Cimini OTA Report

May 28, 2008
OTA notes: It's early, but still a bad day for Chad
We?re back at Hofstra today for another OTA session. If you?re keeping score at home, this is the eighth OTA, the third open to the media. Let?s get right to it:

? You?re probably dying to hear the latest on the quarterback competition, and here?s what I can tell you: This wasn?t a good day for Chad Pennington. In a passing drill (with no defenders), he came up well short on a 15-yard ?out? route, his ball bouncing a few yards before the receiver. That was with a slight wind in his face, but it still was ugly. Moments later, with the wind at his back, Pennington bounced a 20-yard out and, perhaps overcompensating, badly overthrew his next pass, another 20-yard out, to Laveranues Coles. The wildness was somewhat stunning because Pennington usually is such as accurate passer.

Once they got to the 7-on-7 and 11-on-11 drills, Pennington and Kellen Clemens were relatively even. They both went 4-for-6 in the 7-on-7 portion, with Clemens hitting Jerricho Cotchery for about 21 yards. Pennington found David Clowney for 25 yards, but the ball was underthrown and he made a nice adjustment. Later, Pennington almost had a ball picked off, as S Abram Elam got his hands on a ball to TE Jason Pociask.

In the 11-on-11, Pennington delivered the highlight, a 22-yard TD pass to Cotchery, who beat CB Drew Coleman. It came on a nicely executed play fake by Pennington, who lofted a nice touch pass in the back of the end zone.

What does it all mean? Not a heck of a lot. Remember, it?s only May and they?re not in pads yet. Eric Mangini provided an interesting QB anecdote in his news conference, noting that coach Brian Daboll gave each QB a voluminous book (a ?tip sheet,? Mangini called it) at the start of the offseason. The book is tailored to each quarterback, breaking down last season?s performance and ways to improve.

So I asked Mangini which quarterback has the biggest book. I wasn?t trying to make a double entendre, honest.

?I don?t know if size totally matters,? Mangini deadpanned.

? Outlined against a blue May sky, the Four Horsemen rode again. In dramatic lore, they are known are famine, pestilence, destruction and death. These are only aliases: Their real names are Jones, Washington, Chatman and Smith.

Sorry, about that, but I was channeling my inner Grantland Rice. Obviously, I?m referring to the Jets? crowded backfield, which gained a new pair of legs yesterday with the signing of former Ravens RB Musa Smith. I asked Eric Mangini the thinking behind the Smith acquisition, and he immediately mentioned Smith?s ability on special teams. Smith also can play running back and fullback, the kind of versatility the Jets like.

It?ll be interesting to see how things play out in the season. Obviously, Thomas Jones is the No. 1 back, but Leon Washington, Jesse Chatman and Smith will be battling for the leftover scraps.

? Former Patriots OLB Rosevelt Colvin, released in February, reportedly told Sirius radio yesterday that the Jets and Browns are showing interest in him. Mangini wouldn?t divulge much, except to say they haven?t brought in Colvin for a workout and/or physical, but my information is that the Jets are not interested. With Calvin Pace, rookie Vernon Gholston, Bryan Thomas and David Bowens, it?s actually one of their deeper positions.

? Still no Gholston in camp. He?ll be eligible to participate on June 6, when the Jets have their mandatory minicamp. Their top pick remains at Ohio State, unable to practice with his new team because of NFL and NCAA rules.

? In addition to running backs, the Jets should be stockpiling wide receivers, too. It?s the thinnest position on offense, with no ?sure things? beyond Laveranues Coles and Jerricho Cotchery on the depth chart. Brad Smith, slowed by an undisclosed injury, still hasn?t proven he can be a major contributor. Chansi Stuckey showed some promise last preseason before a foot injury ended his rookie year, but he?s a question mark, having injured the same foot the last two years. Rookie H-Back Dustin Keller can be a quasi-receiver, but they still need to add another veteran to the mix.

? A couple of lineup notes from practice: CB Justin Miller replaced David Barrett with the starting defense, working opposite Darrelle Revis ? Barrett and Andre Woolfolk, making his spring debut, played with the second team. Woolfolk also got some time as the nickel. He?s an interesting guy: A first-round pick of the Titans in ?03, he was released last preseason with a bad hamstring injury. He?s finally healthy, looking forward to re-establishing himself ?. Brad Smith didn?t participate in any of the receiver drills ? S Artrell Hawkins still is slowed by an undisclosed injury ? To help improve their ball-catching technique, the punt returners are required to keep rolled-up towels under their arms. That prevents them from reaching and catching the ball away from their bodies.

? Mangini said he?s planning to call or text disgruntled TE Chris Baker, who is boycotting the OTAs because he wants a new contract. I?m not sure how much that is helping, though. Baker wants more money, not pleasantries from the coach.

 

Boland's Newsday Report

OTA fever
OTA practice session No. 8 is in the books. Let?s go to the video tape:

1. Chad Pennington - working with the 2s as it was Kellen Clemens turn to go with the first team - did not have a good day. In one seven-on-seven drill sequence, the veteran bounced a 12-yard out to Paul Raymond, came up short on a 20-yard out to David Ball and overthrew Laveranues Coles on a sideline ?go? route. Later, David Clowney made a nice adjustment on an underthrown Pennington pass down the left sideline.

Pennington did finish the practice strong. He threw a perfect 22-yarder, against the strong breeze that blew most of practice, to Jerricho Cotchery in the end zone and two plays later made a strong throw on a sideline out to David Ball. Clemens, though not as impressive as last week when he threw the deep ball very well, had his moments, highlighted by a 30-yard sideline throw that hit Coles, covered well on the play by Hank Poteat, in stride. All was not perfect, though, as a bit later Clemens missed a wide open Wallace Wright, who had torched Andre Woolfolk coming off the line, on the sideline and instead dumped the ball underneath to Cotchery. In a competition that is still VERY early, chalk up this day to Clemens. During Thursday?s practice, which we?ll also get to see, Pennington will work with the first team. As an aside, Cotchery looked good, regardless of who was throwing him the ball.

2. David Barrett was NOT the starting corner opposite Darrelle Revis as he was the previous two weeks. No, today it was the athletic Justin Miller, whose workload each week of OTAs has increased. So, for today (Wednesday), your starting defense looked like this: Revis and Miller at the corners, with the rest being the same as the last two weeks ? Eric Smith and Kerry Rhodes at the safeties and a front seven comprising Shaun Ellis, Kris Jenkins and Kenyon Coleman up front, with Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas as the outside linebackers, and David Harris and Eric Barton on the inside. Cornerback Andre Woolfolk, limited the last two weeks, saw time with the second team and also worked some as the nickel back.


3. Brad Smith was again limited, though not as much as he was last week when he spent 95 percent of the practice we saw on the exercise bicycle. Today Smith ran a handful of routes in some passing drills ? though not in the 11-on-11s ? and was back to holding on some field goals. This was the capacity in which he contributed two weeks ago so there seems to be some progress with his undisclosed injury, which made Smith a virtual spectator last week. At the end of a post-practice interview with Kellen Clemens ? we were talking about Chansi Stuckey?s offseason thus far ? I asked Clemens what Smith?s injury was. Clemens had a horrified look on his face [Jets players are forbidden to discuss their own injuries, let alone anyone else?s], before he realized I was joking. The man has a sense of humor. The PR man standing nearby, David Tratner, I'm not as sure about.

4. Thomas Jones looked solid catching several screen passes and then accelerating. Jones received the majority of carries, followed by Leon Washington. Musa Smith, signed to a contract late Tuesday afternoon, was used both as a blocking back and a ball carrier. Both Jones and Washington looked to be hitting their holes between the tackles quickly, though remember, these are non-contact drills, making running back evaluation difficult for obvious reasons. Still, little things can be gathered.

5. Rookie receiver Marcus Henry saw significantly more action than last week?s OTA practice that we observed. Henry today ran primarily short routes over the middle and did not have any drops. He doesn?t seem to have great speed but his hands don?t look to be a problem.

6. Mike Nugent missed a 48-yard field goal and 53-yarder back-to-back, but against the wind ended the practice by knocking through a 58-yarder. Just before that kick, Mark Myers delivered on a 53-yarder. And that leads us too?

7. This one, which is dedicated to Capt. Rich: in the Ben Graham vs. Jeremy Kapinos battle for punter, Wednesday was Kapinos? day. Against the wind that gusted at times, Kapinos had the better share of good kicks. Graham rebounded after an early-practice kick against the wind that went no more than 20 yards but Kapinos, while getting away his share of below average kicks, avoided any outright shanks.

8. James Dearth was the primary long-snapper after spending the last two weeks mostly in the ?limited? category. He still spent some time on the exercise bicycle but not as much. Will Montgomery again got some time at long-snapper.

9. Hofstra?s Shawn McMackin, a 6-3 287-pound offensive lineman who earned a contract after being invited to the rookie minicamp, saw some time with the third team at center and guard. Robert Turner, listed at 6-4 and 308 pounds, also worked at multiple positions on the offensive line.

10. Danny Woodhead, who muffed three kicks last week, didn't drop one ball.

11. And back by popular demand ? and by that I mean me ?is a return of last week?s feature: the Eric Mangini comedy moment of the day: Mangini, while discussing the ?correction binders? all the quarterbacks get [essentially, it?s a compilation of things to work on], was asked if it was a bad thing to have a binder that increased dramatically in size from one week to the next. The exact question: who to this point has the thickest book?

?I don?t know,? Mangini said with a smile and a slight pause. ?If size totally matters.?

Probably best to leave it there for now.