How long do you keep the seat warm?

Florham Park – They can only wait so long.

One of the biggest stories for the Jets as camp opened is that safety Marcus Maye (shoulder) is starting camp on PUP.

Adam Gase believed in the spring Maye would be ready to practice once camp started. The narrative in the spring was they were just being careful with him and didn’t want him to hit the ground on his surgical shoulder.

But now the plan for him to practice once training camp starts is out the window.

“I was (optimistic) in the spring,” Gase said about Maye being ready for camp. “He was working hard. You know, the body heals a certain way.”

Will he be ready for the season?

“I really hope so,” Gase said. “I don’t want to say that he will be automatically, but we are hoping so.”

Maye not being ready for camp is problematic for the Jets.

Let’s not forget they are installing a new defense under coordinator Gregg Williams, and Maye got very little work in the spring, and now he will miss time in camp. We aren’t talking about Eric Weddle or Earl Thomas here, long-time NFL safeties who have seen it all. This is a third-year player with 22 career NFL starts, all in a different system. He’s still learning. He’s still developing. He isn’t settled science.

How long can the Jets keep the seat warm this summer before Gregg Williams and Gase need to think about starting a different player at free safety. If you were waiting for an Ed Reed-type to return, that is a different story. Maye is a terrific prospect (and a really good guy), but not a proven commodity.

Also, you have to start to wonder if he’s built for the wear-and-tear of NFL safety. He looks like a safety in a cornerback’s body. Over the last three years, he’s suffered a broken arm (at Florida) and thumb, had ankle and shoulder surgeries, and also had a foot injury.

Maye has been through a heck of a lot physically the last few years at a brutal NFL position which entails a lot of high speed collisions. Is he entering the Dee Milliner-zone where it’s just one thing after the other?

I don’t like blaming athletes for injuries. Milliner didn’t want to get hurt a lot, and neither does Maye. Blaming players for their injuries is mean-spirited.

But the Jets need to seriously consider opening up the free safety position to a competition, and let other guys compete for it, and if Maye is able to play, that’s gravy.

And their plan in the spring to replace Maye perhaps wasn’t ideal. They had Rontez Miles playing the deep safety spot. That isn’t a pragmatic idea.

Miles is a box safety who is terrific against the run and as a blitzer (also superb on special teams), but has pedestrian speed and stiff hips, so playing him in center field is a bad plan.

But the bottom line is Maye is too young and inexperienced to be considered a lock to be able to start Week One if he is held out of practice for most of the summer.

And Maye also needs to prove he can stay healthy.

July 24, 2019

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