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In OTA and minicamp practices, teams don’t wear pads, so perhaps the area you can tell the least about is in the trenches, on both sides of the ball.
And, according to Arizona Cardinals coach Jonathan Gannon, the lack of pads gives the defensive linemen the edge.
“It’s easier for [defensive lineman] because they are not in pads,” Gannon said about the Cardinals minicamp. “The O-Line has a disadvantage because they have nothing to grab.”
So with that being said, it’s a little surprising the Jets have not gotten more pressure off the edge in their spring camps.
Now, Will McDonald certainly have flashed at times, but there hasn’t been much of a complement to him all spring.
Now granted, Jermaine Johnson hasn’t practiced, still recovering form a torn achilles suffered last season, but aside from McDonald, the edge-rush has kind of been pedestrian in the spring.
Michael Clemons was out there during the first two days of minicamp, and it’s kind of been more of the same of what we saw last year, him trying to bull rush tackles on almost every play, without much pressure emenating from this approach. Olu Fashanu had little problem consistently locking him up today.
The bottom line is the Jets need some ends to emerge behind McDonald and Johnson so they can have a strong four-man rotation, and right now it’s unclear who those two guys are going to be.
Maybe Rashad Weaver grabs one of those spots. He’s not the fastest edge, but he plays very hard and with good technique.
Two 6-6 ends Eric Watts and Michael Fletcher need to lower their pad level. By the way, Watts wasn’t practicing the last two days. Not sure what the reason is – we will find out tomorrow . . .
Quinnen Williams had a QB pressure today, beating an interior lineman soundly . . .
Two very nice plays today from rookie linebacker Kiko Mauigoa. First, he had a terrific run fit, shooting into a gap to stop RB Isaiah Davis. He also had a QB pressure on QB Tyrod Taylor on a blitz up the middle, leading to an incomplete pass . . .
For the uninitiated, all “tackles” in the spring are made standing up. You wrap people up, but are not supposed to take them to the ground.
In the previous note, when we say that Mauigoa “stopped” Davis, that means he met him in the hole and likely would have had a tackle in real football, but pulled up.
So when Jets cornerback Jarrick Bernard-Converse knocked wide receiver Jamaal Pritchett to the ground, breaking up a pass, Aaron Glenn ripped into him.
Now, it didn’t look like “JBC” did this on purpose, but coaches don’t care; they want players staying off the ground. If these practices are perceived to have tackling, you would get in trouble with the union, and get fined by the league . . .
Speaking of Pritchett, he had one of the better plays at Jets practice today, on a deep pass down the sideline from QB Adrian Martinez.
But on almost every play in a football practices, when there is a highlight play on one side of the ball, there is a negative play on the other side of the ball.
Pritchett seemed to get behind safety Jarius Monroe on this play.
Everyone loves Monroe in the building because of his positive spirit (Aaron Rodgers loved him), and he’s tough as boot leather, but the one thing he needs to prove is that he’s fast enough to hold up in coverage. Speed was one concern about the player coming out of Tulane via Nicholls State.
Jermaine Johnson is getting closer to a return. While he’s not doing any football drills yet, he was in uniform today (with no pads obviously) and he participated in a defensive line tutorial by D-Line coach Eric Washington. Look I’m not a doctor, but you get the sense he will be ready for the start of the season . . .
June 11, 2025
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