Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Share Posted September 13, 2008 JETS CLUED INTO BELICHICK'S MANIPULATION By MARK CANNIZZARO PAT ANSWER: As soon as quarterback Tom Brady (second from right) goes down for the season with a left knee injury, Patriots coach Bill Belichick (left) begins motivating his players to see themselves as underdogs in tomorrow's game at the Jets.Posted: 3:46 am September 13, 2008 There's little question that the master manipulator has been tugging at the strings of his puppets behind closed doors in the Patriots' bunker up in Foxborough, Mass., this week - probably tugging like he's never tugged before. One of coach Bill Belichick's motivational cries since the moment the Patriots lost Tom Brady for the season to a left knee injury has been how his once-powerful and dominant team is now an underdog against the new-and-improved Brett Favre JetsNew York Jets for their game tomorrow at Giants Stadium. There have been plenty of props out there to help Belichick to illustrate his point. First, the bookmakers installed the Jets, losers of nine of their past 10 against the Patriots, as three-point favorites. Then there have been the panicked callers dialing into sports radio in New England, wondering aloud how the Patriots possibly can survive without Sir Tom behind center. Those are followed by the gleeful Jets fans in New York, who are rejoicing in their team's new-found chance to overtake the hated Patriots in the AFC East, a division New England has won six of the last seven seasons. The rest of the country, too, has been weighing in on how the "balance of power" has shifted in the AFC because the Brady-less Patriots have fallen back to earth with the rest of the mere mortals. If you don't think Belichick is reminding his players that the world doesn't think they can succeed with inexperienced backup quarterback Matt Cassel starting his first regular-season game since he was in high school in 1999, you don't know Belichick very well. By the time his players hit the field tomorrow at what will be a positively amped-up Giants Stadium, Belichick is going to have his team so wound up in the hypnotic "us-against-the-world" mindset, the Patriots will be frothing at the bit, like an overanxious horse at the gate of a big race. Jets coach Eric Mangini knows this because he has lived it as an assistant to Belichick. Mangini knows most of Belichick's tricks. Damien Woody, the Jets' right tackle, signed as a free agent this offseason, knows those tricks, too. Woody played for the Patriots from 1999 to 2003. A stint that included the 2001 season, when quarterback Drew Bledsoe was knocked out by the Jets' Mo Lewis, an injury that forced Belichick to insert an unheralded sixth-round draft pick named Tom Brady into the lineup for the rest of the season. You know the rest. So Woody has a good idea about what Belichick has been saying to his players behind those closed doors this week. "Trust me, those guys aren't feeling sorry for themselves, I can tell you that right now," Woody told The Post. "But they'll put themselves in the underdog situation and they thrive off that situation. "Belichick is working that angle. I guarantee he's working that angle. He might not say it publicly, but he's working that angle." Because of Belichick's uncanny motivational skills, the Jets are wary of the wounded Patriots coming here to ruin their home opener. "Bill does a great job of getting everybody on exactly the same page in terms of what's important that week," Mangini said. "That's all it's ever about: What's important now, nothing about the past, nothing about the future. "When you get a group of people doing that and really understanding what has to be done to win the game, it's powerful. Bill does an excellent job of that." Jets veteran linebacker David BowensDavid Bowens told The Post yesterday that anyone who thinks the Patriots are going to come to New Jersey and proceed cautiously with Cassel at quarterback is grossly mistaken. "Belichick is probably saying, 'We're going to do the same things - even with Tom not in there,' " Bowens said. "We're expecting them to throw everything at us that they would with Brady in there. I highly doubt they're going to scale anything down. "They're going to be out to prove that they're a great team even without Brady." mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Thomas working harder then ever BY RODERICK BOONE | roderick.boone@newsday.com September 13, 2008 FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Maybe it was because he had enjoyed such a breakout season in 2006. Perhaps it was because he landed a five-year, $25-million contract extension late in that campaign. Whatever the case, Bryan Thomas didn't exactly do all the little things last season - the extra work away from the practice field - and the UAB product allowed a bit of complacency to set in. "That's normally not me," the Jets' 2002 first-round draft pick said after practice Friday. "I feel like I'm a hard-working guy, try my best to go out there and work hard, study film, study my opponent and everything. Those things I didn't do as much last year. So those things I'm doing now - that I started in OTAs - and I've got to continue the rest of the season." Thomas regressed from a statistical standpoint in 2007 and saw his numbers dip in two major categories: sacks and tackles. He had 2 1/2 sacks, six fewer than in 2006, and 47 tackles, 30 fewer than the previous season. However, he's off to a good start in 2008. Thomas had a solid preseason and didn't miss a beat in the Jets' season-opening win over the Dolphins. He was flying all over the field, racking up two sacks, collecting four tackles and recording a pair of quarterback pressures from his outside linebacker spot. "Bryan is really a talented guy," defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. "He's big, he's rangy, he's got very good speed. I think he is kind of finding his niche and he's done a really good job to improve himself from a knowledge and understanding standpoint of his position. He's becoming more of an expert at it." Jets coach Eric Mangini looked beyond Sunday's statistics sheet and came away impressed with some of the intangible things Thomas did, such as staying in his run gap. That's always a key to limiting the number of cutback lanes for opposing running backs. "He's been very good in terms of the running game, being stout in the running game, being able to control the line of scrimmage," Mangini said. "I think that his level of understanding continues to get better." But there's at least 15 games to go, and Thomas isn't about to proclaim he's going to have a Pro Bowl-type season. For now, he's just going to continue to lean on his regained work ethic. "This year, I feel like I put a lot more effort into it," Thomas said, "and hopefully it will show throughout the rest of the season." Notes"es: Just as they were Thursday, DB David Barrett (shoulder), WR Laveranues Coles (thigh), DE Shaun Ellis (hand), WR Marcus Henry (calf) and CB Justin Miller (foot) are listed as questionable ... For the Patriots, WR Sam Aiken (knee), LB Eric Alexander (calf), WR Jabar Gaffney (knee), CB Lewis Sanders (head) and TE Benjamin Watson (knee) were limited in practice and are listed as questionable ... Sutton isn't counting on the Patriots to falter much without Tom Brady. "They are a great football team," he said. "I think over the years they've prided themselves on that and the fact the team isn't bigger than any one individual. They've got an excellent group. They haven't lost a game in the regular season in quite a while. So I don't think it will change. They got enough pieces of the puzzle there that they are going to keep doing what they do." SUNDAY Patriots at Jets 4:15 p.m. TV: Ch. 2 Radio: WEPN (1050), WABC (770), WRCN (103.9) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Matt Cassel hasn't been the starting quarterback since his senior year at Chatsworth (Calif.) High School, and no amount of time there or as a backup at USC got him ready to play "Meet the Press" this week in Foxborough. So he wasn't exactly comfortable as he addressed reporters as the New England Patriots' starting quarterback. "Not at all, I am not going to lie," Cassel said. "I am getting kind of hot. Maybe we need to get a fan in here next week or something." A week ago, the New England Patriots were easy favorites to beat the Jets tomorrow in a 4:15 game at the Meadowlands. Tom Brady's season-ending knee injury, however, meant that the Jets' defense wasn't staring at a two-time Super Bowl MVP, but instead someone who got a little nervous under the lights. "I don't really like to make comparisons to myself and Tom," Cassel said. "Tom is who he is and he was the MVP of the league last year. I am who I am. I am just going to go out and try to execute and play my game, whatever that might be. We will see come Sunday." If he sounds a little inexperienced, consider that Cassel looked pretty good after Brady went out in the first quarter. Jets defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said that was all the motivation he needed to show the Jets' defense. "That's the one advantage with video," Sutton said, "because you can flip on that one play." It's the play where Cassel hit Randy Moss with a 10-yard touchdown pass after starting the series on the Patriots 2-yard line. Later, Cassel found Moss for a 51-yard completion in game where he was 13-for-18 passing. Cassel played at USC, behind quarterback Carson Palmer. When Palmer graduated after winning the Heisman Trophy, Cassel competed with Matt Leinart for the starting job, and ultimately became the backup before being briefly moved to tight end. Cassel's performance against the Chiefs in the opener, however, keeps the Jets' defense from relaxing. "You have to position yourself and gear yourself toward him being great," Jets safety Kerry Rhodes said. "You don't want to play a guy thinking he's not going to be a good player this week. So you always want to prepare for his best effort or the team's best effort." Cassel is, however, an unknown quantity. The Jets have had to prepare differently, but several defensive players pointed out that the Patriots didn't go out and procure another, more experienced quarterback even though some might be available. They stayed with the player who has been in their system. "I don't know what else it could say," Patriots quarterback Bill Belichick said. "That's it. He's our quarterback." And that's for whom the Jets prepared. "There are some definite things that are different about Matt and Tom stylistically," Jets coach Eric Mangini said. "The system I think is going to remain consistent. The weapons he has available are consistent, but how he goes through his whole operation is going to unfold here. Some of that we're going to have to adjust to as the game goes on." Jets quarterback Brett Favre, who has been in the NFL for 18 seasons, said that Cassel could be ready to take over for Brady, and that playing behind Brady should have been an advantage. "I think he's followed in the footsteps of somebody who's been pretty damn good," Favre said. "And he obviously handled himself well the other day. He's probably going to tell you guys he's ready, he's worked for this opportunity and that's all true and I think he'll do fine." Notes: The Jets released their final injury report leading into tomorrow. Place-kicker Mike Nugent (thigh) and wide receiver David Clowney (shoulder) are out. Defensive backs David Barrett (shoulder) and Justin Miller (foot), wide receivers Laveranues Coles (thigh) and Marcus Henry (calf), and defensive end Shaun Ellis (hand) are questionable. Reach Jane McManus at jmcmanus@lohud.com and read her Jets blog at jets.lohudblogs.com. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Jets, Favre must be on guard vs Pats Brett Favre is sacked by Kendall Langford of the Dolphins on Sunday. Rothstein for News Favre hopes to remain upright against the Patriots. Last September, Patriots defensive end Jarvis Green sacked Chad Pennington so hard that the then-Jets quarterback was forced to miss a week with an ankle injury he struggled with the rest of the season. In December, another Patriots defensive end, Richard Seymour, sacked Jets quarterback Kellen Clemens, forcing him out of the game - and sidelining him for the next week - with a rib injury. When the Patriots - who are missing their own quarterback, Tom Brady - come to the Meadowlands on Sunday, the Jets hope to stop the streak of having their QBs knocked out of action at the hands of New England. Chief among those concerned is the Jets' new QB himself, who has started a record 276 straight games. "They're extremely good at their scheme - knowing where to be, reading what you're doing, pattern reading and things like that," Brett Favre said. "They're just savvy. It's not that you're going to outsmart them; you have to outplay them. That's easier said than done." The Jets' offensive line play has been one of their biggest problems against the Patriots, and in general. In their last five meetings, the Patriots have racked up 18 sacks. Overall, the Jets allowed 53 sacks last season, fourth-most in the NFL. That contributed to the injuries that hampered Pennington and Clemens all season. As a result, well before they got Favre last month, the Jets invested heavily in solidifying the offensive line. They spent a combined $65million to bring in seven-time Pro Bowler Alan Faneca at left guard and Damien Woody at right tackle. That shored up the line with sixth-year right guard Brandon Moore, third-year center Nick Mangold and third-year left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Patriots coach Bill Belichick says there is already a noticeable improvement. "When you look at last year's games and this year's games, you see a difference," Belichick said. "Faneca is a seven-time Pro Bowl guard. He is a real good football player and gives them outstanding play at that left guard position - a lot better than they had last year." With high hopes for this season riding on a 38-year-old future Hall of Fame quarterback, the offensive line has to be better than last year. Favre, in turn, makes it a little easier on his offensive line; he gets rid of the ball quickly and he is constantly moving, making it hard for defenders to bring him down. Still, the Dolphins sacked him three times last week. Seeing Brady suffer a season-ending knee injury last Sunday has given the Jets' offensive line yet another reminder of how important it is to protect Favre. "You always want to protect the quarterback and as an offensive lineman I think that is the main part of your job," Mangold said. "But anytime you have something like that happen you are definitely going to take it personally." POINTING IT OUT: Jets defensive coordinator Bob Sutton emphasized that while the Patriots will be without Brady on Sunday, they still have a formidable offense. "There was not an abrupt change in how they play their game," Sutton said of Matt Cassel replacing Brady in Sunday's victory over the Chiefs. ... There were no changes to the Jets' injury report. Patriots WR Sam Aiken and TE Ben Watson were put on the report as questionable. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Jets have better QB in rivalry (for a change) September 12, 2008 It Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 September 12, 2008 A primer on the injury report Under the NFL's current rules regarding the reporting of injuries by teams, the Wednesday and Thursday reports are considered 'participation reports,' because the only information given is whether the player practiced full, limited or not at all. Friday is the real 'injury report' in which the team estimates the players' chances of playing Sunday. At least that's how it's supposed to work. Very rarely do the Jets ever list anyone as probable; questionable seems to be their favorite designation in the Eric Mangini era. Consider that last week, WR Laveranues Coles, DE Shaun Ellis, DB David Barrett, RT Damien Woody, CB Justin Miller and WR Marcus Henry all were listed as questionable. According to the NFL, that is supposed to mean the player has a 50-50 chance of playing. [Doubtful means a 75% chance he will NOT play, and probable means 'virtual certainty' that the player 'will be available for normal duty.' Out is self-explanatory. WR David Clowney (collarbone) and K Mike Nugent (thigh) are out for the NYJ this week.] Coles, Ellis and Woody all started; Barrett played. Miller and Henry did not. Today, all of those players except for Woody were listed as questionable. I suspect Coles and Ellis will start, Barrett will play, and Miller and Henry will not. New England also listed five players as questionable on its injury report: WRs Jabar Gaffney [knee] and Sam Aiken [knee], CB Lewis Sanders [head], TE Ben watson [knee] and LB Eric Alexander [calf]. It will be interesting to see how many of them play. Obviously, New England has been accused many times of fudging its injury report. Injury reports themselves are a sad reminder of the physical toll football takes on a player's body. My colleague, Ian O'Connor, wrote a thought-provoking column in Friday's editions about Wesley Walker, the legendary former Jet who now is beset by constant pain, 19 years after his career ended. I've interviewed Walker on numerous occasions and he's a terrific person who is very upbeat in public, and it's sad to see what he has to go through. He had some interesting thoughts about the Jets' days at Shea which I'll be using for a story later this month as we get closer to Shea's final regular-season Mets' game. - September 12, 2008 at 09:22 PM | Permalink Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 O'Connor: Former Jet is a prisoner of pain Thursday, September 11, 2008 Last updated: Thursday September 11, 2008, EDT 11:06 PM By IAN O'CONNOR RECORD COLUMNIST In the small hours of night, Wesley Walker is no longer a football star rewinding his glory days and summoning the echo of a sellout crowd’s roar. He is merely a prisoner of his own pain, another victim of a blood sport that often leaves its most virile men whispering the prayers of a desperate child. God, please make it go away. Wide awake at 3 a.m., his battered 53-year-old body raging against the hits taken and the needles absorbed over 13 years with the Jets, Walker often asks his maker for relief that never comes. Devastating NFL injuries were all over the news this week, from Tom Brady’s to Shawne Merriman’s, reminding that generations of predecessors are out there suffering in relative silence, men who played a game packaged and promoted as a simulated exercise in war. Walker is the face of those veterans, a once-chiseled star reduced to an atrophied father of three grown children who hate seeing him in such a diminished state. The wide receiver who averaged 19 yards per reception for his career, a franchise record, and whose 71 touchdown catches ranks him second (behind Don Maynard) on the Jets’ all time list, said he hasn’t felt his feet since he quit playing in 1989. Sometimes the numbness is a blessing, the best available option on the board. The pain that attacks Walker from within is so relentless, he can’t separate the body parts that hurt from those that don’t. One doctor thought he might have Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Fifteen months back, while suffering from spinal stenosis and the lingering effects of the nerve damage he endured at the end of his playing days, Walker had fourteen screws and a plate inserted into his neck. But the Jets’ signature deep threat, the receiver with the breakaway speed, can’t run away from his occupational hazards. His torso has caved in. He experiences tingling in his arms and hands. He gets chest spasms that feel like heart attacks. Walker fears a stormy weather forecast: the rain makes his body hurt even more. His life is a blur of revolving medicines and exhausting doctors appointments. Some days he can barely tie his shoelaces. Some nights he’ll get out of bed and go to McDonald’s to escape the searing , stinging stillness. “Or I’ll just sit up and stare out the window,” Walker said the other day, “wishing it will stop. If I knew then what I know now, I don’t think I would’ve even played football.” Man, did he play football. He was an All-American at the University of California, a second-round pick of the Jets who would’ve been a first-rounder if not for the surgery performed on his right knee. In 1977, Walker arrived in New York, he said, “as a black hippie from Berkeley. I wanted to be Jimi Hendrix.” He became a Pro Bowl receiver instead, accounting for 1,169 yards and a 24.4-yard average in his second year. Legally blind in one eye, the six-foot, 180-pound Walker grew into one of the Jets’ most popular figures. But his wasn’t a charmed career. Walker said the Jets’ locker room was often polluted by petty jealousies and divided along racial lines. The receiver had bitter confrontations with management that led to contract holdouts. “I had to fight for every penny they gave me,” Walker said. He made $30,000 to start, $770,000 to finish. In between, Walker’s unmitigated love for the game and his unbridled fear for his job inspired him to do things he now regrets. Walker took cortisone shots in his injured knee and shoulder so he could suit up on gamedays. “You didn’t want to be a sissy,” he said. Football left him with a torn rotator cuff, a knee that required draining, and a bulging disc in his back. In 1986, the season he managed 12 touchdown catches, including his famous four against the Dolphins in the Jets’ 51-45 victory, Walker said he woke up one morning to find the left side of his chest as flat as a tire. “In one training camp I hit a guy and I felt like I was paralyzed,” Walker said. “I tried to run and I couldn’t move. Guys were trying to high-five me and I couldn’t lift my arms.” The injuries finally drove him out of the league and into a new line of work. Walker became a phys ed teacher at a high school in Queens. One day, a 14-year-old student bumped into Walker in a pickup basketball game, and the electric jolt that flashed through the teacher’s limbs sent him crashing to the court. Walker has suffered a slow but sure physical erosion ever since. Surgeries on his shoulder, neck and spine have done little to improve his quality of life. “The pain isn’t just physical, it’s emotional,” said his daughter, Taylor, captain of the NBA’s Nets dance team. “People don’t understand how it takes a toll on a family. My father would dance with me when I was little, and now there are mornings he can’t even get out of bed.” Walker’s older son, John, understands the cost of chasing athletic success better than most. John was an all-everything lacrosse player at West Point who played his senior season after undergoing surgery on his lower spine. John took the same cortisone shots his father did to stay on the field. “If you’re an athlete,” John said, “playing is the most important thing in your life.” As an assistant lacrosse coach at Fort Monmouth’s West Point Prep, John worries about his former classmates who are fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan; his injuries prevented him from joining them on the battlefield. Like his sister and brother, Austin, a lacrosse player at Johns Hopkins, John also worries about his father and the disability claim recently rejected by the NFL and its Players Association. Walker is teaching phys ed at Park View Elementary in Kings Park, N.Y., and the league and union he once served as a player rep denied his application on the grounds that Walker’s employment prevents him from being classified as totally and permanently disabled. Walker was a friend and admirer of Gene Upshaw, the late union chief, but he can’t understand how 13 seasons of blood, sweat and tears doesn’t qualify him for help. Barbara Comerford, a disabilities expert and Walker’s Wyckoff-based attorney, is appealing the NFL’s decision. “Wesley has very serious injuries,” Comerford said. Those injuries won’t stop Walker from teaching his grade schoolers, even if that means the NFL won’t grant him disability benefits. “It’s the only thing that keeps me going,” Walker said. “I love making kids happy. I’m a big kid myself. It’s physically draining, but I can’t let my students down.” Walker gets by on his teacher’s salary, on his early retirement pension, and on the six hundred bucks a month he gets in workman’s comp. He isn’t concerned about the money nearly as much as he’s concerned about his health. Walker knows he’s hardly alone in the struggle. He knows dozens upon dozens of former NFL players are ; Dennis Byrd, Al Toon and Wayne Chrebet are among the many former Jets teammates dealing with the cruel consequences of a violent game. Though major league baseball, the NBA and the NHL offer fully-guaranteed contracts, the NFL prefers a play-for-pay model that encourages players to get out of the tub. The end result is pain. “I have no control over mine,” Walker said, “and I just want it to go away.” His old team opens at home Sunday against an opponent missing the league’s best player. Three hours of head-on collisions between the Jets and Patriots will be met with the approval of a delirious Giants Stadium crowd. Wesley Walker isn’t sure which team will prevail. He’s only sure that the final tally won’t be clear until long after the final whistle is blown. E-mail: o’connor@northjersey.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 09/12 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Quiet rookie Lowery makes noise on field for Jets By DENNIS WASZAK Jr., AP Sports Writer 2 hours, 4 minutes ago AP - Sep 13, 1:25 am EDT NFL Gallery FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 13, 2008 Author Share Posted September 13, 2008 Forbes: Giants, Jets among NFL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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