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Florham Park – The Jets held the first of two practices of a voluntary veteran minicamp and the first practice under new head coach Todd Bowles. It was an eventful one. . .
Bowles, a former safety, started his day watching the secondary positional drills, but spent a large portion of the practice observing the offensive players because, as a defensive coach, he has not spent that much time on the offensive side. . .
In the locker room before practice, Eric Decker said that Brandon Marshall has been a “natural leader” during his time in the NFL, and he proved it. Before positional drills began, he led the other wide receivers in the pre-practice huddle. After dropping a pass from Geno Smith during a drill, Marshall hustled to the side and did some quick pushups before finding Smith to discuss the play. . .
Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, who is familiar with offensive coordinator Chan Gailey’s system from their time together in Buffalo, helped explain the routes to the receivers from the quarterback’s perspective. He threw hard and moved well considering he is still recovering from a broken leg he sustained against the Colts in December. He only participated in positional drills, but said he expects to be full-go for training camp. . .
On the offensive line, free agent signing James Carpenter spent most of his time working with the first team at guard, while Oday Aboushi and Willie Colon split first-team reps on the other side. Bowles said he wants to have all players get “interchangeable reps” during the early stages of the season so the team can be prepared in case of injury. . .
Safety Rontez Miles was one of the more impressive players on the field. Anchoring the second unit, he helped others get into position. Miles showed great effort, running down all ball carriers and twice attempting a diving interception. He also stripped the ball away from an offensive player and picked up the loose ball.
Last season, Miles was signed from the practice squad to the active roster before a Week 15 game against New England, but suffered a leg injury that required surgery and finished the season on injured reserve. . .
Cornerbacks Dee Milliner and Dexter McDougle, both of whom suffered season-ending injuries in 2014, participated in some secondary drills. During team drills, Milliner and McDougle were running together off to the side. . .
While not being able to be a full participant, Milliner was still attentive during the entire practice. During a special teams portion, Milliner was conversing with projected starters Darrelle Revis, Antonio Cromartie and Marcus Gilchrist, who will also be limited this offseason with a shoulder injury. . .
Running back Stevan Ridley, T.J. Barnes and Gilchrist spent a majority of practice in the trainer’s area. Ridley is just five months removed from major knee surgery. . .
Sheldon Richardson, Calvin Pryor and Jeremy Kerley did not attend the first day of the voluntary minicamp, although they have attended the rest offseason workout program. On defense, Leger Douzable, DE Ronald Talley, Jaiquawn Jarrett started with the first team. On offense, T.J. Graham took the place of Kerley . . .
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April 28, 2015
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