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Boca Raton – Todd Bowles spoke for an hour today and here are some of my takeaway from the briefing . . .
A few things I took away from Bowles today in Florida.
The Jets feel they upgraded their backup defensive end position with Jarvis Jenkins, who is bigger and more athletic than Leger Douzable . . .
Darrelle Revis just had wrist surgery.
Todd Bowles doesn’t think that really impacted his performances last year.
“I don’t think that effected the game,” Bowles said . . .
The Jets need to improve their edge pass rushing, so they need Lorenzo Mauldin to step up in Year Two.
“He has to make the jump as a pass rusher too. He has certain moves, but he has to develop some more,” Bowles said . . .
With the Jets’ cap issues, it’s interesting that the D’Brickashaw Ferguson hasn’t been asked to take a pay cut or adjust his contract, up to this point, according to a league source.
If they release him, is there a potential replacement on the roster?
“Brick is on our team and we don’t have to think about that,” Bowles said . . .
The Jets loved the work Kellen Davis did as run blocker last year. They love how physical he is . . .
What does Dee Milliner bring to the table?
“I’ve never see him healthy, so I don’t know,” said Bowles on Milliner.
I know coming out of college, Bowles liked hia press coverage and how physical he was at the line.
The Jets could use a corner like that – a guy that mauls people at the line . . .
Right now, the Jets have an opening at the inside linebacker position next to David Harris.
I asked Bowles if Taiwan Jones has enough speed in coverage to challenge for that job.
Let’s be honest, the reason Jones went undrafted after a good career at Michigan State is because of his wheels. He ran 4.88 and 4.82 forties at the combine.
Bowles told me Jones can hold up in coverage because he’s smart and is usually in the right place. Bowles didn’t disagree with my question regarding his average speed.
But that puts an awful lot of pressure on him to always make the right read, because his recovery speed isn’t great.
So the Jets need to find an inside linebacker to play next to Harris with good speed. Jones, is a solid player, but he’s probably better suited for the 3rd or 4th ILB position.
Erin Henderson is a possibility. The Jets are talking to him. The sleeper for this job is Julian Stanford, a Wagner product, who has played to Jacksonville and Detroit, and runs very well.
The New England Patriots are now armed with two excellent receiving tight ends – Rob Gronkowski and Martellus Bennett, so the Jets better get a player lined up next to Harris is excels in coverage . . .
Bryce Petty needed a lot of work on his reads over the last year. He also needed a lot of work on his footwork. When he gets ansy, he starts dancing with his feet. He needs to keep his feet on the ground and play under control. Also, when he first got there, he was always trying to make the big play down the field, and not checking down enough. He got better at checking down as the year progressed . . .
Bowles feels Calvin Pryor mentally saw the game better last year. He learned how to disguise his blitzes better as the year went on . . .
Todd Bowles thinks the sleeper of their free agent class this year is running back Khiry Robinson.
“I think he will surprise some people,” Bowles said about Robinson.
Robinson is a battering ram who is extremely physical.
March 22, 2016
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