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Time for Friday Night Whispers. Let’s go . . .
Jets starting right tackle Brandon Shell is a long-shot to play on Sunday.
Early in practice, Brent Qvale and Ben Ijalana were platooning at right tackle, and Shell was observing from the side.
To me, this decision is a no-brainer.
While I like Shell as a prospect, he’s not 100 with a shoulder injury, and he’s coming off a rough game. And while he has a big upside, he’s still a work-in-progress, with just six career starts.
And at this point, he isn’t necessarily better than Qvale and Ijalana, so why would you force the issue, and play him when he’s less than 100 percent, when you have not one, but two, quality backups?
Especially against a team with a very good front-seven like Jacksonville.
Let’s be honest, a shoulder injury for an offensive tackle is going to impact his play. Last time I checked, offensive tackles use their shoulders a lot in their jobs.
Qvale or Ijalana should start, and Shell should be given the week off . . .
Brian Winters was taking reps with the starters at right guard. He missed the Jets-Dolphins game with a groin injury . . .
I just read this on NFL.com – “Friday night’s USC-Washington State game features one of the top head-to-head QB matchups of the 2017 season, with the Trojans’ Sam Darnold and Cougars’ Luke Falk set to meet. As you might expect, the contest has the NFL’s attention. Twenty-two scouts from 16 NFL clubs are credentialed to attend the Pac-12 showdown in Pullman, Washington, per WSU.”
Jets were one of the teams listed. It means nothing. Scouts scout games. That is what they do. We constantly see these stories about what teams have scouts at certain college games. Absolutely meaningless. NFL teams scout thousands of players.
Of course the Jets are interested in Darnold and Falk, two potential first-round quarterbacks in next year’s draft.
But scouts in press boxes don’t mean a damn thing. Tired of these stories . . .
I spoke to tight end Eric Tomlinson, who has been out of the Jets lineup since Week One in Buffalo when he hyper-extended elbow.
He told me will return this week.
He’s the Jets best blocking tight end, so that should help their running game. And they can certainly use another blocking tight end this week against Jacksonville, with their loaded front seven.
He will still wear a brace on the elbow.
How did the injury happen?
He was falling to the ground in Buffalo, and attempted to brace his fall, and his arm twisted awkwardly . . .
The Jets have a huge challenge this week against the Jacksonville Jaguars’ two-headed monster at running back – Leonard Fournette and Chris Ivory – a pair of 230-pound battering rams who also have good speed. They both break a ton of tackles, and they both have the long speed to go all the way.
A few possible concerns for the Jets in dealing with these guys:
First off, there two best defensive linemen are hurt. Leonard Williams has a lingering wrist injury and Mo Wilkerson has a shoulder injury. Neither one of these injuries are helpful to guys trying to tackle big, powerful backs. With Josh Martin out, Dylan Donahue is going to play a lot, and while’s he’s very tough, he’s a very undersized outside linebacker without a lot of sand in his pants. And Darron Lee is an undersized inside linebacker who has struggled vs. the run this year.
Not saying the Jets won’t play well against the run this week, it’s going to be a huge challenge.
September 29, 2017
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