Content available exclusively for subscribers
Florham Park – Big game this week, and a lot of interesting things going on at One Jets Drive in Florham Park. Let’s jump into it . . .
If I’m the Jets, I’m very concerned with WR Randall Cobb.
Two years ago, he led the Packers in receptions with 80. Last year he was limited due to injuries.
But the guy is a heck of a slot receiver, and expect the Packers to target him early and often, since the Jets slot coverage is very inconsistent . . .
The Packers lost B.J. Raji this summer for the season. He is a massive nose tackle, 6-2, 341, from Bergen County.
This is a huge loss for the Packers, literally and figuratively.
The Packers were pushed around in their opener, as Seattle ran all over them. They really miss Raji clogging the middle.
The Jets run blocking was outstanding in their opener, pushing the Raiders around.
Raji’s replacement, Letroy Guion, is more of a 4-3 defensive tackle than a 3-4 space-eating nose tackle. He spent the first six years of his career playing in the 4-3 in Minnesota.
The Jets should be able to effectively run the ball against this team . . .
The Jets’ defensive linemen expect a lot of hard counts from Aaron Rodgers due to their tendency to jump off-sides . . .
Jets are going from facing a quarterback who can’t read NFL defenses yet (Derek Carr) to a quarterback who has a PHD in reading defenses – Aaron Rodgers.
This is a quantum leap when it comes to the challenge they face. You talk about a 180 degree turn . . .
Mo Wilkerson really wasn’t in the mood to talk to the media today. Very focused.
He was one of many players asked about Ray Rice by reporters, and didn’t want to talk about it.
I wish the media would leave players (aside from Baltimore, perhaps) alone on this issue.
Obviously what Rice did was horrible, but why do you need the take of Jets players? Leave them alone. They have enough on their plates. They aren’t political scientists or psychologists, they are football players. So I don’t blame Wilkerson for getting agitated with the question . . .
Breno Giacomini was giving teammates advice on the best way to get good Packers tickets.
This is how it works for NFL players.
Visiting teams get an allotment of tickets for their players, coaches and executives to purchase from the home team. Whatever isn’t used, the home team can put on sale later in the week.
But it usually one of the worst sections in the stadium. This has always been the case.
So Giacomini was directing some teammates on how to get better tickets. He was with the Packers from 2008-2010 . . .
Watching Dee Milliner during the half hour the media gets to watch practice, I would say his status for this week is up-in-the-air.
His left ankle was heavily taped, much more so than his right ankle.
And while he stretched with this teammates, after the stretch, he went over to the trainers to do some rehab.
If he plays, it’s going to be on a limited basis.
I know the Jets can never say this, but this game is a long-shot for them to win, facing the Packers, in Green Bay, with Mike McCarthy’s club coming off a Week One loss. I’m not going to say ‘must-win” in Week Two, but that is clearly how the Packers view this. And let’s not forget they will have 10 days to prepare and game plan, after playing on Thursday night in Week One. They should have tremendous game plans on all three sides of the ball (offense, defense and special teams).
They might decide, since they really need Milliner to get healthy and help them for the duration of the season, to wait another week, and give him another eight days to heal. They are on Monday Night Football, so they have an extra day to get him healthy, and it really is a true extra day, since the game is at 8:30 pm.
This is an injury you need to handle with kid gloves, because coming back to soon, could make it worse. I saw that happen to Joe McKnight a couple of years ago. He had a high ankle sprain, and he kept having set-backs.
September 10, 2014
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Thursday.
