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Late in Monday’s practice,
tight end Tyler Kroft ran a square out on the left side, and Zach Wilson threw a perfect pass and it went off his hands.
Kroft is a solid player, but his hands have been a little inconsistent in camp. He seems like an ideal #2 or #3 tight end, which isn’t a bad job.
Chris Herndon has had a really nice summer – getting open consistently and displaying confident hands. He is the Jets most talented all-around tight end. A former Jets coach called him a “unicorn” because there aren’t a ton of tight ends who are equally adept at both blocking and receiving, like Herndon.
There are some who won’t cut this guy any slack, and are super-negative about him, because he had a slump for a few games last year, and they can’t let it go. But to his credit, he broke out of the slump, and finished the season strong.
And now Ryan Griffin is hurt again. He’s been banged up in camp, and hurt his hamstring on Monday, catching a deep pass. He pulled up running down field after the catch and slammed the ball to the ground in frustration. He had leg issues earlier in camp, but I can’t confirm that was a hammy.
So Herndon’s probably their best option for #1 TE, no matter what the haters say . . .
We saw this a little of this last year in limited action, but we are seeing it quite a bit in training camp – La’Mical Perine is a heck of a receiver. He’s a running back by trade, but runs routes like a receiver, and has receiver-quality hands. In Monday’s practice, he made a really difficult catch on a deep pass down the right sideline on a pass from Mike White . . .
The Jets are cross-training a lot of interior linemen at both center and guard in practice, guys like Corey Levin, Dan Feeney and Jimmy Murray. Whoever makes the team from that group, will likely be the back-up swing player . . .
Guard Alijah Vera-Tucker, who has been out with a pec injury, seems close to returning. Watching him in the rehab area, he upped his contact work on Monday. New Jets guard David Moore was summoned to the rehab field, and did one-one-one blocking work with Vera-Tucker. They were engaged with each other with blocking that clearly involved the injured pec. This was some of the first contact work Vera-Tucker was seen doing in camp. Before this, it was mostly cardio.
The Jets need to get him back out on the practice field, and in a preseason game or two, to get him some quality reps, to prepare the rookie for the regular season.
Feeney, who has been filling in for “AVT” is probably best suited for a reserve role. He had some issues in the first preseason games. It’s not a lack of effort, but as a lack of “mass in the ass” as they say in the scouting world. In other words, he’s top heavy, and doesn’t have a powerful lower base, so sometimes he gets pushed back by powerful defensive linemen . . .
Jets safety Ashtyn Davis, who has missed all of camp rehabbing after foot surgery, is increasing the intensity of his running by the day, and Monday, he was really running very fast, and turning some corners. He should be ready to return sometime in mid-September . . .
August 17, 2021
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