smith has progressed steadily since the Jets took him in the third round (97th overall) of the 2006 draft. He played in 15 games in 2006 - seeing time at safety and on special teams - and ended up starting four games at safety in 2007. Smith has higher aims this year and has spent all of this preseason as the starting safety opposite Kerry Rhodes. But the question is whether he can hold on to the starter's job. Smith got his first career start in Week 5 last season because starter Erik Coleman was sidelined with a concussion and he played well, recording 12 tackles against the Giants. But he was inconsistent after that and, after starting Week 6 against Philadelphia, Smith didn't start again until the third-to-last game of the season at New England. He said he took some confidence out of 2007 because he had gotten those starts but also discovered he had a lot to work on. "There's always room for improvement in everything, whether it's man-to-man coverage, zone reads, communicating back in the secondary," Smith said. "There's improvement to be made everywhere." Rhodes said he has seen some of that improvement during the recently concluded OTAs, and called Smith extremely "knowledgeable," not just in terms of knowing his job on defense, but everyone else's, too. "Every year you get another year under your belt you get more comfortable, more relaxed out there," Smith said. "You do less thinking and more playing." Smith's past, of course, suggests he can do both. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Mangini to top pick Gholston: No more watching soap operas HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. (AP) — Vernon Gholston's first big test of minicamp came before he even stepped on the field Friday for the New York Jets. "I've got a lot of catching up to do," the sixth overall draft pick said with a smile. "The first time I walked in there, I barely knew any guys and I had to name them all." That's hardly an easy task when there are 85 players on the minicamp roster. It's even tougher when you've missed the last three weeks of organized team activities and the first day of minicamp because of an NFL and NCAA rule that prohibits rookies from participating in more than one camp before their college class is finished with the semester. "I really haven't worked the names with the faces," the hulking linebacker said. "Coach put me to the test and I had to name the guys. I did OK on it. Some guys you haven't seen, so you have to grunt through it." FIND MORE STORIES IN: Oklahoma | Ohio State | Columbus | New York Jets | Patriots | Bucs | Chad Pennington | Thomas Jones | Goliath | Mike Tannenbaum | Days of Our Lives | Kerry Rhodes | Dustin Keller | Judge Judy Coach Eric Mangini poked a little fun at Gholston, saying: "Vernon made his appearance today." "I asked him a couple questions during the meeting this morning and one was OK — OK, with an asterisk — and one wasn't bad, a little bit better," he said. Gholston participated in rookie minicamp, but hadn't been back at the Jets' facility because Ohio State hadn't finished classes. The rule still applied despite Gholston not being enrolled in any classes this semester. "Once the quarter ended back in January, I just prepared for the draft because this is what's important to me and I wanted to prepare as hard as I could," he said. "With that being said, the rule is the rule and you have to abide by that. I was just pretty much back there (in Columbus) working out, studying as much as I can." Mangini kept Gholston posted on team matters during his absence, but wasn't necessarily going to cut him much slack while the rookie tries to catch up. "Well, it's not his fault that he couldn't be here, but it's not like he was getting his master's," Mangini said jokingly. "In between Judge Judy and Days of Our Lives or whatever's on during the daytime, you can study. There's some hours in the day, regardless of how many curls you're going to do." Apparently, Gholston has kept up on those. At 6-foot-3 and a ripped 264 pounds, he's clearly one of the most physically imposing players on the team. "He's a big dude," safety Kerry Rhodes said. "It's my first time seeing him in person and he's living up to that Goliath look they said." The players practice without pads during minicamp, but you might not know it watching Gholston line up on the field. "It's good to have someone on defense with comparable arms to Thomas Jones," Mangini cracked, referring to the beefy biceps of the team's running back. "When they go head-to-head in the weight room, we'll see what that looks like. He's going to have to roll up his sleeves like Thomas does." Gholston worked mostly with the second-team defense at outside linebacker in the morning and afternoon practices. During one stretch in the early session, he stood on the sideline in silence with his helmet in his left hand, watching intently as the first-team defense worked against the first-team offense. "Those guys came up to me and said if I had any problems or any questions to just come and ask them," he said. "That's big for me, coming in here for the first time and not really knowing where to line up in certain situations. I'm just trying to lean on them a lot and they helped me out a lot through this practice." He worked some on special teams, and showed off his speed in drills when he closed quickly on fellow first-rounder Dustin Keller after the tight end took a pass from Chad Pennington and turned up the sideline for a short gain. "I'm sure his head's spinning," Mangini said. "It looked a couple of times like he needed direction out there on the practice field. That's what you have and it's just the situation he was in with school, but he's back in the building and he's working with the coaches, the players and other rookies and we'll work to get him up to speed as quickly as we can." General manager Mike Tannenbaum said the team has started initial negotiations on a deal, but doesn't anticipate anything being done soon. Regardless, Gholston is only focused now on fitting in with his new teammates. "I'm just trying to get adjusted to the guys and to what's going on," he said. "It's a big learning curve, but that's what comes with the job." Copyright 2008 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Because, as Sam Cooke put it many years ago, another Saturday night and I ain Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Source Says TE Keller Making Strides During Camp Posted by Matt Loede on June 7th, 2008 filed in Features From: Pro Football Weekly With the headache that Chris Baker Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Jets Continue to Get No Respect Posted by Bob Bullock June 07, 2008 10:02PM I shouldn't expect it to be any different, but I keep waiting to get some favorable feedback for Gang Green from someone, anyone. Unfortunately, it never seems to be the case. So far, I've already read in Lindy's 2008 Football Preview that the Jets will finish 4th in the AFC East. That's right, 4th place BEHIND a FISH team that is building from the ground up and a Bills team that still has quite a few holes. That doesn't seem to matter though, because the Jets will be in last place according to all the "experts". Next, I hear on ESPN radio that the FISH should equal its win total from last season in week one, when they defeat the Jets. What that prediction is based on I have no idea, other than the fact that the Jets are just expected to be bad...AGAIN. It seems to me that it doesn't even matter who is lining up for the Green and White. Just being the Jets is good enough for everyone to pick the team to finish last. When the front office makes a move it is considered "being desperate". When they fail to make a move it is an organization that didn't address a major need area. Plain and simple, it is just the Jets being, well, the Jets. A team with little or no expectations for the coming season, as it is just about every year. Perhaps it is because the years the team is picked to do well, which is VERY rare mind you, they end up falling way short of those predictions. Whatever the case may be, we should all just expect to have negativity thrown at us from all angles as the season approaches. Be it lack of respect, lack of expectations, lack of a championship since 1969, or just lack of consistency from the entire organization, Gang Green is always viewed as a "sister of the poor" franchise. The team needs to earn the respect, which is the only way out of this perception from the outside world. It is the reason the Jets' players have a very difficult time making the Pro Bowl. It is a perception that these players don't deserve the right to go to Hawaii. Just like the team doesn't deserve the right to be considered a solid playoff team, even though the players listed on the roster says differently. I know we should all be used to it by now, but each season it gets more and more frustrating. We also all know the only way to change that perception will be by winning a championship. That will be the only way to change it, the only way for Gang Green to be viewed in a different light. Ok, that ends my poor, poor, pitiful Jets campaign that I felt it necessary to write today. The team ended minicamp and checked out the new practice facility today. The Jets will move in at some point during this year's training camp. In other notes, CBS Sportsline ranked both the D-Lines and O-Lines around the league. The Jets finished 19th overall, with the O-Line ranking 14th and the D-Line coming in at 22. The Chris Baker story continues, thanks to the media folks who have very little to write about at this point. It is nice to read the posts from around the web though, most of you are smart enough to be against Baker. Although the front office should have never let this get out of hand, as I mentioned on my last post. Just dump this guy fast please; it's Chris "freakin''" Baker for goodness sake, not some perennial pro bowler! Print This Page | Send To A Friend | Permalink (Learn More) Share: Reddit | Digg | del.icio.us | Google | Yahoo | What is this? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Nothing to see here folks The Jets spent the final day of their minicamp not at Hofstra but in New Jersey for a couple of team activities that were closed to the media. The team spent the morning taking a tour of the new Atlantic Health Training Center, where the Jets will move in September. In the afternoon, the team had a Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Year later, another Jets player is unhappy By GREG BISHOP Published: June 6, 2008 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Quick Hits: Final Thoughts, News & Notes From Hempstead Saturday, June 07th 2008, 2:05 am by Gary Grund The Jets have been featured on the front of the new Sporting News magazine, with the entire starting offensive line filling out the cover. The Jets have signed sixth-round draft selection, wide receiver Marcus Henry, according to Newsday Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Promises, Promises: Chris Baker and Pete Kendall By Toni Monkovic Tags: Chris Baker, Jets Jets tight end Chris Baker had his say today. Did he ever. On Pete Kendall Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted June 8, 2008 Author Share Posted June 8, 2008 Jets' Jones puts frustrations, McFadden talk behind him By Dennis Waszak Jr., AP Sports Writer HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
124 Posted June 8, 2008 Share Posted June 8, 2008 Jets Continue to Get No Respect Posted by Bob Bullock June 07, 2008 10:02PM I shouldn't expect it to be any different, but I keep waiting to get some favorable feedback for Gang Green from someone, anyone. Unfortunately, it never seems to be the case. So far, I've already read in Lindy's 2008 Football Preview that the Jets will finish 4th in the AFC East. That's right, 4th place BEHIND a FISH team that is building from the ground up and a Bills team that still has quite a few holes. That doesn't seem to matter though, because the Jets will be in last place according to all the "experts". Next, I hear on ESPN radio that the FISH should equal its win total from last season in week one, when they defeat the Jets. What that prediction is based on I have no idea, other than the fact that the Jets are just expected to be bad...AGAIN. It seems to me that it doesn't even matter who is lining up for the Green and White. Just being the Jets is good enough for everyone to pick the team to finish last. When the front office makes a move it is considered "being desperate". When they fail to make a move it is an organization that didn't address a major need area. Plain and simple, it is just the Jets being, well, the Jets. A team with little or no expectations for the coming season, as it is just about every year. Perhaps it is because the years the team is picked to do well, which is VERY rare mind you, they end up falling way short of those predictions. Whatever the case may be, we should all just expect to have negativity thrown at us from all angles as the season approaches. Be it lack of respect, lack of expectations, lack of a championship since 1969, or just lack of consistency from the entire organization, Gang Green is always viewed as a "sister of the poor" franchise. The team needs to earn the respect, which is the only way out of this perception from the outside world. It is the reason the Jets' players have a very difficult time making the Pro Bowl. It is a perception that these players don't deserve the right to go to Hawaii. Just like the team doesn't deserve the right to be considered a solid playoff team, even though the players listed on the roster says differently. I know we should all be used to it by now, but each season it gets more and more frustrating. We also all know the only way to change that perception will be by winning a championship. That will be the only way to change it, the only way for Gang Green to be viewed in a different light. Ok, that ends my poor, poor, pitiful Jets campaign that I felt it necessary to write today. The team ended minicamp and checked out the new practice facility today. The Jets will move in at some point during this year's training camp. In other notes, CBS Sportsline ranked both the D-Lines and O-Lines around the league. The Jets finished 19th overall, with the O-Line ranking 14th and the D-Line coming in at 22. The Chris Baker story continues, thanks to the media folks who have very little to write about at this point. It is nice to read the posts from around the web though, most of you are smart enough to be against Baker. Although the front office should have never let this get out of hand, as I mentioned on my last post. Just dump this guy fast please; it's Chris "freakin''" Baker for goodness sake, not some perennial pro bowler! Print This Page | Send To A Friend | Permalink (Learn More) Share: Reddit | Digg | del.icio.us | Google | Yahoo | What is this? Bob Bullock just became my new favorite writer. His words, unfortunately, are so true. How can anyone pick Miami to beat us Week 1, let alone play better than us throughout the year? Incredible. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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