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SUNY Cortland – Is McKnight injured? . . . Henry stepping up . . . Big Jenks getting in a groove . . .Chauncey Washington . . . Eric Smith . .. rough day for Cumberland and much, much more – Dan Leberfeld keeps the Whispers coming from Cortland.
There is clearly something physically wrong with Joe McKnight. He was limping around the entire afternoon practice.
It’s not a shock to me that McKnight is hobbling. He’s taken some major hits in this camp. McKnight needs to get stronger. He gets pushed around too much . . .
Marcus Henry had two nice grabs in the afternoon practice, including a impressive entension grap over the middle from Mark Brunell. But quite honestly, unless there are a rash of injuries, I don’t see how he can possible make the team . . .
Speaking of guys who have an uphill battle to make the team, let me turn to Chauncey Washington.
This man not only can play in the NFL, but be a starting tailback.
He’s big (5-11, 222), quick, can block and is a good receiver. He’s also a good special team’s player.
He deserves to be playing in the league.
Washington had a nice run in the morning practice where he ran through an arm tackle attempt by safety Emanuel Cook . . .
Another guy who can play in the NFL is wide receiver/kick returner Larry Taylor. He had perhaps the most impressive touchdown catch of the day when caught a 50-yard fly from Kevin O’Connell. Taylor has tremendous speed.
He’s also a very good kick returner.
This guy was a star in the CFL.
But where is the roster spot? He might have to go back to Canada or perhaps make the practice squad, but this kid can play . . .
Santonio Holmes showed his world class speed beating Drew Coleman on a fly pattern down the left sideline. It was a bootleg left, and Coleman bit on the play fake. You can’t have a misstep and keep up with Holmes.
This is a problem Coleman has had in the NFL. He tends to bite on a lot of play fakes . . .
Cumberland didn’t have a great morning practice. He had a bad drop (and got a pep talk from B-Schotty after the play). Shortly thereafter he jumped offsides and had to do a penalty lap. And then left practice do to a head injury . . .
It should be called “The Eric Smith Rule.” NFL game officials were at Jets camp today and explained some of the rule changes to the media. One major rule change was about how you can’t hit defenseless receivers, and this rule change all stems from Smith’s hit on Anquan Boldin last season.
Another interesting rule change is that the umpire who used to be positioned by the linebackers, is now going to be in back of the running backs. This is being done for safety reasons. Several umpires suffered serious injuries being positioned in the middle of the defense . . .
Vernon Gholston is a terrific guy and hard worker, but make him earn a roster spot. There is no way he deserves a free pass. Earn it! . . .
Kris Jenkins is getting back into a groove. He had a real nice run play in the morning practice by pushing Matt Slauson back into LaDainian Tomlinson. And then in the afternoon practice, he tipped a Mark Sanchez pass . . .
Sanchez hit Dustin Keller deep down the right seam for a long touchdown. Keller beat Eric Smith on this play. Smith does a lot of good things (run support, special teams), but his speed is average, so sometimes when he faces a speedy tight end like Keller (or Dallas Clark), he can have some issues. So the third safety role is probably best for him.