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If I hear one more question in a press conference about how elite the Jets’ defense was last year . . .
Yes, their pass rush and secondary played well, but their run defense was substandard.
And maybe I’m missing something, but if you have a subpar run defense, how can your defense be considered elite?
But keep in mind, I’m not criticizing Robert Saleh or Joe Douglas on this one. Because while they obviously have had some nice things to say about their defense from last year, their actions this past off-season tell us they knew the run defense was a problem, and they did something about it.
They went out and signed two massive, athletic defensive tackles this off-season in Javon Kinlaw and Leki Fotu, both around 6-5, 330.
And you can see in camp that they will help the Jets’ interior run defense, but it’s not just by making tackles, but by taking up double teams to allow the linebackers to flow to the ball, and there was a perfect example of that today.
On a play with Kinlaw and Fotu on the field today, and occupying offensive linemen, linebacker Jamien Sherwood was free to flow to the football stopping rookie running back Isaiah Davis for no gain.
This will really help linebacker Quincy Williams (pictured above), a tackling machine, flow to the ball less encumbered . . .
Aaron Rodgers threw a deep pass down the sidelines to Allen Lazard, but it was just a bit too long.
Now the media training camp stat crew will give Rodgers an incompletion on the play, but this was a nice deep throw, but Lazard isn’t a burner and could not run under it. He’s a 4.6 forty guy.
I’m not criticizing Lazard, who took too much heat last year from the peanut gallery, just pointing out this was a nice throw, but the receiver could not run under it . . .
This is not a big deal right now, with so much time between now and the start of the regular season, but Alijah Vera-Tucker has had a little bit of an issue jumping off-sides early in camp, and he had another penalty today.
Perhaps he’s still getting used to Rodgers’ cadence chicanery at the line . . .
Free agent defensive back addition Isaiah Oliver, who can play both cornerback and safety, has quietly been making a lot of plays in camp.
He’s very instinctive and does a nice job of arriving at the scene of the crime quickly.
Today, he blew up a swing pass to Xavavien Valladay right after the running back caught the ball. He also had a nice run stop on Braelon Allen off right tackle after a short gain.
This guy is consistently in the right place at the right time . . .
I don’t get into the gambling stuff, and to bet on preseason games has to be pretty difficult, but if Aaron Rodgers and Tyrod Taylor don’t play much, if at all, I think people are going to be a little surprised at Andrew Peasley and Adrian Martinez. I’m not putting either guy in Canton, but both have been better than I expected in camp.
Peasley sees the field well, and had a couple of nice throws in a row today, hitting WR Tyler Harrell and then Valladay on consecutive plays. He’s a nice rhythm thrower and I think will surprise some people in the preseason . . .
Rough day for Jets reserve guard Chris Glaser, who has been around the Jets the last two years, bouncing between the practice squad and regular roster.
Glaser got into a brawl with defensive lineman Solomon Thomas, and was then taken into the locker room by a trainer. Not sure what his injury was, but he didn’t finish practice.
Douglas seems to like the former UVA standout who can play center and guard . . .
August 6, 2024
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