LB seeks 10 sacks this season

[Kentucky Jet]

Personal-Best Pace? LB Seeks 10+ Sacks

Posted by Eric Allen on August 20, 2010 – 10:16 am

After 2½ weeks, 20 full-team practices, six special-teams workouts, one scrimmage and two “Hard Knocks” episodes, the New York Jets waved goodbye to Cortland, N.Y. this morning. While the team has a championship plan, OLB Calvin Pace hopes to help the Green & White get there by racking up a double-digit sack total.

“That’s my goal. I need to get there, just to be more consistent with my pass rush, especially with the additions that we’ve made with Antonio Cromartie, Jason Taylor and Brodney Pool,” Pace told me this week. “A lot of guys haven’t talked about him, but Brodney’s been a good addition for us and that’s the way you get sacks. It’s not just a guy beating a guy, it’s good coverage behind you and right-place-right-time sometimes. I definitely need to take my game to another level and get double digits.”

Despite missing the first four games last season, Pace’s career-high eight sacks led the Green & White. The 6’4”, 265-pounder, in his third season with the Jets, has enjoyed working with another sackmaster in Taylor.

“It’s been great. He’s bought into our team’s goals and our mentality. You would think he’s been here for years. It’s been fun playing with him and just watching him. There’s a reason why he has 120-something sacks [actually 127.5] — he’s been playing this long and he works at it every day,” said Pace. “It’s always good for me to have another player’s perspective. He might see something different than me and just talk about different formations, how an offensive tackle might set. He might beat a guy on a certain move and we just talk and just share notes.”

The Jets had a very good defense in 2009 but they failed to close out three games, tied for 18th in sacks (32) and tied for 13th in interceptions (17). It’s fair to expect more pressure early in September as the Jets will have Pace to start the season, Taylor can still bring the heat from the edge and his presence means more rest for CP and Bryan Thomas. Other teams must be praying for a long Darrelle Revis holdout because this has the makings of a special defense.

“This year our focus has been playing a full 60 minutes, not just playing 58 and giving a team a two-minute drive to win it or tie it. That’s what we have to do,” Pace said. “Instead of just being good, we have to be dominant. We’re just focusing on closing games out and you always can have more turnovers to get the ball to the offense to help them out. But be dominant — that’s our goal this year.”

Weeks: Rex a Knockout on “Knocks”

A college roommate and teammate of both Rex and Rob Ryan at Southwest Oklahoma State, Jets OLBs coach Jeff Weeks stopped by the Jets TV tent Thursday to give us his take on “Hard Knocks.”

“Rex, he is the show, he is unbelievable,” Weeks said. “Everything he says is funny, but the big thing I like about Rex is he has such a great sense of humor and he’s a great football coach and I think that’s what you’re seeing after show No. 2. He doesn’t have to use F-bombs and as you noticed, he didn’t. They showed him coaching a little bit and he coaches every day. He’s an unbelievable coach, a great coach and a great leader for us.”

One of the funniest moments of Episode 1 was when the coaches looked at the video of Weeks’ locker and spotted tanning spray.

“I just had to continue my tan. I’m from South Texas, living down at the beach, and I was minding my own business out here tanning,” said Weeks. “Vito [Contento], our equipment guy, started telling me, ‘Hey, put on your shirt.’ I was just trying to come out here and get some peace of mind in these beautiful hills of upstate New York.

“One thing about our staff is when they find one thing about somebody, they’re going to bust you. The next thing I know, I had a jogging-without-a-shirt fine and a tanning fine. But I’m waiting for Hawaiian Tropic or Banana Boat to contact me because I think we could have a hell of a commercial.”

When we got down to talking some serious football, Weeks called Pace a “star” and he’s also been impressed with Taylor’s complete game.

“Jason knocked three balls down in the last two practices, so there have been a lot of batted balls with him,” the coach said. “He can come in and rush the passer. I think everyone knows he can rush the passer. But he’s buying into what we do on the run. An excellent football player, he’s a great leader in the locker room and he’s going to fit in with BT and Calvin.”

Nobody on the Jets’ coaching staff was happy with the team’s second-half performance Monday night and Weeks says the reserves have to step up Saturday night against the Panthers.

“We’re going to go out to Carolina and see who’s going to be a Jet. We know our ones and I think we proved that on Monday Night,” he said. “We’re going to go out and see who can come out — offense, defense and special teams —and make our 53.”

More Weapons = More Headaches

The Jets are excited about Mark Sanchez’s development. Before the team left for Charlotte, N.C., head coach Rex Ryan said Sanchez was the facet in which the Jets have improved the most this offseason. The fact that they added a pair of tremendous receiving targets in WR Santonio Holmes and RB LaDainian Tomlinson haven’t hurt things, either.

“I think we’ll be able to beat you both ways now,” said veteran WR Jerricho Cotchery during a recent JetsTV interview. “Last year we were a great running team but once everyone took away that run, we weren’t able to be as efficient in the passing game. Now I think we’re going to be able to do so. We have a lot of weapons that are going to give you a lot of headaches. I think we’ll be hard to handle this year.”

Last season the Jets finished first in the NFL in rushing and next to last in passing. It wouldn’t be a surprise to see them remain a top-five rushing team but move into the top half of the league in passing.

“Mark has taken control of this entire team,” said Cotchery of the second-year passer who against the Giants completed 13 of 17 for 119 yards with 1 TD and 1 INT. “Speaking offensively, he has done a great job of getting us in and out of the huddle, making sure we’re playing with that great tempo, the way we were playing the other night. He did a great job this entire offseason and training camp.”

No matter how the Jets start out of the gate, they’ll have the luxury of knowing that Holmes is slated for a Week 5 return after serving his four-game suspension. Holmes, who averaged 15.8 yards on 79 receptions last year in Pittsburgh, is a fantastic route runner, blessed with great hands, and he’s been a sponge this summer learning the new system.

“I’ve been very impressed with him since he’s been here. He’s done a great job of picking up the offense, communicating with everyone, making sure he knows the details of everything as far as concept-wise in the passing game,” J-Co said. “He’s going to be hard to handle out there and he’s going to open it up for everyone on the field, so I’m looking forward to it.”

[Ghost]

Pace nearly got 10 last year playing in only 12 games. He needs to hit double-digits this year.

[visajets]

Calvin Pace healthy and playing all 16+ games anything is possible. He looks to be in the best shape of his career.

[Kentucky Jet]

Calvin Pace healthy and playing all 16+ games anything is possible. He looks to be in the best shape of his career.

I think Pace is going to have an excellent year and get double didgit sack figures. I see the same for Jason Taylor. I believe we are going to have a very strong passrush thus making our CBs even better! I wonder if Mevi$ feels that way too.

[SenorGato]

Pace is our best LB and I expect his best season to date.

[Bergen Jet]

Pace will end up with 10 sacks... The team will see a drastic increase in total sacks though. We have a ton of players that can end up with a half dozen sacks or more in this defense.