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It was a rough practice for center Joe Tippmann, and it went beyond high snaps.
In the first play of the team (11-on-11) part of practice, Tippmann got pushed back after the snap, and stepped on Rodgers’ foot as the QB pulled away from the snap, throwing the play off.
Shortly thereafter, two plays in a row featured issues between Tippmann and Rodgers.
First, there was another high shotgun snap, and then on the next play, Tippman stepped on Rodgers’ foot again. At this point, Rodgers went ballistic.
After this series, Tippman was seen on the sideline practicing shotgun snaps with Jets assistant offensive line coach Ben Wilkerson.
But there were a couple of more high snaps after this.
The good part for the Jets is that there is over a month between now and the opener for the center and QB to work out the kinks . . .
Will McDonald had a couple of standout plays in practice. First, he burst off the edge to blow up a run by Braelon Allen in the backfield. Then a few plays later, he beat elite left tackle Tyron Smith off the edge with an impressive burst and got to Rodgers, but the quick-thinking QB was still able to complete a square out to Garrett Wilson. If he wasn’t facing such a smart QB with a quick release, this might have been a sack. But nonetheless, even though the play resulted in a completion, the foot quickness McDonald displayed on this play to get by master technician Smith, was an example of his huge upside . . .
Olu Fashanu continues to work extremely hard on his craft in camp under the watchful eyes of Jets O-Line coach Keith Carter and Smith, his player-mentor.
It’s hard to watch what he’s doing on every play with so many players to monitor, but I noticed one really nice play, and another that might have been a penalty.
Allen ran behind him on the left side for a nice gain.
On a Tyrod Taylor completion to receiver Irv Charles, if there were officials, this play might have been called back, because it looked like Fashanu held Takk McKinley in taking him to the ground.
For some reason, there are no officials at practice yet.
You often see local officials at practice throw flags to help guys in camp with NFL do’s and don’ts.
Perhaps they are starting the officials later this summer.
Maybe this is related to inflation . . .
While massive defensive tackle Javon Kinlaw should help the Jets quite a bit in fixing their leaky run defense up the middle, Leki Foku may help just as much or even more.
So far, Kinlaw has been solid, but Foku has perhaps made a few more splashy plays, like today when he blew up another running play in the backfield.
Fotu is an underrated signing. Can’t remember the last time I’ve seen a player that big (6-5, 334) with almost no body fat. He carries his weight so well.
The talented Tongan is really going to help the Jets . . .
Speaking of Pacific-Islanders, guard Kohl Levao, a former UFL standout the Jets signed recently, is a true mauler. He pulled to the second level on a run by Izzy Abanikanda, and mauled linebacker Sam Eguavoen, opening up a big hole.
Now he does need some technique work as she showed early in the practice when he lost balance on a run play and fell to the ground, but he’s got a lot of potential.
Alijah Vera-Tucker was seen tutoring Levau on technique on the sidelines late in practice.
The Pago Pago, American Samoa native could be a good practice squad candidate . . .
July 29, 2024
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