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Cortland, New York – Time for more of Dan’s practice Whispers from SUNY-Cortland, in the heart of Central New York. Let’s dive in . . .
Tajh Boyd’s accuracy was very poor today.
As Nolan Nawrocki said before the draft – “Sails downfield throws and can improve his accuracy.”
That was definitely the case today.
But you know what, I think we rush quarterbacks too much these days. Matt Cavanaugh talked about this a couple of years ago in relation to Mark Sanchez. Cavanaugh said they used to give quarterback so much more time to get adjusted to the NFL. But not anymore.
Boyd needs time.
Give him a year on the practice squad, and see what you have next spring and summer . . .
Former Jets linebacker coach Bob Sutton once said, a defensive player needs to, “see it before he sees it.”
This was in reference to instincts.
Steele DeVitto seems to be one of those players who “see it before he sees it.”
And example of this was when he stuffed out a screen to Darryl Richardson on the short left side to limit it to a small gain.
DeVitto has outstanding instincts.
He’s playing with what looks like a hyper-extended left elbow. He has a big brace on it . . .
Ras-I Dowling isn’t getting a lot of reps, which makes it hard to get into a groove, but he’s not doing a great job with the reps he’s getting.
Greg Salas, who is having a superb camp, beat Dowling on a fade in the left corner of the end zone.
Dowling, who has so many natural gifts, needs to start making some noise, or he’s not going to be around after the summer . . .
Another rough day for Dee Milliner.
If this continues, the Jets might need to consider opening up competition at that spot, which I doubt they will do.
On a positive note, Dimitri Patterson continues to look good.
Stephen Hill tried to beat him with a double-move, but he’s so patient he didn’t bite, and knocked the pass away.
So many in the media have disrespected the signing, but I like it a lot.
I talked to people in Miami and Cleveland, his last two stops, and they offered high praise.
This is a very, very solid football player, and he’s clearly the Jets’ best cornerback right now . . .
This Salim Hakim is a revelation.
It’s like he’s running at a different speed from everyone else.
He’s so explosive, his legs are like pogo sticks. Not only does he run in the 4.2’s, but he’s powerful built in the upper body to win jump balls.
He was very raw when the Jets got him last year. He played just one year of college football.
But he continues to make progress, and could be quite a weapon for the Jets.
Aside from his improvement at wide receiver, where defensive backs are struggling staying with him due to speed, he’s been a force running down field on kick coverage.
With the emergence of Hakim, along with Salas doing his thing, and Clyde Gates having a nice camp, the Jets are going to have some REALLY hard decisions to make at the final cut down at wide receiver . . .
Watching Dex McDougle the last three or four days leading up to today, I was wondering, “what’s with that guy, he’s getting beat a lot, and looks slow.”
Now we know why.
He was playing hurt, with a pulled groin.
To his credit, he tried to fight through it, but it was definitely dragging down his play . . .
I will say one thing about Jace Amaro – nobody is going to out-work the guy
He’s had a rough first week of camp, which is understandable, since he’s dealing with a knee injury, and trying to adjust to being a normal tight end, after playing as a slot receiver last year at Texas Tech.
But the guy is consistently one of the last players off the practice field, getting in extra work with his coaches, and wearing out the ball machine (150 balls a day on the JUGS) . . .
August 1, 2014
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