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Cortland – So what happened on Saturday in Cortland? Let’s get into it, in today’s edition of Website Whispers live from Cortland . . .
Rex gave Dimitri Patterson a long pep talk on the practice field today.
Patterson had a rough game against Indianapolis.
He probably shouldn’t have played with a couple of different leg injuries, but he clearly wanted to show he’s not injury prone after missing so much time the last two seasons . . .
It’s pretty clear that run defense isn’t Jason Babin’s strength.
Today in practice, he had three bad run plays in a row.
First, he ran right into the blocker, on a nice Alex Green run off left tackle.
Then Jeff Cumberland locked him up, and Green ran behind him on a nice gain to the left side.
And then on the third play, Jeff Cumberland pancaked him on another Green run to the left side.
And he struggled stopping the run in the game as well.
On the series right after Michael Vick’s TD drive in the Indy game, he had two bad plays against the run, on gains of seven and 10 right at him.
You just have to wonder if age is catching up to him.
The run defense I saw from him in practice today, and in the game, isn’t up to snuff . . .
Dexter McDougle isn’t playing to his 40 time (4.43).
David Nelson is a 4.6 guy, and he beat him easily down the right sideline today for a long gain.
Aside from the groin, there is another issue, as Rex Ryan pointed out today – he’s too heavy.
I’m been looking at him during camp thinking he looked more like a safety than a cornerback. He’s very thickly built right now – too thick, and it’s impacting his speed . . .
Watching Dee Milliner in the game, and in practice today, it’s pretty clear he’s very good on straight routes – like a fly (he had a nice PD in the game and in practice today) but needs work on double moves (gave up a few receptions today). He gets manipulated too easy on double moves. This should improve with time
Nick Mangold was out of town to be with his wife who gave birth, so the starting center was Dalton Freeman.
Freeman is now ahead of Caleb Schlauderaff in the backup center role.
It probably helps the Jets a little that Freeman makes less than Schlauderaff, but aside from that, they really like Freeman, who is a technician.
His father played on the offensive line at Wake Forest, and was also his high school coach, so he arrived at Clemson pretty far advanced on his technique, and had a terrific career there, ending with first-team All-American honors as a senior . . .
A source close to the Jets told me viewed Geno Smith and Mike Vick as “even” in the Jets-Colts game.
I also thought they were even today.
This is a tight one, and a tie likely goes to the incumbent . . .
On so many plays this summer, WR Saalim Hakim is almost impossible to cover due to his rare speed – in the 4.2’s.
Like today on a fly down the left sideline, he blew by Ras-I Dowling, who has 4.4 speed, with ease.
This guy could turn into quite a weapon for the Jets. He has taken a quantum leap as a receiver over the last year.
Not only does he have great speed, but he’s powerfully built, so he can break tackles.
He’s also a force on special teams, where he’s often the first one down the field in kick coverage . . .
Rex Ryan switched places with Rich Cimini today. Ryan had Cimini go to the podium and take questions from him. I was sitting behind Ryan, and a photo of this wacky scene is above.
August 9, 2014
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