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Here is the latest on “Conditioning-Gate.”
A reporter, who gave Geno Smith a hug today, wrote, “He’s not out of shape.”
Fine.
Here is what I wrote on Monday after watching Monday’s practice, just for the premium section.
“After practice, QB coach David Lee was doing some extra work with the team’s four quarterbacks – Smith, Mark Sanchez, Greg McElroy and Matt Simms.
“They were doing a combination throwing-conditioning drill. The quarterbacks would throw a few passes at a target to test their accuracy, and then run to a fence, and back, a couple of times.
“Sanchez, McElroy and Simms did the run with no problem. But Smith really struggled with it, and was clearly out of breath.
“Lee yelled at him to run harder during the drill.
“Then after Sanchez, McElroy and Simms left, Lee put Smith through some more gut drills to improve his conditioning.”
Here is what Brian Baldinger said after watching Sunday’s practice.
“Geno Smith looked like he had done no conditioning. It was actually embarrassing to see how far behind he (Mark) Sanchez and (Matt) Simms and everybody else that’s there.”
Two straight days, two different practices, two different sets of eyes.
You decide.
To me, Rex and Geno saying it’s untrue today means little to me. What do you expect them to say?
I stand by my story, and my opinion that the quarterback sets the tone for an entire team, and if a player wants to start at that position, he should be in great shape.
Geno Smith should be able to correct this problem between now and the season since the Jets now have their hands on him. By the time the season starts, he should be in very good shape . . .
Mark Sanchez displayed the same problem today, that he displayed the last two seasons – he was locking on his first read too much, and bird-dogging throws.
It seems like he wants the first read to be open so bad, he just keeps following it. On a pass to Ben Obomanu over the middle, that was picked off by Antonio Cromartie, he was looking at the former Seattle Seahawk receiver the entire time.
The same one-read problem happened on a near pick by Ellis Lankshter on a throw to Vidal Hazelton, and near pick by Kyle Wilson on a deep ball to Stephen Hill.
Mark locks on his primary way too often, and he has to break this habit . . .
I don’t think Geno or Mark had good practice today.
Today, I thought the best quarterback was Greg McElroy. I know he’s not in the competition, but I’m just telling you what I saw. He reads defenses better than Geno or Mark, and when thinking about McElroy, consider what Braylon Edwards said today about quarterbacks in general.
“Velocity doesn’t matter,” Edwards said. “It matters where it goes, and when it gets there.”
A perfect example of what McElroy does better than Geno and Mark was on display on one particular play in practice.
Under a lot of pressure, he calmly stepped up in the pocket, turned his head to the left, and hit RB Chad Spann in the left flat for a nice gain.
Another terrific play was when he did a nice job rolling to his right and hitting Jordan White.
Mark and Geno might have better arms, but Greg has better pocket presence and field vision . . .
You have to feel bad for Titus Ryan. The long-shot receiver seemed to pull a hamstring today on a deep pass, and that ended his day very early. And you know for a guy like this, an injury settlement might not be far off.
Unfortunately, in the cruel world of NFL player personnel, players like this CAN’T GET HURT . . .
The Jets started rookie Brian Winters at left guard ahead of Stephen Peterman.
It’s pretty obvious what is going on here – Peterman is keeping the seat warm until Winters is ready.
And based on today’s practice, he’s not ready.
He got a baptism by fire today going against Mo Wilkerson in a one-on-one drill, getting torched two times in a row, with the talented defensive end leaving him in the dust on both plays.
Winters has a big upside, but remember, he played left tackle at Kent State, and is still trying to figure out the guard thing . . .
There was a vicious fight today between rookie guard Will Campbell and defensive tackle Lanier Coleman.
Coleman went berserk, yelling after the fight, “I’m coming right back at you.” . . .
I reported before on my blog and on twitter, about a writer who said to Geno Smith in a question, “Every fan in New York wants you to be the starter.”
Fans on twitter asked me who the reporter was, but I wouldn’t say.
But I will now in the premium section – it was Mark Cannizzaro of the New York Post . . .
July 31, 2013
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