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One Jets Drive – It’s time for a heaping helping of Dan’s Website Whispers, live from the Jets complex in Florham Park. Here goes. Enjoy . . .
Peyton Hillis ran all over New England last week, but it’s unlikely that will happen this week.
Clearly the Jets have a much better run defense than the Patriots.
And big reason for that is experience.
The Patriots are starting three rookie in the Front Seven of their 3-4 defense – defensive end Brandon Deaderick and linebackers Brandon Spikes and Jermaine Cunningham, and none of them were first round picks.
The Jets on the other head have a seasoned, veteran Front Seven.
The Jets won’t have three guys trying to stop Hillis who are learning on the job
That will make a huge difference . . .
When Hillis was at Arkansas, he was a fullback, blocking for two runners you might have heard of Darren McFadden and
Felix Jones.
How about that backfield? . . .
Mark Brunell has been a big help to Brian Schottenheimer and Mark Sanchez this week in preparing to face Rob Ryan’s defense. Brunell has faced Rob many, many times over the years . . .
Finger updates.
If Damien Woody was the cursing type, he wouldn’t be able do it with his right middle finger because it’s either broken or badly strained. Since offensive linemen rely so much on their hands, it will be interesting to see how this impacts his play on Sunday.
Jason Taylor has something going on with either his left pinky, or the finger next to it. They have been taped together all week. And just like offensive linemen, D-Linemen do a ton of their work with their hands, so how might this impact Taylor’s pass rushing? We will see . . .
You get the sense that some reporters are starting to think L.T. is wearing down based on his running numbers the last few games. The Jets are 6-2, so let’s leave this one alone for a while. And when talking about his contribution, it’s important to include his pass receiving, which has been a huge part of the Jets’ offense this year. He has 30 receptions in eight games . . .
While it doesn’t seem like a big deal, the Jets star right guard Brandon Moore has some kind of right knee issue. The knee was heavily wrapped, and had a brace on top of the wrap for today’s practice . . .
With Marquice Cole out of the lineup this Sunday, it’s possible that Joe McKnight will help fill his role as a gunner.
This is a bad week to go from Cole to McKnight on kick and punt coverage against Pro Bowl returner Josh Cribbs.
What’s more likely to happen is that Drew Coleman takes Cole’s gunner role since Kyle Wilson is going to share reps with him at the nickel back role. With Coleman platooning at the nickel role, this will free him up for more special team’s work . . .
Mike Pettine has warned his defenders that rookie quarterbacks tend to look for one read, and if it’s not there, then take off running. If Colt McCoy starts, this could be the case . . .
You have to wonder if Eric Mangini is more inclined to start veteran quarterback Jake Delhomme because he doesn’t want to subject McCoy to D-Rex, and his defense, which is hard for veterans to handle, let alone a rookie.