Jets' air game set for takeoff

[Kentucky Jet]

Jets' air game set for takeoff

By Dennis Waszak Jr. • The Associated Press • August 15, 2010

CORTLAND — Mark Sanchez is ready to take aim and fire this season.

The Jets' quarterback has plenty of targets to throw to, and he's poised to air it out more in his second year in the league.

"I feel like I'm really starting to jell with these receivers," Sanchez said. "It's been really good so far. We're excited. We don't want to let up on the gas pedal."

That's a far cry from last season, when Brian Schottenheimer's offense was a run-heavy unit — "Ground-and-Pound," as coach Rex Ryan labeled it. The running game will still be a big part of things, but the Jets are hoping to confuse defenses by throwing more often.

"We had the No. 1 rushing offense in the league last year, but a lot of teams didn't see us as a threat in the passing game," wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. "We've brought in some guys who can attract a lot of attention and we can beat you both ways now."

Sanchez, who set a rookie franchise mark with 2,444 yards passing, will have Cotchery, Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes, Brad Smith, Laveranues Coles, tight end Dustin Keller and even LaDainian Tomlinson among his pass-catching options.

"It's pick your poison," Cotchery said. "This is something that's very rare. To be able to get guys over here that are still young and still have a lot to offer, I'm just happy we were able to get those guys so we can make this run for a Super Bowl."

Edwards is getting in a full camp with Sanchez after being acquired from Cleveland early last season. Despite the lost time, Edwards still managed 35 catches for 541 yards and four touchdowns after he got to New York.

Holmes told Ryan he thinks Edwards could return to his 2007 form, when he caught 16 touchdown passes, and be a top receiver in the league. The former Super Bowl MVP also spotted some flaws in Edwards' mechanics.

"It means a lot coming from him and we work off each other," Edwards said of the praise. "Since he's come here, it's been nothing but fun and positive and constructive criticism. We're getting better, and add Jerricho Cotchery into the mix, our standards are high."

(2 of 2)

Holmes, acquired in the offseason from Pittsburgh, gives the Jets a legitimate deep threat with a great pair of hands. He's also coming off the best season of his career after catching 79 passes for 1,248 yards and five TDs.

"Truth be told, that's all myself, Jerricho and Braylon do is sit on the sideline and talk about how great we can be," Holmes said. "We're constantly pushing each other to the max."

Holmes will sit out the first four games of the season after being suspended for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. He doesn't believe that will hurt the chemistry he's building with Sanchez.

"I told Mark that I'll stay in contact with him throughout the whole time that I'm away, just picking up some of the little things that they do," Holmes said. "I'll stay at home and watch TV, watch the games which have been played, just to learn and grow from there."

There's a mutual respect among the receivers, as well as a friendly competition.

"We started this thing where if you have a nice release or a nice route, nice catch or something, we'll say, 'I'm downloading that after practice,' " Cotchery said with a smile. "You're out there, running a good route and you run back to the sideline, it's, 'Wait 'til you see this route when we watch film. I'm telling you, you're going to want to download this one.' It's all good-spirited and we're having a lot of fun out there."

If that can translate onto the field during games, that could mean trouble for defenses. The Jets ranked 31st in the league in passing offense — only Cleveland ranked lower — but that's expected to go way up.

"We want to score points more than we did last year," Sanchez said. "Touchdowns over field goals, and that's going to come with me making better decisions in situations in the red zone and on third down, giving us a chance to convert."

The offense has held its own against the defense during training camp, something that was rare last season as Sanchez learned on the job as a rookie. Despite having so many sets of hands looking to have passes thrown to them, Sanchez doesn't feel pressure to keep his receivers happy.

"I'm not picking a guy before the snap and saying, 'OK, he needs two catches this drive and he needs one,' " Sanchez said. "One day, it's going to be somebody's day. The next day, it will flip-flop. That's just the way it is. Big play by committee and big game by committee."

[#27TheDominator]

This may be great. Sanchez biggest problem is supposedly reading defenses and picking out the proper receiver. That may be why they ran so many routes with guys packed together. Sanchez seeemed to throw very well withroutes where he threw to a predetermined guy. With this talent it may be easier to spot a mismatch pre-snap. That should lead to some easy plays. It seems like Keller is ripe for that kind of stuff and they used it at the end of the season and in the playoffs. They should get the same from LT and McKnight out of the backfield.

[Kentucky Jet]

This may be great. Sanchez biggest problem is supposedly reading defenses and picking out the proper receiver. That may be why they ran so many routes with guys packed together. Sanchez seeemed to throw very well withroutes where he threw to a predetermined guy. With this talent it may be easier to spot a mismatch pre-snap. That should lead to some easy plays. It seems like Keller is ripe for that kind of stuff and they used it at the end of the season and in the playoffs. They should get the same from LT and McKnight out of the backfield.

another year of experie3nce will assist MARK to read defenses quickly and accurately. I expect much more production from the air game of the Jets this year. I think the JETS WEST camp he held really solidified the communication between him and his receivers. A full camp with EDWARDS etc is going to help greatly.

[Larz]

getting that gosh darn safety outta the box even 30% more often will change everything

[Sharrow]

With Edwards, Holmes, Cotch, and Keller on the field, somebody's got to be open every play. If we have a good QB this year, we're going to dominate. Other than the QB, has there ever been a better team on paper (including Revis)?

[s dubb]

Every rookies biggest problem is supposedly reading defenses and picking out the proper receiver.

Fixed

[L.S. Dylan]

We are stacked in the passing game. I can't wait to see us fly.