Content available exclusively for subscribers
Madison – It’s time for a heaping helping of “Behind the Jets.” We have a lot of stuff, including notes on a brilliant football mind, Decker and more. And here we go . . .
One scary factor for the Jets on Monday night – Mark Trestman.
The Bears head coach, who also handles the offense, is a brilliant schemer, a master at creating mismatches with his game-planning and play-calling. I don’t know if he’s going to be a great head coach, but the man is top-shelf schemer. This guy is good . . .
So often in sports and society, it’s the people with the big mouths who gets a lion’s share of the attention.
Taciturn David Harris is a very good football player who doesn’t get the attention he deserves. He’s a quiet guy who just brings his lunch pail to work every day and consistently gets the job done.
He’s a really smart guy who is so good at diagnosing what is in front of him, he rarely makes a mental error.
“David Harris he’s an average football player right? Yeah (joking),” Rex Ryan said today. “He’s way better than average. This guy’s a heck of a football player and he is underrated, but he’s a heck of MIKE-backer too.” . ..
Rex Ryan was bombarded with questions about Santonio Holmes, who is now with the Chicago Bears.
He took the high road.
What did you expect him to say, “That guy is a moody SOB who we had to get the heck out of locker room?”
He wasn’t going to show any ankle on this one.
But make no mistake about it, the Jets knew they had to get him out of there after last season.
The main reason he didn’t get bounced a year earlier was because of the enormous cap hit related to the crazy contract he was given with $24.5 million in guaranteed money, when the Jets were essentially bidding against themselves.
I don’t mean to pick on these three guys, but the Jets locker room has much less drama now that Holmes, Antonio Cromartie and Mark Sanchez are out of there. I really don’t blame Sanchez for the drama around him as much as the other two, but it was there.
You can feel a very good vibe in the Jets locker room this year. This is a united group, and one with less melodrama in the ranks. Now that doesn’t guarantee a playoff birth, but I’m just saying the karma is better than the last couple of years . . .
If the Jets don’t throw to Jeremy Kerley a lot this week, they are nuts.
First of all, he’s playing really well.
Secondly, the Bears have some instability at the slot corner position.
When starting cornerback Peanut Tillman hurt his arm ending his season last week, the Bears had to move regular slot corner Tim Jennings outside. Then another option in the slot, Sherrick McManus, hurt his quad, so the Bears were forced to play rookie Brock Vereen in the slot.
Too often offensive coordinators feel they need to spread the wealth, get a lot of guys involved. On one level that makes sense to keep the defense off balance, but sometimes, you should ride the hot hand, and this offensive egalitarianism gets in the way of that.
Some play-callers keeping dialing up a guy until they stop him.
If the Bears can’t cover Kerley, which very well could be the case, throw him 8, 9, 10 passes, and don’t let this ‘spread the wealth” mindset stop you . . .
My sense about Eric Decker’s hamstring injury is that it could have been a lot worse, but he’s so self-aware of his own body, he pulled himself out at a good time, before it became a major pull.
I’d say he’s 50-50 for this game.
Photo above is of Decker stretching while his teammates hit the practice field.
September 17, 2014
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Thursday.
