Training Camp Report – 08/09/08

By Brian Clark

Out of all the camp sessions I’ve been to this is by far the loudest, most packed, and definitely with the most enthuiasm. There were people in Jets jerseys all throughout the Hofstra field, as the Jets Shop had 7,000 Favre jerseys in stock ready for sale.

For the first time in a long time I heard a J-E-T-S JETS JETS JETS chant (multiple times), as well as chants of the players names on nice plays. The bleachers were packed from one end zone to the other. It was at least 2 deep along any fence line, as there definitely was more fans here than most weekend sessions combined.

Favre looked great, considering he is looking at a new playbook. He worked with the first team, and even on long incompletions, he got a roar from the crowd. He made a few Brett Favre type plays, squeezed a few in tight to Chris Baker., threw an interception (he does have the NFL record in them), but also had flashes of brillance. On one play he hit Cotchery on a deep post route, as Cotchery while getting tugged on from behind, pulled it in with 1 hand and took it for a touchdown. The whole place went crazy and it really showed the potential. He even looked good going through his progressions and hitting the dump off routes as needed.

As for the other QB’s, I wouldn’t be surprised if Ratliff takes over Clemens at this point. KC looks weak, really it just doesn’t seem in sync with any of the receivers. Ratliff has looked really good once again, and just looks poised in the pocket. In the final drill both players had 70 yards to go with 1:15 left on the clock, down 8 with 1 timeout. Kellen converted 1 4th down to Cotchery over the middle, but then fizzled out, just looking out of sync. Ratliff did a hand off inside. The on the next play hit Brad Smith on a 20 yard slant which he split the safeties on and took it deep for a 65 yard TD. Then on the 2 point conversion, Ratliff hit Leon out of the backfield for a good 2 point conversion which would have tied up the score with 32 seconds left.

David Clowney continues to impress, and is just doing well. Getting alot of balls thrown his way because he is running good routes. On one play, a reverse, he took it to the outside after a good seal block by the right tackle, then due to a great block by Wallace Wright who took out 2 guys with one tackle, gave Clowney the sideline for a long touchdown run. Last year’s 5th round pick of Green Bay is definitely trying to take advantage of his chance here.

Chansi Stuckey also played well. The best thing about him is he runs such crisp routes. On one, he was being picked up by a safety, the safety tried to stiff him a few yards off the line, he did a shoulder dip to brush off the contact then a crisp cut into the opening in the zone for a 15 yard catch. He made a few similar great routes. I’ve always been big on Stuckey but as long as he stays healthy he will be a big contributing factor this year.

David Harris was back in practice today and looked pretty mobile. It seemed that although he had had been practicing hard on the side during previous sessions, he didn’t seem to be inhibited at all during practice.

I didn’t wait around to find out who was signing autographs since I was not gonna try to deal with traffic especially when I didn’t have anything to sign.

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