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Florham Park – Watching training camp practice for almost a week now, it’s pretty obvious Aaron Rodgers can still play NFL QB at a very high level.
Look, the Jets offense has been far from perfect in camp, as Rodgers and his teammates work the kinks out, but he can still “spin it” as they say in the football world.
There was a throw today that was as good as it gets – a zone buster, with Rodgers firing a deep crossing route to Garrett Wilson, over a linebacker and in front of safety, for a nice gain.
It was a thing of beauty, and not all QB’s can make this throw.
If they protect Rodgers well, it would be surprising if he doesn’t have a big season, especially against a 2024-25 Jets schedule that isn’t particularly daunting . . .
I’m not a linebacker coach, so I don’t want to talk out of turn, but there was a swing pass from Aaron Rodgers to Breece Hall that went for a long gain, and it looked like Quincy Williams was a tick late getting over to the running back.
If I’m I am wrong with this observation, I have no issue being corrected.
While Williams improved a great deal in coverage last year, perhaps he still has some room for improvement.
One of my favorite NFL players of all time was Carolina Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly. While his career was cut short after eight seasons due to a concussions, in all my years covering the NFL, there are few players I’ve seen with his instincts to see it before it happens.
And that is a huge part of being an elite linebacker to anticipate things before they happen.
There was a play like that today by linebacker Chazz Surratt.
There was a screen pass to Tarik Cohen, and Surratt saw it coming and arrived right as the running back to caught the ball to stop him in his tracks.
Not sure how much longer the Jets can keep this guy off the field on defense. When I watch Surratt, I see a starter – good size, speed and instincts . . .
Not sure many people are aware of how precise NFL passing games are. If a receiver, is let’s say a foot away from where his landmark is supposed to be on a route, it can throw off the play.
There was a passing play today, where Rodgers threw an incompletion to wide receiver Jason Brownlee. It was about a 10-yard pass toward the sideline. Without getting too specific, Rodgers felt Brownlee wasn’t exactly in the spot the QB expected him to be, and the two had a calm chat after the play, with the legendary signal-caller using this as a teachable moment for the former Southern Mississippi star . . .
Jets rookie receiver Hamze El-Zayat seemed to suffer some kind of leg injury today. He tried to run it off, but was still limping. It’s so hard on these long shots when they get injured. They feel they need to fight through it and get back out there at the risk of getting sent packing with an injury settlement, but sometimes even an indomitable can’t overcome certain injuries.
It doesn’t look like a serious injury for the Eastern Michigan product, and he’s got an important champion to help keep him around for a while in Jets coach Robert Saleh – they are both from Dearborn, Michigan.
Now he’s got to earn a spot, but there is no doubt Saleh certainly has a soft spot in his heart for a guy with a similar back story to his . . .
Hall had a run up the middle in practice – right up the gut – for a decent gain, and it was with the Jets featuring two smaller defensive tackles next to each other, and they both got taken out.
This play was as perfect example of why the signings of massive defensive tackles Javon Kinlaw and Leki Fotu were SO important.
If the Jets want to take the next step as a defense, getting gashed up the middle on big runs where opposing interior offensive linemen engulf their defensive tackles must end.
July 30, 2024
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