Offense Down, Then Up in the Morning Published: Tue, July 31, 12:08pm EST By Randy Lange 07/31 ? Tuesday's morning training camp could be called the fall and rise of the Jets' offense. All offensive units were having their struggles through the first half of practice. Eric Barton was flying around and jawing away at his O-mates. DE Kenyon Coleman was showing some quick feet inside along with his big body. Rookie LB David Harris popped and dropped RB Alvin Banks. David Bowens smelled out a play and took down Brad Smith for a loss. Finally, when QB Kellen Clemens was having trouble getting Banks in for a play before the playclock ran out, head coach Eric Mangini had seen enough ? and sent the entire offense for a penalty lap. "We had a chip on our shoulders after that," TE Chris Baker said. And it showed as the offense battled back for a strong finish. First came some nice plays during team drills. Chad Pennington led his unit down the field, then scrambled and finally took off for a 5-yard TD run, at the end of which he looked a little like Air Jordan with his emphatic spike. Soon after, Leon Washington made a terrific catch from Pennington over Victor Hobson. Washington was looking over his right shoulder but the throw came to his left, so he adjusted quickly, snagged the throw and came down on the side of the end zone for the score. Throw in a Laveranues Coles over-the-head end zone grab over Hank Poteat and a Clemens Hail Mary completion to Wallace Wright, and the last period of practice was set up: Live goal line drills! And on its three plays, the first O scored three touchdowns vs. the first D ? on a Thomas Jones run, Pennington play action to an open Baker and Danny Ware's score just over the goal line. The verdict for the second units went to the defense, which posted stops on two of three plays, including David Barrett's end zone interception and DT Sione Pouha at the bottom of the pile to stop Ware's semi-leap. So the offense took the goal line event, 4-2, and the balance of power had been reestablished for a likely hotter second practice set to start at 5:45 p.m.
Distracted By Tom Rock OK, I?m back. Thanks for waiting. Here?s the exchange I?m waiting for this training camp. Reporter: ?How distracting is the Pete Kendall situation?? Player: ?I?m sorry, can you repeat the question? I was distracted by the Pete Kendall situation.? If any of the players or coaches who read this care to hijack that comment, feel free. We won?t tell. I spoke with Eric Hicks for a story yesterday and we got to talking about the differences between training camp under Herm in KC and here under Eric. He said that although the practices are longer here (this morning?s workout, at 2:26, was the longest of camp), the meetings in KC were longer. And with the Jets, he said, there is more free time for players to be off their feet and resting (i.e. studying). Hicks also spent the entire interview holding a small pug Webkin, the exact same one that my son has. The Webkin didn?t belong to Eric, of course, but one of his kids who were here visiting. We shared a fatherly roll of the eyes at the Webkin phenomenon. And if you don?t know what I?m talking about, you?re way out of touch with the 5-10 year old demographic. Get hip, people! As my friend Tom F. once told me while I was pulling my kids in a Radio Flyer wagon: "What happened? You used to be cool." Still no Darrelle Revis, and now no Andre Dyson. The veteran was sidelined with an injury for this morning?s practice and also missed yesterday?s workout. That means that the two projected starting corners on the Jets defense are both out. Good thing David Barrett, playing with a ligament injury to his left hand, is starting to play well. He had a second interception in two practices this morning. Starting RG Brandon Moore was excused from this morning?s practice for personal reasons. This was a pretty hard-hitting practice, with the defense (especially LB Eric Barton) very spirited and chirpy. The offense was pretty out-of-synch and even had to run a penalty lap as an entire unit after some personnel glitches left them without enough players on the field. Mangini was pretty steamed, but he was excited that Chad Pennington was able to refocus the group and perform well in a red-zone drill. Chad even scored a TD on a keeper and spiked the ball with enthusiasm. ?We?re going to have to work on his celebration a little bit,? Mangini said of the awkward spike, ?it was not that impressive.? Finally, in the It?s a Small World category, some connections that are surfacing in Jets camp. Turns out that the team?s new PR guru, Bruce Speight, was an intern with the Browns early in his career. The guy who followed him in that role in Cleveland? Eric Mangini. Also, one of the Jets staffers was telling us about how he knew Wantagh native Joe Villani when he was growing up. This guy was friends with Villani?s older brother Dom, and he recalled picking on and teasing little Joe. Now that Villani is 6-4, 300 pounds and a professional football player, there?s not much teasing going on. Just for the record, regarding Stephen the Intern's post yesterday, I never made any man-boob jokes. There are two things I never tease anyone about: hairlines and waistlines.
Jets Go Running Let?s face it, some training camp practices are boring (for fans and media). This morning wasn?t one of those occasions. It was a loud, spirited, pad-popping practice in which tempers flared. Afterward, Eric Mangini, irritated by a particularly sloppy portion, chided the players on the field. No doubt, the loudest hit was delivered by rookie ILB David Harris, who unloaded on rookie RB Alvin Banks in a goal-line drill. Maybe Banks was rattled by the hit because, a short time later, he suffered a mental lapse that resulted in a penalty lap ? for the entire offense. QB Kellen Clemens, recognizing that a player was missing in the formation, started screaming at Banks. ?Get in here!? Clemens yelled. Banks, standing on the side, started toward the formation, then stopped, hesitating. Clearly, he was lost. Mangini had seen enough. With a Prince song blaring over the loudspeakers -- ?Let?s Go Crazy? -- Mangini ordered the offense to take a lap. Let?s Go Running. The defense stood by and watched, enjoying every second of the brief respite. In his daily presser, Mangini shared some of what he told the team after practice: ?I?m perfectly content to stay here all day ? We?re going to practice until we get it right.? The Jets concentrated on three areas in practice -- red zone, goal line and Hail Marys. Yes, they do practice the Hail Mary. In goal-line drills, always the most watchable because there?s real hitting going on, the starting offense scored three straight times against the starting defense. When the second team took over, Clemens threw an interception on the first play, picked by CB David Barrett in the end zone. Some practice notes: ? LG Pete Kendall sat out again, spending the morning on the stationary bike. He also did some running on the side. Mangini was asked about Kendall in his presser, and it?s starting to become apparent that the coach is tired of answering Kendall questions. Frankly, I think Kendall is tired of answering Kendall questions. ? It?s too soon to anoint him a starter, but DE Kenyon Coleman worked with the starters, replacing Kimo von Oelhoffen. It?s only a matter of time before that becomes permanent. ? RG Brandon Moore was excused for personal reasons. LG Adrien Clarke switched to right guard, with Adrian Jones stepping in at left guard. ? CB Andre Dyson sat out with an injury. He was in shoulder pads, but spent a lot of time on the bike. Naturally, Mangini didn?t disclose the injury. ? CB David Barrett is practicing with a hard cast on his right arm/hand. I?m not a doctor, and I don?t play one on TV, but my diagnosis is broken thumb. ? WR Jerricho Cotchery gave everyone a scare, crashing into a padded wall beyond the end zone. He got up slowly, but appears to be okay. ? Mangini really talked up TE Joe Kowalewski today. It was good to hear. Anytime my alma mater, Syracuse, can get some positive publicity for its football program, it?s a plus. ? Still no sign of No. 1 pick Darrelle Revis. This is starting to get a little ridiculous. I mean, come on, it?s not like he?s a top-5 pick. http://www.nydailynews.com/blogs/jets/
I'll use that popular TGG phrase, "Training camp fodder." not to be confused with our other popular phrases "stud," "shut down CB" and "Road grader/greater/"
I'd like to know a lot more about this guy. I know it's his second camp with us and he's a F/A. And Joe Kowalewski (40) isn't built like a TE you've ever seen, but he was all over the field Sunday making plays. Didn't notice how well he blocks but he catches a lot of balls and gets yards after. Glad Mangini noticed him too. I have no idea what position we could use him for. Unless his visual size is deceiving (he's pretty smallish for a TE), we'd have to use him as a B/U Running Back or Fullback. Anybody know much about Kowalewski?
If he ends up making the team (which I hope he does) I see him playing an H-Back type role, where Baker is still on the field at TE and Kowalewski is in motion, going out for passes.
Posciak is then the fluffer on the sidelines giving hand-relief to the aging vets? Or does he get his walking papers?
I'd have no problem keeping him on the team, but I just love what I've been hearing about Kowalewski, never heard this much talk about Posciak. And God knows Baker is just an average recieving TE, so we could use the extra help.
I liked the solidarity that Tim Dwight showed when he, in street clothes, joined the offense on the penalty lap.
For some reason I have always liked Baker. I think he is a good receiver, but he just can't go out and run any routes because they keep him back very often to help the OLine block. So I hope that as this OLine matures that Baker will be able to go out, and hopefully be thrown to, more often. Also JoeKo is supposedly not the average size for a TE so maybe they will use him in more of an H-back role like Tutt. At the very least, it's always nice to have another solid pass catcher. :jets:
On the presser , mangini was full of praise for him saying that he does Exactly as hes asked to do , emphasising the 'Exactly'. This made me laugh (again on the presser) One of the press comemted on Chads scramble and subsequant celebration. Mangini; Yeah (smiles) he needs to work on that celebration (smiles again)
He's an average reciever. I understand that they keep him into block alot, but if he was anything special, they would have found a way to get him the ball last season. And I'm a fan of Baker, I just don't make him out to be anything that he's not. Also, since you quoted me, you might want to check out my first post when I already said I could see him as an H-back :wink:
