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New Jersey – It’s time for a nice dosage of Dan’s Web Whispers with notes on injuries, tipped passes, Quinton Coples and so much more. Jump on board . . .
When Nick Mangold hurt his ankle, it looked really bad. He needed help from trainers to get off the field. For him to come back in the game was a little bit of a shock.
Not only did he come back in, but Tim Tebow ran behind him for a gain of 13.
After the game, Mangold seemed to be in pretty good spirits, and while he was limping a little, the tape job on his ankle was very low on his leg. It doesn’t look like a high ankle sprain.
Lower ankle sprains are much easier to come back fast from than high ankle sprains. There is a good chance he plays next Sunday . . .
All quarterbacks get passes tipped or blocked. It’s part of the game. But I think Mark Sanchez has to be one of the more tipped or blocked quarterbacks in the league. Against Houston, he has two passes tipped by DE J.J. Watt, and one by LB Brooks Reed.
One of the problems here is pretty clear, and it’s not height-related.
Sanchez often stares down his primary target, so while he’s looking in one direction for a few seconds, the defender has plenty of time to plan his jump. There isn’t much guess work – they often know exactly where he is going . . .
Sanchez needs some work on his deep passes. So often they sail in a way that forces the receiver to catch it out of bounds. This happened on the fly route to Cro, and has happened in the past . . .
Quinton Coples is getting a lot of criticism, but I think it’s a little unfair.
First of all, he is learning to play 3-4 defensive end, which isn’t easy. That doesn’t happen overnight. He has to learn different technique from how he was used at North Carolina.
I know so many people want him to be great already, but it doesn’t work that way.
And while he’s been average so far, it’s not like he’s not making any plays.
Against the Texans, he had two quarterback pressures.
Houston’s second drive ended when a Coples’ QB pressure rushed Matt Schaub to throw an incompletion in the left flat.
In the middle of the second quarter, Coples and Bart Scott pressured Schaub to roll to his left and throw the ball away.
It’s not like he’s doing nothing.
He’s going to be a good one, but this year isn’t always going to be pretty, but he’s definitely showing flashes . . .
The Jets injury excuse is a little overrated.
Most teams have injury issues.
There really isn’t a dropoff from Santonio Holmes to Jeremy Kerley. Against Houston, Kerley got the best of a very good corner – Jonathan Joseph, and finished with five catches for 96 yards.
No question losing Darrelle Revis is a big deal. But how many teams can lose a player like that, and still have a top-shelf #1 corner in Antonio Cromartie, who was superb against Andre Johnson yesterday? That is rare.
Josh Mauga is out for the year with a torn pectoral muscle, but the Jets have Nick Bellore and DeMario Davis behind him, so they still have plenty of ILB depth behind Bart Scott and David Harris.
Kenrick Ellis hurt his MCL yesterday. Hopefully he heals fast. I don’t wish injuries on anyone, but, right now, he’s too often a problem against the run.
He has his moment when he flashes, but on a couple of big runs by Foster yesterday, Ellis was on the ground. He’s on the ground too much, and that is a no-no on the defensive line. His effort is excellent, but he’s a limited athlete and needs a lot of work on his technique.
Based on watching the two players extensively this summer, I think Damon Harrison is just as good as Ellis, and has quicker feet, so might have more of an upside.
Injuries are never good in football, but I’m not going to play a violin for the Jets. They can still win with what they have . . .
Check out that great photo by Alan Schaefer above. Did you know that both times J.J. Watt beat Brandon Moore for sacks, it ended drives, and on the second one, it knocked them out of field goal range.
Maybe I’m in the minority, but I think there were much bigger problems than Mark Sanchez on Monday night.
October 9, 2012
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