Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Share Posted September 17, 2008 Jets release punter Graham By Jane McManus The Journal News Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Jets face adversity in San Diego Wednesday, September 17, 2008 Everything seemed to be going the Jets Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Rookie TE Dustin Keller having trouble connecting with Brett Favre BY RICH CIMINI DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Tuesday, September 16th 2008, 8:55 PM Simmons/News Brett Favre and Dustin Keller haven't been able to connect as the rookie tight end has just one catch in the Jets' first two games. It was one of the feel-good moments in the preseason, Dustin Keller catching his first touchdown as a pro and later receiving the football as a souvenir, autographed, from the legend who threw it. "He's got tremendous talent," Brett Favre said that night of the rookie tight end. "I hope he has a lot more of those." That informal ball presentation was their last significant hook-up. In two games, Keller has had only one pass thrown in his direction, a 19-yard completion in the fourth quarter of Sunday's loss to the Patriots. He was an afterthought in the game - used in only 14 of 49 plays - and that's hard to believe, considering the playmaking ability he showed in the preseason and the state of the offense. The Jets wanted Keller so badly that they traded back into the first round, selecting him 30th, but they've failed to integrate him into the offense. Maybe it's the coaches' fault or maybe Keller isn't ready for an expanded role. Whatever it is, they need to get him up to speed because of his speed. He's a wide receiver in a tight end's body, a matchup nightmare for any defense that covers him with an in-the-box safety or a linebacker. That is what the Jets told us in the summer, but they're letting a potential weapon collect dust in the gun rack. On Monday, Eric Mangini hinted that Keller still is prone to mental mistakes. He lumped the other top draft picks, linebacker Vernon Gholston and cornerback Dwight Lowery, into the same category. "You know, there is some growth with these young guys," Mangini said. Fair enough, but if a rookie has a unique skill set, he should be on the field. Lowery is starting and playing well. Keller should be more involved. Against the Patriots, Keller was deployed primarily with three wide receivers and one back. If the Jets use him more in the base package, splitting him out wide, it should create the desired matchup. Next up: the Chargers (0-2), a made-to-order opponent for Keller. The Chargers can't cover anybody (597 passing yards allowed), least of all tight ends. In the season opener, the Panthers' Dante Rosario made seven receptions for 96 yards, including the game-winning grab as time expired. The Broncos' Tony Scheffler ripped them for six catches, 64 yards and two touchdowns. Historically, it takes time for tight ends to develop. Of the 12 first-rounders since 2000, the only impact rookie was former Giant Jeremy Shockey, who made the Pro Bowl in 2002. It's a tough position to master because of the varied responsibilities, but the Jets should let Keller do what he does best: Catch and run. Pat on the back On Monday, Bill Belichick had some nice things to say about the Jets, especially their defense. That he provided unsolicited praise for his former team is a rarity but he singled out several players and raved about NT Kris Jenkins. "Jenkins is a force in there," Belichick said. "There is no doubt about it." Jenkins was so dominant that he made his predecessor, Dewayne Robertson, look like a jayvee nose tackle. Jenkins recorded six solo tackles, one sack, two tackles-for-loss and disrupted countless other plays. After two games, the Jets are allowing only 3.1 yards per rush (fifth in the league), down from 4.2 in 2007. So far, Jenkins is worth his weight in gold - all 360 pounds - and that's no bullion. Stuckey on you Brett Favre's most reliable target? Try WR Chansi Stuckey, who began the season with no career receptions. Favre has attempted seven passes to Stuckey, resulting in six completions - including three third-down conversions and a celebrated fourth-down prayer in Miami....Has anybody seen WR Brad Smith? He's still looking for his first catch. Gholston just a ghost after disappearing act Vernon Gholston's only memorable moment against the Patriots came when he wasn't supposed to be on the field, resulting in a 12-men-on-the-field penalty. Removed from the nickel package, he appeared in only 12 of 59 defensive snaps and made no tackles. "I wouldn't say it's disappointing," said the linebacker, the sixth pick in this year's draft. "When the starters get tired or hurt and they need me to come in, I try to act as if I'm a starter." He didn't take his role reduction as a demotion; he said the Jets used a different nickel package, designed specifically for the Patriots. Gholston is off to a slow start as compared to, say, Patriots rookie LB Jerod Mayo (10th pick this year), who hasn't missed a play in two games. But Gholston is learning a new position, which is slowing his growth. Jets finally give the boot to Aussie punter Graham Punter Ben Graham, who barely survived after a rough 2007, was waived Tuesday after a miserable game Sunday against the Patriots. The Jets didn't announce a replacement, but Reggie Hodges is believed to be the favorite. Hodges auditioned along with Josh Miller and Waylon Prather. Hodges punted for the Rams and Eagles in 2005 and was most recently cut from the Patriots' practice squad. Graham sealed his fate with his first three punts on Sunday, netting only 26, 29 and 14 yards. Graham signed with the Jets following a distinguished career in Australian Rules Football. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Monday provides Bolts chance to turn it around Kevin Acee (Contact) Tuesday, September 16, 2008 The Chargers have to win Monday against the New York Jets. It isn't likely anyone at Chargers Park will say that with such conviction. But, essentially, that is what they are saying. That's really what Norv Turner meant when he told his team in a meeting two days ago that it will be a testament to the people in that room how they react to being 0-2. It's really what Matt Wilhelm meant when he said, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Jets Kick Graham Out the Door Posted by Bob Bullock September 16, 2008 10:09PM The Jets made the right move today, giving the boot to inconsistent punter Ben Graham. He not only had an AWFUL game this past Sunday, but also had a bad year last season as well. Add to that the fact that Graham can't even step in as an emergency kicker when needed and this move makes a lot of sense. The team hasn't announced the signing of his replacement yet, but reports indicate that the team had several players in for workouts. I like this move a lot. I'm not just talking about the personnel decision, but the message it sends to the rest of the team. It is all about accountability, something this Jets organization hasn't had for a very long time. Here is hoping that the message was heard loud and clear and the players are ready to step it up. They will need to, as a cross country trip to play a desperate Chargers team on Monday night awaits. "We're going into a tough situation. [The Chargers] were expected to be a tough team this year and they're in a hole now at 0-2. They're going to come to play with something to prove. It's going to be a tough game," said Jets' safety Kerry Rhodes. A perfect game for the Jets to prove they ARE for real this season. Getting a win this week would go a long way in showing just what kind of team Gang Green can be. I know it is still early, but it may just be put up or shut up time for the Green and White. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Mangini needs to let Favre wing it for Jets BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com 9:05 PM EDT, September 16, 2008 Eric Mangini was perturbed. Well, as perturbed as the stoic Jets coach can get in public. Asked several different ways Monday about the three consecutive Thomas Jones runs called by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer that netted zero yards near the Patriots' goal line in the second quarter, resulting in an unfulfilling field goal, Mangini sighed. "If we knew ahead of time what was going to work and what wasn't going to work, we definitely would call those runs that are going to work," Mangini said. "Yeah, we have of a lot of different plays that we can call there," Mangini said of the run-run-run sequence. "If I knew which one was definitely going to hit, I would call it." His sarcasm was warranted. Coaches take their share of sniper-fire sarcasm -- in print and on the airwaves -- by reporters and everyone else who have the benefit of calling the plays after the games have ended. Returning fire -- and the passive-aggressive manner in which Mangini did it qualifies -- is fair. But his answers also obscured the overriding problem with those play calls, which were a microcosm of the Brett Favre era with the Jets thus far: hamstringing the quarterback with game plans at times conservative enough to seem scripted by the late William F. Buckley. One glaring case from Week 1 in Miami was when the Jets took over at their 18-yard line with 3:21 left protecting a 20-14 lead. After three Jones runs, including on third-and-7, the Jets punted and Miami had the ball at its 39 with 1:43 left, a chance to win it. The Dolphins nearly did, denied by Darrelle Revis' acrobatic end zone interception with five seconds left. The rationale with taking the ball out of Favre's hands there was the percentages being against the Dolphins driving the long field inside of two minutes with no timeouts. But what separates the great baseball managers from the average ones is the ability to stare down the percentages and conventional wisdom -- the dreaded "book" -- and say, "not this time." Or, to bring it back on topic, saying, "We traded for Brett Favre because of the possibilities he brings, not only with what's in our playbook but what isn't in the playbook." Which, again, can be applied to the bridge-to-nowhere play-calling on the goal line Sunday. Nothing wrong in theory with running the ball behind a rebuilt offensive line, especially with the Jets having some success to that point on the ground. But . . . Why was it again the organization pulled the trigger on the Favre deal? Right. The three straight runs were also wholly inconsistent with what amounts to a Jets core value. Spoken by Mangini almost as often as those values -- trust, communication, focus and finish -- is the description of the Jets as a "game plan-specific team." An example: Asked before the Miami game if Chad Pennington might have an advantage having spent the first part of training camp with the Jets, Mangini said the quarterback might have some insight, "but we're a very game plan-specific team." Basically meaning this: constructing a weekly game plan that attacks a given opponent's weakness rather than a this-is-what-we-do, try-and-stop-it approach. Which Sunday, down by the goal line, should have meant not attacking New England's strength, which is its front seven. "You can learn a line from a win and a book from a defeat," Paul Brown, often credited with the attack-the-weakness approach, once said. The Jets don't need to take a book's worth of lessons from Sunday into Monday night's game in San Diego. The 0-2 Chargers are this week's poster child for "desperate" after losing by a total of three points to the Panthers and Broncos. The Chargers might be better than their record and there might be a flukish element to their last-second losses, but they've also given up an average of 293.5 yards passing per game. Only the horrific Rams (327.5) have been worse. Good thing the Jets are game-plan specific. The Chargers don't look as if they can cover the pass, and the Jets have just the quarterback to exploit that weakness. They need to let him at least try to do it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 8 Josh Miller P Height: 6-4 Weight: 225 Year: 12 Yrs/Pat: 4 Acquired: FA(PIT)-04 School: Arizona Born: Jul 14, 1970 Queens NY Related Media Video Vignette: Josh Miller and Lonie Paxton at Media Day Related Articles Patriots claim rookie OL Chris Patrick off of waivers; Release P Josh Miller and C/G Brian Barthelmes Patriots place P Josh Miller on Reserve/Injured list Release: Patriots sign Josh Miller Personal -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Miller was born on July 14, 1970 ... Lettered in football, basketball and track at East Brunswick High School in East Brunswick, N.J. ... Earned All- State honors in football and track ... Played wide receiver in addition to handling placekicking and punting ... Played guard on basketball team and was a decathlete in track ... Married (Angie) with a daughter, Olivia Ryan, (6/16/01) and son, Caleb Steele (5/3/03). Career Transactions -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Josh Miller was signed by the Patriots as a veteran free agent on March 15, 2004 ... Played for the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League from 1994-95 and was signed into the NFL by the Seattle Seahawks in the spring of 1996 ... Released by Seattle and signed by the Pittsburgh Steelers as a free agent (8/14/96) ... Placed on injured reserve (12/19/02) ... Released by the Steelers (3/6/04). Career Statistics -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Regular Season Punting Year Team G/S No Yds Avg Net Lg TB 20 Blk 1996 Steelers 12/0 55 2256 41.0 33.6 61 8 18 0 1997 Steelers 16/0 64 2729 42.6 35.0 72 11 17 0 1998 Steelers 16/0 81 3530 43.6 36.8 73 12 34 0 1999 Steelers 16/0 84 3795 45.2 38.1 75 10 27 0 2000 Steelers 16/0 90 3944 43.8 37.5 67 8 34 1 2001 Steelers 16/0 59 2505 42.5 35.5 64 5 23 1 2002 Steelers 16/0 55 2267 41.2 33.1 62 5 14 1 2003 Steelers 16/0 84 3521 41.9 36.0 72 8 27 1 2004 Patriots 16/0 56 2350 42.0 33.7 69 5 19 0 2005 Patriots 16/0 76 3431 45.1 38.3 59 4 22 1 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Totals 153/0 704 30328 43.1 NA 75 76 235 5 Career Highlights -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Career GP/GS: 154/0 (9/0) Miller has played in 154 games in his 10-year career and enters the 2006 season having punted 704 times for 30,328 yards, good for an average of 43.1 yards per kick. Miller has shown a knack for placing his punts deep in his opponents' territory, placing 235 career punts inside the 20-yard line, with just 76 career touchbacks. In 2005, Miller finished fourth in the NFL with a 45.1 punt average, a figure that ranks second in singleseason Patriots history (Tom Tupa, 45.8, 1997). Miller recorded just four touchbacks in 2005, the fewest among the NFL's top 10 punters. Miller sealed the Patriots' Super Bowl XXXIX victory by pinning the Eagles deep in their own territory with a 32-yard punt that was downed at the Philadelphia 4-yard line with 46 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter. Miller has shown a knack for placing his punts deep in his opponents' territory, placing 213 career punts inside the 20-yard line, with just 72 career touchbacks. Miller's consistency as a holder helped Adam Vinatieri set a franchise record by hitting an NFL-best 93.9 percent of his field goals (31-of-33) in 2004. Including a 48-for-48 performance on extra points, the trio of Miller, Vinatieri and long snapper Lonie Paxton produced 79 successful kicks in 81 attempts (97.5 percent). Miller's best statistical season to date was the 1999 season, when he was selected as a Pro Bowl alternate, averaging 45.2 yards per kick and gaining a net average of 38.1 yards. Both his net and gross averages ranked third in the NFL and second in the AFC. In 2000, Miller placed 34 of his 90 punts inside the 20-yard line, tying his career high (1998) and finishing second in the NFL. Miller led the NFL in 1998 by placing 34 of his 81 punts inside the 20-yard line. Miller boomed a career-long 75-yard punt at Jacksonville in 1999, tying him for the secondlongest punt in Steelers history. Miller played for two seasons with the Baltimore Stallions of the Canadian Football League (1994- 95), and led the CFL in punting average in each of his years in the league. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kentucky Jet Posted September 17, 2008 Author Share Posted September 17, 2008 5 REASONS JETS FANS CAN HOPE YES, THEY CAN: The arrival of Brett Favre is only one reason the Jets figure to be OK this year, despite their disappointing loss Sunday to the Patriots. Posted: 2:36 am September 17, 2008 YES, JetsNew York Jets fans, you're still down and a bit rattled by Sunday's loss to the Patriots after such high hopes followed you into Giants Stadium. But, in an early analysis just two games into this season, there are reasons to be cheerful. Here are five reasons this is a much better Jets team than the futile product you watched stumble to 4-12 last year. * Pass rush: The Jets, quite simply, didn't have one last year, producing only 29 sacks in 16 games, a meager average of 1.8 per game. Through two games this season, the Jets have seven sacks, an average of 3.5 per game, which puts them on pace for 56 for the year. The additions of LB Calvin Pace and DT Kris Jenkins have already paid dividends and they figure to get even better. And how about LB Bryan Thomas , who was nearly invisible last season with 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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