8/12/2010 Jets Camp Report – Morning

Via @DKnyj

The overall tone of the practice today was pretty relaxed. We started following the defense and they started off with some Tip Drills, working on blitz packages, etc… Rex was tossing the balls in the tip drill, it was nice to see him involved. At one point he said, “Now Marino’s got it goin’!” – now it’s one thing to joke about having Marino’s arm, but to do it as the head coach of the New York Jets? Eh… Will give Rex a pass on this one.

It was clear that the most audible guy out there was Cromartie. He has a great energy level, bordering on goofy at times. I just hope he is taking this seriously, but it is good to see him out there, loose and really enjoying himself. Kris Jenkins also had a couple of outbursts encouraging teammates, but he also couldn’t stay onsides. It was curious to see that he didn’t have to run any laps!

In terms of the offense, it wasn’t a great day in 7 v 7’s and 11 v 11’s. There were very few impressive completions today. It seemed at times Sanchez was sitting on some decisions. I’m hoping to see him sharper in the PM practice, and able to anticipate some guys getting open. There were certainly a lot of checkdowns – which I think we’ll all agree the offense and Sanchez needed to improve upon from last year greatly. It will raise his Completion percentage a few points and possible gain some big plays out of Tomlinson and McKnight

Speaking of McKnight, they had a drill with LB’s covering the RB’s… He was impressive. He made a couple of “redonculous” moves and got some ooh’s and aah’s from some teammates. He also seemed focused and has some good hands. Good to see him making progress in lieu of Leon’s absence.

Nick Folk looked really sharp this morning. He was 6 for 7 on field goals, the one miss coming from a Braylon Edwards block. Awesome to see them putting him in there, although I wouldn’t be surprised to see him get one or two flags this year for jumping off some lineman’s backs.

I think the play of the day is up for debate… I’ll let you guys be the judge!

1) In WR vs. CB 1 on 1’s Marquice Cole lined up against Braylon Edwards. As Edwards broke into his route, Cole Jammed him VERY hard at the line, and got a hand up in the face. This was right in front of the entire WR core and a bunch of DB’s and they all erupted with Ohhhhh! It was pretty obvious that it kind of stunned Braylon. Here’s the kicker, he was able to shake it off, run an up and out, and O’Connell put a ball in the air about 35 yards down field, he went up and got it as he was falling out of bounds, and somehow was able to keep his feet in. UNREAL grab. It got me thinking… do we need to get Braylon a little angry to get him going and super focused? You could tell that as soon as he got hit in the face, he kicking into another gear of “angry focus” and was uber-determined to make the catch.

2) At the very end of practice, it seems it was Drew Coleman’s turn to kick the last field goal. It had to be 40+ yards… He toed the crap out of it (I’m played soccer in college and it makes me cringe when I see them toe the ball) and it was long enough…. And just went wide right (thx to Manish Mehta of the Daily news for the confirmation on that – you can follow him on Twitter – @theJetsStream. The entire team still went nuts, it was fun to watch.

Thanks to Center City Bar & Grill for a great office and allowing me to set up my remote office!

Final Thoughts…

Great morning! Sorry to get sentimental on you guys… but I’m here with my dad who is on the heels of some very intense Chemotherapy. He is battling Lymphoma and we are hopeful, but I just wanted to say thanks to Phil and company at Jetnation.com for letting me participate. Please, please… the next time you watch a Jets game or practice, or any Jets related show on TV and you are with your dad, or son, daughter, mom, friend… realize how lucky you are to be sharing it with someone you truly care about. Without my dad the Jets wouldn’t mean nearly as much and I feel so blessed to be here with him and enjoying this experience.

Via @DKnyj

Tom

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