Cortland – In Sunday’s practice, the Jets lost cornerbacks Dee Milliner and Dexter McDougle to injuries. Milliner suffered an ankle injury, and McDougle hurt his knee (torn ACL)
And while these injuries aren’t a good thing for the Jets, they can survive them.
Milliner is a nice player, but probably more of a #2 cornerback. He was very inconsistent last year, and in training camp this year. He’s still a major work-in-progress. It’s not like the Jets are losing a proven commodity.
McDougle is a rookie who missed the entire spring rehabbing a shoulder injury that forced him to miss most of his senior season at Maryland. Nobody knew what he’d bring to the table for the Jets this year after missing so much time. Once again, not a proven commodity.
The Jets will be getting one starting cornerback, Dimitri Patterson, back from injury in a week or two. Don’t judge him by his rough outing against Indianapolis. He was dealing with quad and ankle injuries and shouldn’t have played.
“There is a fine line between pushing yourself and being a liability to the team,” Patterson said today.
Darrin Walls will start for Milliner. Watching training camp, I don’t see a huge difference between the two players. Obviously Milliner has more of an upside, but right now, watching them in practice, there isn’t a big gap between them. Walls is a smart, instinctive player who generally does a solid job.
Also in the mix are former high draft picks (for other teams) – Ras-I Dowling and Johnny Patrick. Now is the time for them to show their wares. Dowling has ideal measurables when you look at his triangle numbers (height-weight-speed).
Nickel back Jeremy Reeves was having a terrific camp until a knee injury sidelined him the last few days. He will be back soon.
Veterans Ellis Lankster and Kyle Wilson are also in the mix.
So while you never like to see injuries, I don’t think “the sky is falling” on the Jets due to what happened today.
