Interesting dyanamic at work

I don’t care about this. It might bother some, but I really don’t care. But I want to bring it up because it’s an interesting thing to debate . . .

The Jets are making players available to their website reporters this week, but not to the mainstream media.

First off, I want to make something perfectly clear – I’m not complaining. Let me repeat myself – I’m not complaining.

I’m sure some of your think it’s odd, to have a double-standard in terms of interviews, where the team workers get interviews, and the mainstream media is shut out.

It’s certainly an interesting dynamic to debate.

Once again, I don’t care. I just wanted to point out what is going on right now. I thought some of you would find it interesting.

There is a big reason I really don’t care, and I will get into that at the end of this article.

But first, I want to discuss Eric Decker, who spoke to a team writer. This is the first we have heard from him in a while. He’s coming off hip and shoulder surgeries. On paper, that is heck of a lot to overcome for a 30-year-old receiver.

I’m not saying he can’t, that is a lot of moving parts to rehab, especially at that age.

Unfortunately, they didn’t ask him about how he’s doing in his rehab. Perhaps that is odd, but maybe they are dealing with ground rules.

I thought one of the more interesting things he had to say was about the Jets’ new offensive coordinator John Morton. Decker gave us some insight what it’s like to work with the Jets’ new offensive boss.

“He’s intense. I love Johnny Mo,” Decker said. “He loves the game of football. He’s very intelligent and he’s been around a lot of good coaches and systems. I think this system is going to be good for us as far as getting the ball out and making some plays. He pushes us whether it’s the meeting room or on the field. Expectations are high and that’s great because you can’t settle for being mediocre. I think he’s the guy to push us to that next level.”

Some important takeaways from what Decker said. The intensity Morton brings to the table is important for the Jets. Chan Gailey was a heck of coach, but he was winding down his career last year, at 64, and you just didn’t see a lot of intensity on the field. He was pretty laid back. Like I said, Gailey is a good coach, but the Jets could use a fire-breather running their offense. I have said this before, and I will say it again. Todd Bowles is a somewhat laid-back coach, so I think it’s important to have fiery assistants, kind of a yin and yang thing. So guys like Kevin Greene and Morton were important additions to Todd’s staff.

But it’s not just good enough to be fiery as an offensive coordinator if you aren’t a good strategist. We shall see what Morton does as a play-caller, but he’s a 16-hour-a-day guy, so he will grind every week to come up with top-shelf game plans. No video will be left unwatched in preparation. He’s also worked under some of the best play-callers of the modern era. He’s loaded with good ideas.

Now getting back to the access thing, and why I don’t care about what is going on right now.

The Jets’ reporters might have the advantage this week with these player interviews.

But I, and other reporters, have the advantage of critical analysis. They can’t go there. I’d rather have the ability to critique over getting interviews.

May 18, 2017

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