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It’s time for Dan’s Friday Website Whispers. It’s time for a “Weekend in New England,” to quote Barry Manilow. Let’s get things started . . .
I love how the NFL is handling concussions.
Jets OLB Garrett McIntyre suffered a concussion last week (on a play that should probably be a fine), and he’s not even a consideration for this week.
No way.
I talked to him today. He seemed fine, but the NFL now forces teams to error on the side of caution, and that is great.
But with that being said, it’s a bad break for McIntyre that he’s out this week. With the Bryan Thomas injury, he would have played some at outside linebacker . . .
Expect Kenrick Ellis to make his Jets debut next week against his hometown team, the Miami Dolphins.
Rex gave a pretty straight-forward answer on why he’s been inactive for the first four games, and now the fifth.
It’s hard to activate a massive backup nose tackle for games against spread offenses. They need extra cover guys for those games . . .
The vibe out of Jets camp this week is there are going to be a lot of quick passes – dump to running backs and slants and outs to wide receivers.
There is no way the Jets are going to let Mark Sanchez take another beating – the theme this week seems to be – get the ball into the hands of the weapons quickly and let them do their thing . . .
One of the strengths of the Jets is their depth at cornerback, and that is really going to help them this week in New England.
They have six quality corners – the sixth being former UFL Defensive MVP Isaiah Trufant.
Last week in Baltimore, on most plays, Joe Flacco had nowhere to throw.
So look for the Jets to use a similar strategy to last year in the playoffs when they often dropped seven into coverage . . .
I asked Rex Ryan about Wayne Hunter today.
I’ve seen a player who looks like he’s gotten the kinks out, and has played, not perfect, but pretty well the last two weeks.
Ryan agreed that Wayne has stepped up his game the last two weeks.
Think about it – you didn’t hear Terrell Suggs name much last week. The one big hit I saw Suggs have on Mark Sanchez was when he beat TE Matthew Mulligan.
My gut feeling from talking to people, and watching practice, with Nick Mangold back, and Hunter now settled down, the line is ready to do some good things from here on out . . .
New England Patriots safety James Ihedigbo has been a huge help to his new team in preparing for his old one; helping his teammates with the tendencies of Mark Sanchez and Brian Schottenheimer . . .
Bart Scott isn’t speaking to the media. Well kinda. A few people went over to him today, and he did answer some questions.
But for the most part, he’s shut it down.
While it’s hard for me to say this as a reporter, I think he’s doing the right thing by pulling back.
Scott is a good player, but a great one, but a good one.
And I think him being so vocal in the press, some people expect him to be a better player than he is. It raises the bar.
So it’s smart for Scott to silence himself, focus on his game, and not put such a huge spotlight on his game, which is very solid, but not that of a star.
Premium will return on Monday afternoon. Enjoy your weekend.