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Allen Lazard had two nice catches today at camp from Aaron Rodgers, two of the better grabs in practice.
Even though he became low-hanging fruit to some fans and reporters last year and in the spring, getting ripped to shreds, there is nothing wrong with him as a player that the return of Rodgers can’t fix.
While he had a couple of drops last year (who doesn’t), he was a secondary option in a passing game featuring a one-read QB, so how did you expect him to thrive?
Now he has a full field reader.
Watch the difference . . .
This might seem like a strange observation, but when Rodgers walked to the media tent today after practice to address the media, he was wearing flip-flops, very comfortable shoes, but not exactly the most supportive.
It just another example of how “back to normal” he is with his surgical achilles.
We can assure you, for the first six months of his recovery from a torn Achilles, flip-flops were not the footwear of choice . . .
Defensive tackle Leki Fotu is an underrated addition for the Jets, and he showed his worth on a couple of plays in practice today – first stopping running back Tarik Cohen on the line on a run up the middle, and then tipping a Tyrod Taylor pass at the line.
The 6-5, 334-pound Fotu, along with 6-5, 319-pound Javon Kinlaw, are very much needed to improve the Jets’ run defense up the middle, which was sometimes a liability the last couple of years due to undersized DTs.
And neither one of these guys is fat.
They are huge guys, but not fat guys, who both carry their weight well on nicely proportioned frames.
“Kinlaw is a beast,” Rodgers said in his press conference . . .
Jets fullback Nick Bawden was on the rehab field today during practice, like he was in the spring.
He’s a solid player, and tough as bootleather, but his hell-bent style has led to a lot of dings, and has had a hard time staying healthy over the years . . .
Michael Clemons got a lot of primetime reps at end with the absence of Haason Reddick.
Wow, you talk about different skill sets.
Clemons is a powerful 6-5, 290-pound end who looks more like a 3-4 end, a two-gapper, and Reddick is a 6-1, 240-pound twitchy player who can take the edge.
They are nothing alike. Two polar opposite players. Clemons is really not replacing Reddick because he’s bringing an entirely different skill set . . .
Speaking of Reddick, his contract dispute continues and continues to be confusing.
SNY’s Connor Hughes had another blockbuster yesterday, and he’s had quite a few in the last few months.
“Before completing that trade, the Jets offered Reddick a contract extension, sources told SNY,” Hughes wrote. “The figures, while a raise, were not what Reddick was looking for, so he declined the offer.”
So if he declined the offer, why make the trade?
“The Jets were open to a contract extension making Reddick one of the league’s highest-paid edge rushers (he wants a deal between $25 million and $28 million annually), but there was an understanding between the Jets and Reddick that in order to receive that, Reddick needed to show up and perform on the field (regular season games), SNY learned,” Hughes wrote. “The Jets were not willing to rip up Reddick’s current deal until that point.”
Wait, I thought they offered him a contract extension before the trade? Now it was based on him playing in regular season games? What gives?
There has got to be more to this story than meets the eye.
I’m not putting Joe Douglas in Canton as a GM, but he’s no dummy. He’s been in the league over two decades. It just doesn’t make sense that he would make a trade and inherit a contract dispute. That doesn’t pass the smell test . . .
Joe Tippmann had a high shotgun snap, and Rodgers was thrown off a little and rushed an incompletion in the end zone.
Tippmann is a heck of a prospect, but still has some things to work on.
July 24, 2024
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