OTAs: Clemens shows off rocket arm Welcome to Day 6 of the Jets? OTAs (organized team activities), the second day open to the media. Here?s what?s happening: ? This is why Kellen Clemens is so intriguing to the organization, why he has a chance to win the ballyhooed QB competition against Chad Pennington. In today?s practice, Clemens threw a gorgeous, 45-yard completion up the right sideline to Laveranues Coles. Everything about it was impressive: He showed accuracy (he placed it over Coles? outside shoulder, just beyond the reach of CB Darrelle Revis) and arm strength (the ball got to Coles before S Kerry Rhodes arrived with deep help). I?m not saying Clemens is better than Pennington, but plays like that make the organization imagine what could be. ? Aside from disgruntled TE Chris Baker, top pick Vernon Gholston is the only player not in camp. Gholston is back at Ohio State, finishing the school year. By league rule, rookies can?t attend spring camps until their college class is finished for the semester. CB Dwight Lowery (fourth-round pick) arrived last night after taking his final exams at San Jose State and participated in practice. ? S Abram Elam is back after spending time with his family in Florida, where his older brother was murdered two weeks ago. Eric Smith remained with the first team ? CB Drew Coleman worked in the nickel, replacing Hank Poteat. ? Eric Mangini, asked several questions about the Baker situation, did have one revealing comment. Responding to Baker?s claim that he was promised by the organization that it would re-visit his contract situation if he performed well, Mangini said, ?Everybody has different opinions. That?s the case in any situation.? It was a rare moment of candor for Mangini, who basically said the organization made no such promise. Mangini said he continues to keep open the lines of communication with Baker, who is being kept abreast of changes to the playbook. Baker is boycotting the voluntary program because he?s unhappy with his contract, which has two years remaining at an average of $1.65 million annually. ? Speaking of tight ends, Mangini scoffed at the suggestion that he orchestrated a practice last week to feature Baker?s main competition, former Packer Bubba Franks. That day, open to the media, Franks caught several TD passes. Today, he made a nice sliding catch. ?I heard whispers that some people thought it was staged, but as a defensive coach, you never want to see multiple touchdowns caught against the first group,? Mangini said. Not surprisingly, Mangini gushed when asked about first-round pick Dustin Keller, saying his speed is a ?tempo changer.? I?ve said it before, and I?ll say it again: Baker remains the team?s best two-way tight end. ? Rookie QB Erik Ainge (fifth-round pick) isn?t participating because of recent surgery on his throwing pinky. He apparently has spent his idle time studying the roster and the media guide. In a team meeting, Mangini asked Ainge to name everyone in the room - about 100 people. ?He nailed it,? Mangini said. ? Last week, Mangini made several cryptic references to changes in the offense. I asked him to explain. Naturally, he didn?t want to give away any state secrets, but he did provide an interesting anecdote from his days as a Patriots assistant. Trying to explain that spring camps often are used for experimenting, Mangini recalled one year in which they introduced a new coverage - Cover-4. In one minicamp, the Patriots called 250 reps of Cover-4. But, in the regular season, they used that particular coverage only six times. The following year, though, it became one of their defensive staples. Long story short: The Jets are trying some new stuff. ? I couldn?t resist. With all the talk about the Bill Parcells-Jason Taylor feud in Miami, I asked Mangini how he?d respond if one of his players wanted to skip the entire offseason to participate in a dancing contest. Mangini never really answered the question, opting for the light approach. ?Having the passion for ballroom dancing like I do?? he began, referring to Taylor?s appearance on ?Dancing With the Stars.? ?I?ve watched some of that. He?s pretty good. I didn?t vote, but I thought he did a great job. As long as he wants to stay out of Miami?s camp, I think he should.? The Jets would much rather see Taylor doing the Tango than rushing their quarterback. ? Pennington rolled a 167 in Mangini?s charity bowling event Wednesday night in Manhattan, outperforming some of the so-called elite bowlers on the team. ?Save some of those clutch performances for training camp,? Cannizzaro from the Post told him. ? The Jets worked out former Ravens RB Musa Smith on Wednesday.
I like what I'm hearing. The Clemens snippet is good news- if you like him or not. Ohio State needs to end their semesters earlier so we can see our #1 selection in camp. I've never heard Mangini say "tempo changer" before. So do we have the playmaker on offense we need? Schotty may return to hero status he had in 06. Mangini is using some sarcasm in his interviews now- that should quiet those who say he's "boring." Great news today.
Good to hear that KC is zingin' 'em in there! It's about time a reporter got the Baker situation correct! I bet Ainge got higher than a 9 on the Wonderlic.
I've been reviewing some of the '07 games when Clemens started. When you take the frustration we as fans felt during the course of the season -- and probably took out on Clemens because he was there and it was easy -- he really didn't play horribly for a first-time starter. We'll know after this year what we probably have. I just dont' think last year was a clear indication.
top pick Vernon Gholston is the only player not in camp. Gholston is back at Ohio State, finishing the school year. By league rule, rookies can?t attend spring camps until their college class is finished for the semester.
Hail, Hail: Nice Plays Before, After the Precip Published: Thu, May 22, 2008 - 2:17pm EST By Randy Lange Lange is editor-in-chief of newyorkjets.com. He covered the Jets for 13 years for The Record of Hackensack, N.J. File Under: Chad Pennington, Eric Mangini, Eric Barton, Laveranues Coles, Mike Nugent, Kellen Clemens, Bubba Franks, Danny Woodhead change font email article 05/22 ? Today's Jets OTA (Organized Team Activity) was impacted by a little EWA (Extreme Weather Activity). Midway through the session, a foreboding patch of dark gray clouds opened up over the Jets' upper grass practice field. For 10 minutes, it poured cold rain and even hail. Reporters and even some team personnel headed for cover. I tried to tough it out but, wearing the same clothes that I expected to wear to tonight's Taste of the NFL event in Manhattan, I was fearful of showing up in a wetsuit. I can report this afternoon that my socks are still clammy but the backs of my pants legs and my raincoat have dried nicely. Needless to say, the Jets practiced on under the watchful eye of head coach Eric Mangini, who barely flinched despite wearing short sleeves and short pants. And rookie free agent Danny Woodhead got a taste of what the Mangini Jets are about. Woodhead, the nifty, shifty one from Division II Chadron State, muffed a couple of punts in the rain. No excuses: two penalty laps for the NCAA's all-time leading rusher. Before this outburst, it hadn't been raining, but perhaps Kellen Clemens induced the precip with a skyscraping pinpoint pass to Laveranues Coles. Clemens let fly for Coles, streaking down the sideline with Darrelle Revis in coverage and Kerry Rhodes ranging over to help. No matter ? the ball hit Coles perfectly over Revis and he got both feet down before tumbling out of bounds for what would've been a 35-yard completion. Chad Pennington, working with the second team for this session, had his prettiest pass of the day in 7-on-7s with a zippy throw over the middle to WR David Clowney, who grabbed the on-the-money ball in traffic and maneuvered away for some YAC. After the rain stopped and partly cloudy bright blue skies moved in, both QBs were put under pressure in 11-on-11 work by a strong outside rush. Clemens tucked the ball and was forced to take off up the middle on one play while Pennington was harried into an incompletion. Tight end Bubba Franks stepped up again, not as often as he did a week ago with his multiple TD catches, but with one excellent drop-and-scoop for a low Clemens ball. A few plays later, Clemens tried to find Franks again but this time LB Eric Barton was there to break up the pass. WR David Ball had one nice trademark leaping snatch on one pass from QB Brett Ratliff, but on a second, he couldn't hold on as rookie CB Dwight Lowery provided the distracting coverage. Jesse Chatman was looking for running room off guard but it looked as if NT Kris Jenkins was clogging the middle ? "You just see a massive wall in front of you. There's not a lot of wiggle room at all," Pennington said of Jenkins' 360-pound presence. So Chatman tried to bump the run outside, but LB David Bowens was there to grab Chatman (but there's no tackling in these sessions). The practice ended as usual with Mike Nugent and rookie FA Mark Myers kicking field goals. Nugent drove two 48-yarders into the wind and through the uprights. But then Mangini brought the team in and made one of his proposals. To win the secret prize, the players needed Nugent to hit from 58 yards. But the wind proved too strong, the ball didn't make it over the crossbar, and this time at least the players didn't get a bonus from their coach. Postpractice vignettes included the new offensive line ? holdovers D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Nick Mangold and Brandon Moore and new guys Alan Faneca and Damien Woody ? doing a Sporting News photo shoot at one end of the field, while Clemens and Pennington threw 30-yard passes back and forth to each other on the other end.
Newsday: Boland Blog Another OTA down... Some notes/observations from the Jets 1 hour 30 minute OTA practice that recently concluded. Keep in mind Vernon Gholston has not yet reported because Ohio State is still in session and a league rule prohibits draft picks from participating in more than one camp before classes are officially over. With San Jose State finals having ended Wednesday, fourth-round pick Dwight Lowery was on the field Thursday morning. Chris Baker, because of his contract issues, also was not here. As for some of what we saw: 1. Tight end Dustin Keller lined up all over the field, including in the slot and out wide, and even went in motion a couple of times. He showed good speed in getting down the middle and caught every pass thrown his way. He worked a decent amount with both quarterbacks. 2. As for the quarterbacks: It was Kellen Clemens day to work with the first team and he looked good. He threw a handful of very precise deep passes, including one that covered just over 40 yards in the air and came down over the outside shoulder of Laveranues Coles. The pass had to be perfect because top corner Darrelle Revis had tight coverage. Pennington did not connect on the couple of deep passes he attempted, though Pennington threw some nice balls over the middle and to the sideline. 3. Nothing different from last week with the front seven. Shaun Ellis and Kenyon Coleman sandwiched Kris Jenkins as the down linemen, the linebackers were Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas on the outside, with David Harris and Eric Barton on the inside. 4. Lowery worked as a cornerback mostly with the third team and a little bit with the second. On one seven-on-seven drill play, Lowery made a nice deflection on a pass intended for David Ball. The first-team defensive back alignment was the same as last week ? Darrelle Revis and David Barrett at the corners, and Eric Smith and Kerry Rhodes at the safeties. Safety Abram Elam just returned from Florida where he had been tending to family members after the death of his older brother. 5. Bubba Franks? practice wasn?t nearly as electric as the one we saw last week when he caught touchdown passes from Pennington, Clemens and Brett Ratliff. Franks did make a sliding 12-yard reception today on an underthrown Clemens pass but he also flinched several plays later and had to run a penalty lap. 6. Danny Woodhead, the NCAA?s all-time leading rusher from Division II Chadron State, had a tough day. He had to run three laps after muffing two punts and mishandling a kickoff. In his defense, the miscues occurred as a very strange ? and brief ? rainstorm, that included hail, moved through Hempstead. As Woodhead finished the third lap, the sun was back out. Thomas Jones had to run a penalty lap for fumbling on the first play of an 11-on-11 drill. 7. James Dearth, Brad Smith, Artrell Hawkins and Andre Woolfolk were all limited, with each spending a portion of the practice on the exercise bicycles on the sideline. Will Montgomery (this is for Gridderbob) was the long-snapper for most of the practice. Erik Ainge is still recovering from the surgery he had two weeks ago on the broken pinky he sustained before his senior season at Tennessee and did not throw. Justin Miller was also limited but Eric Mangini said he expects the cornerback to be 100 percent by training camp, if not sooner. Translation: there?s no reason to push Miller, coming off surgery, for the sixth OTA practice. 7. As for Smith, the Jets don?t give out injury information but Chansi Stuckey at this point is clearly the third receiver on the depth chart and keeps making catch after catch. At least in the two OTA practices the media has been able to watch. 8. I asked Alan Faneca, a member of some of the best offensive lines in football while in Pittsburgh, if he saw that kind of potential with the Jets? line. ?There?s potential,? Faneca said. ?If we put the work in, we?ll see the results.? 9. The Mangini good-humor-moment of the day: The Daily News? Rich Cimini asked Mangini how he would feel if one of his players missed team activities to engage in a dancing contest (yes, a reference to the Bill Parcells vs. Jason Taylor rapidly developing circus in Miami). ?Having such a passion for ballroom dancing like I do?? Mangini said. ?I?ve watched some of that, He (Taylor) is pretty good. He?s impressive. I didn?t vote but I thought he did a great job, and the longer he wants to stay out of Miami?s camp, I think he should.?
I'm glad I go to Villanova. Damn, my summer classes are starting on Tuesday, and he hasn't even ended yet. I wonder if we sign Musa Smith. He'd be some good competition for Chatman, he's not a bad player when healthy.
....Chansi Stuckey at this point is clearly the third receiver on the depth chart and keeps making catch after catch...... I think that is worth keeping track of. And with the Purdue star at TE? People, I will reserve my excitement for now but remember these days. In two seasons from now we might have a team better than the one B.P. put together. I am speculating but, well, it's not worth talking about now and I missed my meds this morning.
Very encouraging news with the Clemens note, I'm thrilled to hear he's making these passes. Two things: 1) When did we sign David Ball? I loved that kid out of college, 4655 yards, 58 TDs albeit at D-1 AA 2) Great news that the rush is looking strong, and Clemens' legs are an underrated attribute, he's a far better athlete in every sense of the word than Pennington
7. As for Smith, the Jets don?t give out injury information but Chansi Stuckey at this point is clearly the third receiver on the depth chart and keeps making catch after catch. That's great to hear, along with what else was commented on. We really need Stuckey to step up and it seems like he's doing it.
I think Stuckey is probably an excellent dark horse, but can he stay healthy? Probably the main reason why he fell so far in the draft. The note about Danny Woodhead sounds like he's going to be our PR guy.
I agree I don't even think it will be 2 seasons if some of these guys play up to expectations. IMO Stuckey has the skills to be an excellent receiver. he has to stay healthy. Think I found your Meds. They are pretty good
I remember Mussa Smith was one of the names mentioned before we ended up getting Barlow. What a waste that guy was...
