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True the kicking wasn’t great in Thursday’s practice, but I thought the disrespect shown to the kickers was inappropriate.
It was one May practice. The Jets have new snappers, holders, kickers. There are a lot new parts.
But Rex Ryan came into the press conference and basically trashed Nick Folk and Clint Stitser. Like I said, the kicking wasn’t good. We all know that. But it’s well documented Folk lost some confidence last year, so what is the point of the coach attacking him after a spring practice? Do you want him to go into another funk?
And something else happened that was a little troubling.
After Folk missed a few kicks in a row, he made one, and a bunch of his teammates let out a derisive cheer, like you would expect from fans. And that is fine for fans to do it. They are paying a lot of money to watch games.
But for teammates to diss Folk was strange. They need him, so why mess with his confidence like that?
Maybe I’m making too big a deal about this, but I thought the whole scenario, from Rex’s quotes, to the mocking cheer was disrespectful and counterproductive . . .
Watching the special team kick coverage part of practice, you could see why the Jets signed Seattle linebacker Lance Laury, the man certainly has a nose for ball . . .
I now that A.J. Smith had reached his boiling point with Antonio Cromartie, but watching him in practice, I’m a little surprised the San Diego GM traded a man this talented in the conference.
True he has been inconsistent the last couple of years, and isn’t that interested in tackling, but watching his pure cover skills, tremendous speed and leaping ability, he could turn out to be a real boon to the Jets defense.
And you have to like the approach that Rex is taking with him. Instead of overwhelming him with huge new playbook, the coach has given this rare talent a simple assignment – just cover the man on your side. Based on Thursday’s practice, “Cro” is very capable of doing this job on a very high level . . .
Vlad Ducasse was with the first team at left guard most of the practice, so you get the feeling the Jets are going to give him a crash course on this new position and hope he’s ready for Week One. He had an off-sides penalty . . .
Chauncey Washington had a nice stop on kick coverage. While he might have an uphill battle to make the roster, he’s a good kick cover guy for a running back, and this will help is case . . .
Danny Woodhead, who wore #83 last year, is now wearing #27, so his days as a slot receiver might be behind him. All the work he did at practice as at running back . . .
David Clowney was working in the slot and was often covered by the Jets new nickel back Kyle Wilson . . .
Jamaal Westerman had a near pick in practice and looks really comfortable at linebacker after a year of training. Remember he was a defensive end at Rutgers.