I had a few thoughts from the final minicamp that I just got back from. I spent the majority of the time watching the offense/quarterbacks today because I spent the majority of the time yesterday watching the defense. - In 11 v. 11 drills Sanchez was able to lead the team down the field for a touchdown to Wallace Wright (I'm pretty sure). It was a great catch by Wright and the offense went crazy when he caught it. -Other than this one drive I thought Sanchez had a shaky practice. He did not make decisions fast enough and there were several times during drills where he clearly would have been sacked. Clemens is a lot quicker releasing the ball in the offense, which is to be expected. I thought he had a very good practice. Interesting side note, Clemens hit a pooch punt at around the 5 yard line while Sanchez's was returned by Leonhard to about the 40. (Great return by Leonhard) - As many people have noted, Dustin Keller looked really good today and yesterday. His routes are sharp and I don't think he dropped the ball today. He is also a great guy, he stays pretty much after everyone else taking pictures and signing autographs. - Other than the pooch punt return Leonhard picked off Sanchez on a tipped ball so he had a good practice. - The one thing I noticed is that the team seems to be having a ton of fun on the field. Ryan keeps everything light and is usually hanging around the defense/ playing quarterback during defensive drills. Guys are going hard during practice but you can tell that they are having a good time out there. (I have never been to a Mangini practice so I'm not comparing it to that) Sanchez, Keller, Shonn Greene, Feely and others stayed after for autographs today. Sanchez was mobbed but as far as I can tell he signed for everyone. When I left he was still signing with a huge crowd. Got Sanchez, Greene, and Keller on a ball today and a few more other people on a hat. Saving the ball for the good people! I'll add anything if I can think of something I forgot.
I just got back from Florham Park, will post my report and pictures shortly. I was also doing almost play by play updates on twitter (mirrored on the site's home page).
I truly hate that place. No bleachers for fans, quite a few swamps around the facility... I really wonder what part of their bodies those idiots were using when designing the place and selecting that area....
I was there today, too, but I was just taking notes. I gotta transcribe them to my blog (and then post them here) pretty soon.
I didn't see any swamps. I think it is a beautiful facility in a great location. It is new, give it time for them to get it oriented for fans. They only have had a few practices there open to the public.
The practice does seem light and fun. Yesterday, at the end of practice I saw Mangold wrestling one the defenders and Jenkins came over and pulled him off. Mangold got up and did the wrestling signal for back points. It was all in fun. I also saw ellis walk over to the offense during drills trash talking (again in fun). They banter a lot with each other in good spirit. I think it is good bonding/team building.
There's no place for bleachers there, unless they want to remap practice fields. Woody sure seems to have had fans in mind....
I think the facility is nice Petro. I agree with the bleachers though, I don't know how they will figure that out. I just want to know what the SUNY Cortland campus looks like and how training camp will look there this summer. I plan to go up for a couple days.
I think the facility is pretty amazing and I think they will get some bleachers in there somehow soon enough.
not to mention a long walk from the parking lot to the facility... this thing is as fan "friendly" as it gets
Its not really fan friendly, I agree. Not yet atleast. Still was fun. The walk from your car is longer than at Hofstra. I hope they eventually move training camp there though.
http://www.jetsdaily.com Today's practice, I spent a lot of time watching the quarterbacks again because, let's face it, it's the most important positional race on the team and it's the easiest thing to look at in practice. Neither of the quarterbacks really stood out. Both had a few hiccups practicing out routes, but against actual defenses, here is how they did. Clemens was 11-15 in a variety of 4 on 3's, 6 on 7's, and 11 on 11's, having some success moving the ball and completing his last seven passes. He had a pair of touchdowns, one to Dustin Keller, who beat everybody's favorite secondary whipping boy Drew Coleman and another to Wallace Wright. Sanchez was a mostly shaky 13-20, but in an 11 on 11 drill towards the end of practice, he completed his last six passes, culminating with a fade to Wallace Wright in the corner of the endzone for a touchdown. This prompted excited teammates to chant "Wallace, Wallace" after the grab, while the fans were cheering the throw. Sanchez himself was happy to end the practice on a good note. The key receivers on that drive were Wright, who caught the touchdown, and David Clowney who had four receptions. The biggest difference between the two quarterbacks at this point is the decisiveness. The newly signed Sanchez has been hesitant, often holding onto the ball for too long. Anybody can tell by watching the two quarterbacks which one is the veteran and which one is the rookie because Clemens makes his reads much more quickly than Sanchez does at this point. The game needs to slow down for the golden boy, and there's no reason to expect that it won't. Hopefully, Rex Ryan never uses the "s" word by saying Sanchez is "swimming" learning the offense. We all saw how well that went for Vernon Gholston (who actually had a few pressures in yesterday's practice that I forgot to mention). Clemens was far from perfect though. Most of his completions were short, and he tended to struggle landing the deep ball, overthrowing a few deep passes. He probably doesn't offer a whole lot of upside, but he also rarely made mistakes. Sanchez, on the other hand, did throw one interception, and it was once again Eric Smith making the play after a James Ihebdigo tip. He also fumbled one snap. As for Smith, this was his fifth interception in the three day camp, making him the clear top performer. Still, don't expect him to challenge Jim Leonhard for a starting job, at least not yet. Players that caught my eye were Dwight Lowery, who had another nice pass deflection today. Also, I must add that the quarterbacks must be pretty smart because they barely throw the ball in Darrelle Revis's direction. D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Damien Woody both looked bigger than last year. The offensive line sealed really well on an outside run by Shonn Greene that he would have broken for a long gain if it was real. Greene is being given a lot of respect by the coaching staff, as he's right there behind Thomas Jones and Leon Washington in terms of reps, including on the goal line. Finally, it's time to mention the punting battle, where both Reggie Hodges and T.J. Conley had good practices. Reggie Hodges punted well, averaging 45 yards on four punts, including one booming 55 yarder angled towards the sideline. But it was Conley who had the slightly better day, averaging 45.9 yards a punt, including two 55 yarders with good hang time. As for the people receiving the punts, Chansi Stuckey muffed one Conley bomb. More interesting was the Music City Miracle-style lateral play the Jets ran on another Conley boomer. Jim Leonhard received the punt, took a step and then threw it across the field to Darrelle Revis for a good gain.
