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Detroit – It’s always telling which player gives the pregame fire-and-brimstone speech to his teammates on the the field.
So who was it for Todd Bowles Jets before the Jets-Lions game?
Willie Colon.
He’s not going anywhere and he’s going to be this team’s starting right guard.
Aside from still being a good offensive lineman, he’s one of the few strong leaders this team has . . .
The best player on the field for the Jets tonight, before he got hurt, was backup inside linebacker Erin Henderson.
He’s an instinctive, fast-flowing linebacker with a nose for the ball.
He suffered two injuries. First he hyper-extended his elbow, but he came back in the game with a sleeve. Then he suffered a left knee injury. He told me he’s more concerned with the knee, and will have an MRI tomorrow.
It doesn’t look like a season-ending knee injury. It’s probably an MCL sprain, which is usually a 3-4 week injury.
When he left the game, Joe Mays took over and ended up leading the Jets with eight tackles.
The Jets signed three very good veteran backup ILBs in Henderson, Mays and Jabari Lattimore . . .
At the beginning of the third quarter, Darryl Richardson had a fumble that the Lions recovered.
The fumble wasn’t Richardson’s fault. It was the quarterback, Bryce Petty, who placed the ball into Richardson’s chest, not his stomach. He needs work on everything, including hand-offs, coming out of a Baylor offense that doesn’t translate to the NFL in any way, shape or form.
Bowles said Petty had issues identifying the “Mike” linebacker, which is what quarterbacks need to do before the snap.
The Jets should have given Jake Heaps some time. I think Petty has terrific long-term potential, but is lost now coming out of the Baylor offense. Heaps played in Pro-Style offenses at Kansas and Miami. He was better equipped to function in this setting. At least give him the fourth quarter . . .
Marcus Williams was quite a find by the Jets’ former regime last year. He did a lot of good things tonight with two passes defensed and an interception. He has excellent ball skills . . .
Calvin Pryor has to learn how to play more under control. He’s so aggressive sometimes he over-pursues, like on Ameer Abdullah’s seven-yard run on the Lions first series of the game . . .
The bottom line is this about tonight’s game. This Lions were playing their first preseason game of their second year under Jim Caldwell. The Jets were playing their first preseason game in their first year under Todd Bowles. You saw the difference. Established program in their second year. New program in it’s first year.
A silver-lining for the Jets in this debacle – Walter Powell’s 48-yard kickoff return. I think this guy has Pro Bowl potential as a kick returner. He has a knack – so smooth in and out of cuts . . .
Jets offensive lineman Wesley Johnson, who played extensively tonight as a backup center, threw up after the game . . .
While he only played one series, James Carpenter looked really good.
On a fourth-and-one, he pancaked DT Gabe Wright, and Chris Ivory ran behind him for a gain of five.
On the next play, he pulled from his left guard spot to the right side, and once again took care of Wright, and Ivory ran behind him for a gain of five.
Good signing . . .
August 13, 2015
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