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A couple or random thoughts today on a couple of different issues on my radar . . .
I know I shouldn’t have emotions since I’m a reporter, but I wasn’t happy with the way the Jets handled free agent cornerback Greg Henderson.
He was at Jets rookie mini-camp on a tryout basis.
He impressed the coaches, and was signed after the first practice.
Then he was released at the end of the rookie mini-camp.
What’s up with that?
First of all, I have been covering the Jets for 20 years, and they have constantly had tryout players at rookie mini-camp over the years.
I have never seen them sign a tryout player after one practice.
I don’t get the concept. You are bringing in these tryout players to check them out over the course of a three-day camp. Why would you sign a guy after one practice, when you have a chance to watch them over the course of three?
Anytime the Jets signed a tryout player at rookie camp, it was at the conclusion of camp.
And then to get the kid all excited, and then to burst the bubble two days later was unnecessary.
Look, I know this is a business, as we are often reminded.
But wait until after the camp is over too decide who you are going to sign.
Don’t do it after one day, and then cut the kid two days later.
Hey, I think Mike Maccagnan was a good choice for the GM spot, but I guess it’s important to remember he’s kind of learning on the job right now.
And this Henderson situation is a reminder of that – could have been handled better . . .
The Buffalo Bills signed John Connor today.
Rex Ryan seems to have a fatal attraction to the player.
Remember, Mike Tannenbaum gave Rex one pick every draft, and this was his pick in the fifth round of the 2010 draft. Rex was reviewing SEC linebackers on tape before the draft, and noticed a very physical Kentucky fullback and fell in love with his tenacity.
He had two stints with the Jets under Rex, and now another one in Buffalo.
As Trevor Pryce once said, “Rex is loyal to the point of defiance.”
First of all, let me say, Connor is a really nice guy, and kudos to him for landing another job.
But here is the problem with this player – he’s very stiff athletically. Connor isn’t very good at hitting moving targets in the open field.
If a defender is right in front of him, he’ll take care of the guy. But if the target moves around him laterally, he’s in trouble.
He’s a 5-11, 245 pound ball of muscles without a lot of flexibility.
I thought Connor didn’t do a very good job on the Jets’ kickoff wedge last year. But Rex kept rolling with him. It reached the point, that I basically asked Rex, in not so many words, “What the heck is Connor doing on the wedge.”
Players would run down field and run around him. But no matter how bad it got, Rex kept rolling with him, as Rex is wont to do.
Watching J.C. Copleland in the rookie mini-camp, I saw much more flexibilty than Connor.
The day and age of stiff fullbacks in the NFL seems to be in the rear-view mirror.
But Rex loves “The Terminator.”
May 13, 2015
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