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A couple of things to get into today in the world of the Jets, including a position with an injury dilemma and a look at Todd Bowles mindset about Ryan Fitzpatrick . . .
Not to look ahead, but in the back of their minds, the Jets have to be thinking, they need to definitely get back Bruce Carter and Darron Lee for the New England game.
I’m not saying they are looking past St. Louis. They aren’t good enough to look past any team. I’m just saying that with the superb two tight end combo of Rob Gronkowski and Marty Bennett, getting back these two linebackers, who both run 4.5, and are known for their coverage, would be a godsend for that game.
And both clearly aren’t 100 percent this week. Carter hasn’t practiced this week. Lee didn’t practice yesterday, and was limited today.
Observing how Jets trainer John Mellody generally handles guy coming off injuries, is they are often limited the week before they come back, and then you often seem them full the next week. In other words ease them back into things. So to me, Lee is likely going to return for the New England game. As for Carter, not sure, because he’s still not practicing at all.
I think Julian Stanford can do a much better job in coverage than he did last week. I think the Dolphins caught the Jets totally by surprise throwing as much as they did to journeyman tight end Dominique Jones. I try to follow NFL personnel very closely – I’m not going to lie – I’ve never heard of Jones.
This is his sixth year in the league. The Dolphins are his fourth team. Entering the Jets game, he had six catches in six years. He’s a 270-pound blocking tight end. In the Jets game he had three catches. 33 percent of his entire career production. The Jets were caught off guard. No excuse . . .
The media is obsessed with making quarterback changes. Todd Bowles was asked myriad questions about replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick today. I’m not a special pleader for Fitzpatrick, but I don’t think a quarterback change should be made now. Since he took back over in the middle of the Baltimore game, Fitzpatrick has done a decent job. The Jets lost to Miami because of a kickoff return late, not Fitzpatrick.
And he’s going to throw picks. There is no way around that. And let me say something about the two picks last week. First of all, that interception by defensive tackle Jordan Phillips was a great call by the Dolphins. That zone blitz gets the best of them now and then, Dick LeBeau invented the zone blitz, where a defensive lineman surprisingly drops back into a coverage, and often the QB doesn’t see him because he’s not focused on that. I’m not making excuses for Fitz. You can’t throw picks. I’m just saying that play call, which doesn’t happen very often, can catch even the best quarterbacks off-guard.
As for the second pick in the end zone, clearly rookie Robby Anderson ran the wrong route.
And also keep in mind the pass protection wasn’t great last week.
So to me, this isn’t the time to replace Fitz. He’s played pretty well since that Baltimore game, and Bowles knows that.
“For me to make a quarterback change, I’d have to have a quarterback controversy,” Bowles said. “Ryan is the starter. Bryce is the backup.
“Fitzpatrick is not the only one playing over there. This is a team game. We lose games with more than just Fitzpatrick. We lose it with the offensive line, defensive line, (defensive backs), linebackers, receivers, running backs, and he’s ultimately responsible for his position but not everybody else and everybody else is responsible for their job. So, when you look at the film and you see mistakes made, it’s across the board. It’s not just Fitz.”
I agree.
November 10, 2016
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