Please welcome another summer intern, Stephen Haynes, for his "Inside the Jets" debut. I understand that Eli Manning and Michael Strahan are big fans of his.
By Stephen Haynes
Darrelle Revis and Kellen Clemens, two of the fledglings the Jets expect to play big roles in the coming years, struggled in today’s morning practice.
Revis, the first rounder who wowed scouts with his 4.39/40-time and hip fluidity, looked shaky during the agility drills (almost fell once) and during scrimmages, he spent more time with the special teams unit than defense. Didn’t look too nimble on punt returns, either. And when he did line up at cornerback, Jericho Cotchery burned him for a touchdown on a drag route in the goal line drills. He also dropped an interception.
Clemens, who might be the quarterback of the future, was up down and during the morning session – but mostly down. He made a few good throws to his right, but floated most of his passes to the left. He threw behind tight end Joe Kowalewski a couple times and almost got picked off by Revis during a 2-minute drill. On a hitch route to Brad Smith, Clemens telegraphed the pass – to his left – and lobbed it. Revis jumped the route and the ball hit him between the numbers, but it deflected off his pads.
Clemens did look good later on a play-action rollout to his right when he threw on the move and hit Kowalewski in stride for a touchdown. But overall, he was unimpressive and didn’t demonstrate the accuracy he’s been lauded for.
In contrast, Chad Pennington was sharp throughout, connecting on all but three of his attempts with the velocity he showed early last season. According to Eric Mangini, Pennington spent the off-season adding muscle and toning his body.
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If the Jets practiced indoors and dimmed the lights, you’d think you were in a nightclub and the Run n’ Throw was a new Atlanta hip-hop dance.
Rick Ross songs blared as the players stretched before the morning workouts; the music possibly a Mangini motivational tool. If the players ignored the drug references in the lyrics and focused on the chorus, they were reminded to “Push It To The Limit” and keep “Hustling.”
The DJ – yes, the Jets have one – drew bemused stares from a couple players when he put on Kriss Kross, though. I guess they thought that track selection was “wickity-wickity wack!” And the quarterbacks orchestrated the always-frenetic 2-minute drives with Chris Martin crooning in the background.
Comments (6)
hip fluidity? i have their second CD. not as good as the first.
Yeah, but the art work was so much better.
I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be reply to comments, but what the hell...
Hip fluidity is something that scouts look for in cornerbacks. It's how well a guy is able to transition from his back pedal into a sprint and mirror the receiver on sharp cuts. A corner who runs fast but is stiff in the hips is one who'll get burned often. Straight-line speed is good, but corners have to defend more than just the go route.
What?, are you sure "Hip Fluidity" is an album and not a DVD?
Let's relax a little. This was Darelle Revis' 7th week as a pro. How many practices has he had, like 10 between rookie sessions and this most recent mini camp? Mark my word, by the end of training camp Darelle Revis will be one of our starting CB's. His head has to swimming right now trying to absorb all the new schemes.
The future will indeed be now when the likes of Revis, David Harris and possibly other rookies like Chansi Stuckey are making solid contributions in their first year.
Jets rolled the dice this year when they plucked Reavis and Harris. It will be difficult to judge their contributions this year because they are rookies. Unfortunately for us Jet fans we need Reavis and Harris to make solid contributions this year as opposed to future years otherwise it would of been a better gamble to draft more players as opposed to a few. I have been a diehard Jet fan and will give Mangini and Tannenbaum a C+ for making the playoffs last year but I am not yet convinced that these guys are the future management gurus that everyone thinks they are. It is extremely important for the Jets to get off to a good start this year and if they don't we could be in for a long season. I agree that the front office should place character as a major attribute to selecting players to fit their program but I prefer to go with talent provided of course that the player in question has marginal character issues. We all want great moral leaders and we should make every attempt to bring those players in but to lose sight of some minor character flaws would be a mistake. All too often we forget that these are young men who have yet to learn how to deal with publicity and unfortunately not all come from great family environments. Most athletes today are of color and we are too quick to be so judgemental of their character flaws and we should try to be more understanding of their hardships before we judge their moral conduct. I am all for players with great moral character but am also a proponent of bringing in players that have special football talents and have a passion to play the game of football. I would overlook immature mistakes provided that they were isolated and am more interested in the Jets being more balanced with their decion making concerning talent and moral character.
Rudy, You are a fool. Be less judgemental of athletes because they grew up in deprieved enviroments. Get a life you bleeding heart liberal. These pampered jerks had the oportunity for a free college education. We have soldiers dying for our freedom who dont get the type of pampered treatment that these players do. Like Herm Edwards stated many times. It's a priviledge to play in the NFL. If the High Schools and Colleges drop the ball and let these thugs play then they deserve the mess that they created. But guess what the NFL doesn't have go along with them. THEIR IS NO EXCUSE FOR BEING A THUG. KEEP IT REAL AND BE A MAN NOT A CRIMINAL!!!