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Florham Park – It’s time for a heaping helping of Jets Whispers from the heart of Florham Park at the Atlantic Heath Training Complex . . .
Ben Ijalana dodged a major bullet, and in turn, so did the Jets.
It turns out that the knee injury he suffered in the Jets-Falcons preseason game is just an MCL sprain, and he won’t need surgery.
This is great news for the promising tackle.
The injury was to his right knee, the same knee he blew out twice while a member of the Indianapolis Colts.
So if he had blown it out again, his career would likely be over.
An MCL sprain is a 2-3 week injury.
Ijalana is an important player because he’s the Jets’ backup swing tackle.
While Brent Qvale has had a good camp, and has backup swing tackle potential, watching him closely, I think he’s a right tackle, one with starting potential at the spot. However, I don’t think he has quick enough feet to start at left tackle on the NFL level.
Ijalana is a bonafide left tackle.
And I think one with starting potential on the NFL level.
A team like the Denver Broncos, that lost their starting left tackle to a season-ending injury, could use a guy like this.
I love his feet, his kick slide, his long arms, his intelligence.
He’s a really good insurance policy for the Jets.
So it’s good for them his injury wasn’t more severe . . .
No big deal, but it seems like Eric Decker is in a little training camp slump. He’s had some drop issues in today’s practice and a few practices before it . . .
DeMario Davis got beat down the deep middle on a pass to Jeff Cumberland.
Just like every big play in practice, there is a positive and negative aspect of it for the team.
I think sometimes people lose sight of how fast Cumberland is. He ran a 4.5 coming out of Illinois.
And he got down field awfully fast on this play.
The Jets’ new offensive coordinator, Chan Gailey, seems to really like Cumberland. He’s dialed up a lot of plays for him this summer.
We have made this point over-and-over on this website. DeMario Davis is a terrific player in the box – stopping the run and blitzing, but his pass coverage in space needs to improve.
What hurts him a little in coverage is stiffness in the hips, so changing directions can be a chore.
If Davis struggles in coverage once the season starts, the Jets are going to have to think long-and-hard about giving some of his reps, on obvious passing downs, to Jabari Lattimore, who has been outstanding in coverage this summer, from his back ILB spot.
Lattimore has provided the type of linebacker pass coverage I haven’t seen around here in quite some time . . .
The Jets signed tight end Matt LaCosse today, an Illinois tight end like Cumberland.
He’s a 6-5, 261-pounder who runs under 4.7.
He was looking good in Giants camp before hurting his hamstring and being sent packing with an injury settlement.
While the Jets have a lot of tight ends on the roster right now (7), this moves makes sense and I will tell you why.
First of all, Jace Amaro has a shoulder injury, and it doesn’t sound like he’s coming back anytime soon.
The Jets signed tight end Arthur Lynch, but he’s a blocking tight end, so he can’t fill the void for Amaro.
Kellen Davis has been plagued by what has plagued him his entire career – inconsistency. He didn’t have a very good game against Atlanta.
LaCosse has a lot of potential as a receiving tight end who can stretch the seam. He needs work on his blocking, no doubt, but the Jets needed another receiving tight end to throw into the hopper, and LaCosse has a lot of potential in this area.
August 24, 2015
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