Shonn Greene preparing to shoulder Jets' running load

All Gas No Shake · Aug 8, 2010

hopefully he can handle all the touches ...

CORTLAND, N.Y. — Rex Ryan vowed he won’t tell Shonn Greene how to run.

The Jets head coach left any tinkering to Anthony Lynn, who sounds part running backs coach and part mechanic.

“Like I tell him all the time, you’re either a Jaguar or you’re a Range Rover,” Lynn said last week. “So if you’re a Range Rover, I’m not going to try to make you a Jaguar. You just need to learn how to ride a little smoother.”

That, in simplest terms, has been the objective this offseason for Greene, the Jets’ playoffs sensation-turned-starting running back.

The Jets love Greene’s rare combination of power and quickness, which he used to rack up a league-high 304 rushing yards in the postseason last year. They’ll love it even more if he can deliver through a full 16 games, and beyond.

With Greene stepping into the No. 1 role this season, after the team moved on from Thomas Jones, doing so is critical for the ground-and-pound Jets — and admittedly on the 24-year-old’s mind.

“I think that’s what a lot of people are talking about: Can I carry the load throughout a full season without getting injured?” Greene said. “I’ve been looking forward to it, taking the challenge on.”

Lynn proactively addressed durability this offseason with Greene, who was slowed by ankle and rib injuries as a rookie. Together, they watched film of the plays on which he was injured. Lynn determined more than one was out of Greene’s control — but still recommended he wear more insulation than his teammates.

Opposing defenders tend to go low on Greene, because of his bruising style and body lean, leaving him prone to the rib injuries he sustained twice last season. The equipment staff has already fitted him with extra padding around his ribs.

Lynn also showed Greene tape of plays where, facing a trio of defenders near the sideline, it’s okay to step out of bounds; or if two opponents have you stood up, it makes sense to go down.

That’s a conversation fullback Tony Richardson remembers having with Adrian Peterson, for whom he blocked when he was on the Vikings in 2007.

“I’d get mad at (him) sometimes, because he would just try to run through everybody, and I’d be like, ‘AP, hey dude, step out of bounds.’ ” Richardson said. “My biggest thing is I want to see these guys have long careers and, sometimes doing that style of running, you might last a few years.”

Greene understands. He doesn’t like wearing the extra rib padding, but he’s been doing it anyway. If he got a chance to run over Cincinnati’s Chinedum Ndukwe or San Diego’s Eric Weddle in the playoffs again, he would, but he’s also been practicing smart running in certain situations so far during training camp.

“I kind of don’t like shying away from contact, because that’s how I was brought up to play football,” Greene said, “but you also have to be smart and learn how to do things like that.”

A lot about Greene is smarter in his second pro season. He credits Jones, who is now with the Chiefs, for teaching him how to dissect film. He’s been soaking up some of LaDainian Tomlinson’s nine seasons of experience, working on zone reads and cuts during a recent practice.

He was also glued to the team’s Florham Park practice facility this offseason, opting to spend most of his summer there working out instead of hanging out in his hometown of Sicklerville. Greene is currently 226 pounds, his target playing weight.

“That’s how I know he’s focused,” his father, Reggie Greene, said, “because his rookie year, when he didn’t have to be there, he was here at home.”

Ryan said Greene won’t be asked to carry the ball 30 times a game. Tomlinson, whom the Jets signed in March, and possibly rookie Joe McKnight or Danny Woodhead, will also get touches.
But Greene, who earned more than one-third of his rookie rushing yards in the postseason, is first in line. And he’s on a mission.

“I have very high expectations for myself,” he said. “A lot of people are saying I didn’t go through a full season, I had fresh legs — this, that and the other. I look forward to proving those people wrong.”
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http://www.nj.com/jets/index.ssf/2010/08/shonn_greene_preparing_to_shou.html

pats-hater · Aug 8, 2010

Not trying to be a dick but this was posted hours ago under separate cover.

All Gas No Shake · Aug 9, 2010

pats-hater said: ↑

Not trying to be a dick but this was posted hours ago under separate cover.
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ahhh i see ... mods delete

Shonn Greene preparing to shoulder Jets' running load

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