Working out with the team won't make him a better football player. He could just as easily have been working out somewhere else. There could also be any number of valid reasons for not being there. I guess there's a chance that he was just skipping out on the workouts. If that's the case maybe he's not committed and won't make it in this league. 5th round pick - c'est la vie. It's not a big deal either way.
It could be that he wants to be with his family or he could be having a Cedric Houston moment. The Jets' brass know which one it is and they will plan accordingly, which might mean spending a day 2 draft pick on a QB.
Nobody but the team and Ainge know if he is working out on his own, and the team is being mum about it which makes me believe something is wrong. I disagree about not attending the workouts. I think they will make you better, just by the fact that you have others pushing you and you build camaraderie with your teammates. I mean if these workouts didn't help, why would the teams even have them? Just let everyone work out on their own. I agree with you in the grand scheme of things, it's not too big of a deal. However, I would hate to see the Jets have to waste a pick in the draft for another backup QB. That would mean last years pick was a total waste.
Yeah it would suck to have wasted a pick. FWIW I was really high on Ainge last year and was happy we picked him. I just don't see any of this as a big deal at this point. I'm not worried about the 3rd string QB having good team chemistry, especially in April.
...That list of attendees does not include Ainge, who saw no game action in his rookie season out of Tennessee, but was expected to provide some quarterback depth for the Jets. New York currently expects Kellen Clemens and Brett Ratliff -- options "1 and 1a," according to Ryan -- to battle for the starting QB spot, vacated at the end of the 2008 season when Brett Favre retired (again). Ryan said that a "personal issue" was keeping Ainge out of camp. "Erik's going to have an opportunity to compete here," Ryan continued. "It's just a personal thing that he's not here right now, and that's all I'm going to comment on." UPDATE: Word came out that Ainge's uncle, former NBA star Danny Ainge had suffered a mild heart attack. Whether or not that's the issue keeping Erik Ainge from attending the minicamp is not known, but there's a chance that's what kept him away. On the other hand, Erik missed workouts last week as well, long before this incident unfortunately happened. How much impact Ainge missing camp will have is negligible, unless neither Clemens nor Ratliff clearly seizes the No. 1 spot -- a realistic possibility. An uncertain future for their third-string quarterback may also influence the Jets to look a little harder at a QB in the draft, be it early on with Mark Sanchez, Matthew Stafford or Josh Freeman, or in the later rounds with a project pick. http://nfl.fanhouse.com/2009/04/16/ainge-jones-bail-jets-minicamp/
I know but 2 WEEKS OFF?! Come on... people take two weeks off work only for really really really important things (dad or mum illness or something like that). Too me for now he just looks non-professional. I've seen players play the night after their parents died. I'm more than willing to change my mind but for now that's what I think...
Simpletons! Fred Jetstone, Jetstone. For those who can put 2 and 2 together and come up with a plausible QB scenario for the Jets. Sanchez is a "Kobefied", red carpet Westie, who'll look good in a photograph but still lose. He lacks the one thing the Jets don't have. Offensive line discipline! Hell, Oregon St. has better blocking up front. Ainge is as good as his college days. He'll never be better, even with steroids. Clemons was your guy. A little bit "wide-open", think on his feet, rally an injured team, wear ugly uniforms and he'd rather be "logging" than "logging in". 2003-2004-Bollinger beats out Vinnie T. for #2 and "the Vin" plays Cowboy the next year. CP hurts his thumb or wrist and the "Hermanized" Jets sign J. Martin and QC and check to see if Namath might have healed his knee. Eventually Vinnie came back again, CP got hurt again, Carters' coke dealer died, and sadly Edwards started a 60% Pennington against the Steelers in the AFC Championship, lost and that was that. Edwards starts Bollinger, the Jets get another ring and Jetstone is mayor of NYC.
