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New Jersey – Dan checks in from Jets Country in Florham Park with some Web Whispers on injuries, Ed Reed and more . . .
Sheldon Richardson is listed with wrist and finger injuries, but he will play.
The injured finger is the pinky on his right hand . . .
Greg Salas came to the Jets with a knee injury, and his left knee is still heavily wrapped in practice . . .
Chris Ivory had a very good season for the Jets. There is no question about it. He’s got to be considered one of the hardest running tailbacks in Jets history.
But he still needs work on his receiving.
Today in practice, I saw him double catch an easy pass.
Ivory needs to life at the JUGS machine this off-season . . .
I’m sure you all saw Ed Reed’s comments today. There interview session where he ripped the media is pictured above. Here is a snippet . . .
“Even reading you guys’ blogs, listening to your comments, knowing half of ya’ll don’t know as much about football as you think you do, unless you come and sit in the film with us, and break the film down. You don’t even know the schematic part of it.
“You can ask the questions, but that don’t mean that you’re an expert at what we do. It’s funny to me. Reading it, I smile at it, laugh at it, but that’s your job. Some of your jobs, you tear people down, (or) try to, and tear the team down, not understand that it’s a team. You’d rather point the finger at one individual. It’s not an individual game. It’s a team sport—totally a team sport.”
I agree with Reed. A lot of people who cover football don’t know enough about the nuances. And mistakes are made in regards to fault on certain plays.
But Reed to use the “team sport” excuse for his mistakes is a reach.
He’s had some bad plays this year.
He’s had some really good plays as well, like the PD on WR Jacoby Jones in the end zone at Baltimore, and the pick in the red zone against Oakland.
But it was foolish to put him right into the starting lineup a few days after he arrived. It made little sense. He had little or no feel for his defensive teammates (except Dawan Landry). And rushing him into the line-up led to communication errors.
It made little sense, especially since Antonio Allen was doing a solid job.
This is a case of Rex’s bravado getting in the way of clear thinking.
“Oh, he’s Ed Reed, of course he’s going to start immediately,” Rex was probably thinking.
And now with the Jets out of it, Allen should be starting again, getting the first-team reps in the last two games to help his development.
Kind of like DE Osi Umenyiora is now a reserve in Atlanta with that team out of it.
But that isn’t going to happen with Rex. He’s never going to replace Reed in the starting lineup, and risk embarrassing him. Loyalty to the point of defiance, as some would put it.
The bottom line is signing Reed was a shaky move by John Idzik.
Why on earth would you start five rookies (four who weren’t ready) in a major youth movement, and then sign Reed for some kind of unrealistic playoff push, and in the process, stunt Allen’s growth.
That is a blueprint that makes little sense . . .
Speaking of rookies learning on the job. Brian Winters is certainly doing that, and he’s struggling mightily. Like I’ve said before, I don’t blame him, but the powers-that-be that rushed this college offensive tackle into the starting lineup as an NFL guard before he was ready.
Winters admitted this week that the transition from college offensive tackle to NFL guard was more difficult than he thought it would be.
It would have been nice if the Jets’ brass had considered that a little more.
With most teams, a player struggling as much as Winters would have been replaced, but Idzik isn’t going to let this happen. No way.
I feel bad for Winters. He’s a terrific guy, and I think he has the potential to be good.
But what the Jets did was essentially throw him into the fire way too quickly.
And that wasn’t fair to him or his offensive teammates, especially Geno Smith.
December 20, 2013
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