Lal is right

New Jersey – Jets wide receiver coach Sanjay Lal thinks it’s misguided to call wide receiver Stephen Hill a “bust.” . . .

I agree. I got into this a little yesterday.

“It’s a little early to label him as a bust,” Lal told Manish Mehta. “When I think of bust, I don’t think of him that way. I have seen players who are higher picks that were busts because of their own laziness. Those are busts.

“I have a hard time labeling a guy a bust when he’s done everything in his power. Luck in terms of injuries hasn’t been on his side. Therefore, he hasn’t produced consistently. And he’s still only 23 years old.

“I’m disappointed because he started with a bang. That first game. And he was healthy that whole training camp and everything was geared toward that game. And he produced. I would have loved to seen it taken off from there. No doubt. But really since that game, he hasn’t been consistently healthy.

“I’d be disappointed in him if he wasn’t trying or wasn’t attentive. And he’s none of those things. He genuinely tries. He wants to be good. He does everything that’s asked. I’m just disappointed in the situation… and really most disappointed in that he has a label of being an inconsistent catcher… It’s not true. So that disappointments me.”

Lal made a lot of good points. Let’s focus on what he said at the end. Lal makes a very great point. Hill is not “an inconsistent catcher.”

This concept that he has bad hands is bull.

I watch a ton of practices. I’m not saying he’s Wayne Chrebet as far as hands, but he’s pretty consistent.

And last year, I challenge anybody to go back, and point out all these drops he supposedly had, according to his detractors.

At New England, he caught a pass down field, and then fumbled it, when CB Aqib Talib kicked the ball out of his hands. It was as a fluky play.

There were a number of plays where he didn’t come down with passes in congestion, that weren’t good throws, and not drops. On a few occasions he got absolutely lit up when the ball was delivered late.

And Lal makes a good point about his work ethic. Hill works very hard. He wants to be good. He’s not a dog at all. And to his credit, he really gets after it as a blocker in the running game.

Like I said yesterday, the quarterback play the last two years was substandard. The Jets receiver play wasn’t great the last two years, and part of that was the quarterback play. Last time I checked, you can’t throw the ball to yourself.

Look, I know this guy must improve. This is a big year for him.

But I agree with everything Lal said about Hill.

Often you hear coaches protect player in the press with propaganda.

To me, based on my observations, what Lal said about Hill is all true. It’s not window-dressing.

I wish the media would get off Hill’s butt (he avoided them in the OTA’s). He’s a good kid, a very hard-working guy, who hasn’t been exactly been dealt the best hand.

I’m not an apologist for the guy, but Lal is right, it’s SO unfair to call this guy a “bust,” a word that is thrown around way too often by some fans and reporters.

And as I mentioned yesterday, watching him run a fly route on Wednesday, I saw that world class speed that made him so attractive to the Jets. His problematic knee from last year is clearly back to 100 percent.

Let’s see how this plays out. This story isn’t done being written yet.

June 12, 2014

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