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Madison, N.J. – We check in with some Whispers and notes from Florham Park the day after the Jets win over the Oakland Raiders. Let’s get into it . . .
“He had three penalties, so it’s hard to say Willie (Colon) had a good game,” said Rex Ryan.
Colon had 11 penalties last year.
What is the problem?
He’s still does a lot of good things, especially as a run blocker, but at the age of 31, and after a myriad of injuries, he’s lost a little speed and athleticism.
You often see older linemen, resorting to holding, or trying to jump the snap count, to make up for what they’ve lost in movement skills.
That is clearly what is going on here . . .
Greg Salas said today he should have made the catch in the end zone from Geno Smith in the first quarter.
But I keep hearing about this being a bad drop.
That is so unfair.
This wasn’t an easy play by any stretch.
One long-time football stats guru, who has been evaluating this sort of thing for a long time, doesn’t think it was a drop.
“I would not go with a drop,” he said. “I thought it was high. It was too tall.”
I agree.
Don’t get me wrong, it wasn’t a bad pass by Geno Smith, but it was far from perfect, and would have been quite a catch if Salas hauled it in.
To me, Salas gave this is his best shot, and it didn’t work out.
The guy generally has very good hands . . .
In the second half, Jeff Cumberland came out of a play limping with some kind of left leg injury.
I was wondering if he re-injured his left Achilles, which has been a problem since training camp. He seemed to be favoring his lower left leg.
It turns out, it wasn’t an Achilles injury. An Oakland player stepped on his toes . . .
Aside from an early false start, RT Breno Giacomini had a real nice Jets debut.
He did a great job in pass protection. Geno Smith had plenty of time to throw in this game, and Giacomini had a lot do with this.
In the second quarter, he had a great block on OLB Khalil Mack, on a Chris Ivory run off right tackle that gained 11 yards. Giacomini did a nice job of sealing the right corner, and Ivory ran around him.
Then at the end of the first half, Giacomini had the key block on Chris Johnson’s touchdown on the quick flip from Smith.
He is going back to where he started in the NFL this weekend. He came into the league as a fifth round pick of the Green Bay Packers in 2008, as a very raw prospect.
Former Packers personnel guy John Schneider, went to Seattle to be their GM, knew a lot about Giacomini, and signed him off the Packers’ practice squad in 2010 for the Seahawks.
And then John Idzik, who knew him from Seattle, signed him for the Jets this off-season. It’s like a relay race with guys passing the baton.
At 28, the Jets are getting him in the prime of career. This looks like a heck of a signing . . .
There was drug-testing going on today. This happens periodically . . .
September 8, 2014
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