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It’s time for a heaping helping of Website Whispers from the Jets’ OTA practice in Florham Park today…
The final session of OTAs on Thursday was the first of the offseason for Jets wide receiver Scotty McKnight, who was in helmet and pads for the first time. McKnight tore both the ACL and meniscus on his left knee but has participated in conditioning this offseason.
“It felt good,” McKnight told Jets Confidential. “They just cleared me to start individual work today.”
McKnight earned praise from the coaching staff early in drills for his solid route running…
It was not a good day for McKnight’s childhood friend, quarterback Mark Sanchez. Picked off in 11 on 11 drills on a badly thrown ball over the middle, Sanchez struggled with his rhythm and sailed several balls over the head of his receivers. When he did connect, it was solid but very much an up and down day for the fourth year quarterback…
It wasn’t a great day for the receivers either, who had several poor drops. Tight end Dustin Keller had two catchable passes go through his hands as did tight end Jeff Cumberland, wide receiver DaMarcus Ganaway and running back Shonn Greene. The best receiver on the day was Santonio Holmes, who was limited to roughly 20 plays after missing several sessions visiting soldiers in Germany. Holmes had very quick hands but his footwork looked a bit sloppy, perhaps predictable after the time he spent away from the team.
The defensive line looked impressive throughout the day, with defensive end Quinton Coples the noticeable standout. Coples has an impressive edge rush and consistently was finding his way into the backfield to disrupt the quarterback. He told Jets Confidential that he is spending roughly “an hour and a half to two hours a day” in the playbook…
Also looking good was defensive end Mohammad Wilkerson, who told Jets Confidential that he spent the offseason getting leaner and is down to 305 pounds…
Running Back John Griffin out of UMass has good hands and looked very comfortable catching the ball out of the backfield…
It appears that Royce Pollard has the inside track on being one of the two returners on kickoff duty. The rookie out of Hawaii is still raw as a receiver but certainly has good speed…
Four players returned punts for the Jets on Thursday: Running back Joe McKnight, wide receiver Dexter Jackson, wide receiver Jeremy Kerley and cornerback Kyle Wilson…There may not be much of a punting battle as T.J. Conley stood out, not only in terms of his distance and hang time but also his directional punting, which looks much improved over last year . . .
The Jets running game looked most effective when they’ve stretched the field the past two weeks, this week utilizing Greene on pitches to get him outside of the backfield and into the open…
Coples was not the only defensive lineman to standout as nose tackle Kenrick Ellis consistently drew double teams, looking strong with his bullrush.
Kristian R. Dyer is the Jets beat reporter for the newspaper Metro New York. Follow Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer
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