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Florham Park – It’s time for Dan’s Whispers live from Jets Training Complex at One Jets Drive in FP. Just the good stuff. Let’s get it started . . .
Jets rotational defensive end Leger (pronounced Lajay) Douzable was with the Tennessee Titans last year.
Actually he was on IR.
He got hurt in the team’s third preseason game when he tore his pectoral muscle sacking Arizona Cardinals quarterback John Skelton.
But being around the Titans last year, in the off-season, and while on IR during the season, he has a good feel for a lot of the Titans’ players.
So I checked in with him today to get some thoughts.
Douzable said that defensive tackle Jurrell Casey is a guy to keep an eye on. Douzable said the former USC star is playing very, very well.
Casey is one of those short, super-quick three-technique defensive tackles.
Douzable also pointed out how well edge pass rusher Derrick Morgan is playing.
Yesterday, I pointed out that the Jets, coming off a 20-penalty game against Buffalo, have to be very, very careful not to get roped into cheap penalties by some of the chippy Tennessee Titans offensive lineman, mainly right tackle David “Big Country” Stewart and center Rob Turner.
Douzable, and his fellow defensive linemen, have been reminded by defensive line coach Karl Dunbar not to fall into the trap.
“We know we will get shoved after the play,” Douzable said. “We can’t allow ourselves to get hurt by penalties.” . . .
This game is a good matchup for the Jets’ defense.
First of all, don’t let the Titans 2-1 record fool you, Jake Locker is low on the totem pole when it comes to NFL quarterbacks. He’s not very good at reading defenses.
Tennessee is ranked 30th in the NFL in passing. Locker has three touchdown passes in three games.
“It’s the little things, the craft of the position, the mechanics, the nuances, the eye placement, the rhythm, the tempo. It’s all these things that you can’t really show somebody that hasn’t held the ball in their hands and done it,” ESPN’s Trent Dilfer said about Locker. “He hasn’t gone to the lab and done the lonely work. Not that he hasn’t wanted to, but he’s always been thrown into the fire and asked to play because of his talent.
“I love Jake. He’s one of my favorite people. I think he’s a great talent and a great kid. I get so frustrated watching him play, because he can make the very difficult look very easy, but he can make the very easy look next to impossible.”
The Titans try to protect Locker by running the ball a ton, in fact, more than any team in the league.
But the Jets, with their upstart defensive line, are one of the best run stopping teams in the league, currently sixth in the NFL against the run.
Last week, before the Jets played the Bills, I said I felt that Rex Ryan’s defense would eat E.J. Manuel for lunch.
I feel the same way about Rex vs. Jake Locker . . .
A big focus in the Jets’ defensive meetings this week is to keep Locker in the pocket.
One big problem for the San Diego Chargers defense last week, in their loss to Tennessee, was they allowed Locker, a great athlete, to get out of the pocket, and run.
Locker ran five times for 68 yards for a 13.6 average.
The Jets are obsessed with not allowing a repeat performance . . .
Write this down – Kellen Winslow is going to be much more involved in the Jets’ passing offense than last week. Then again, it would be tough to be less involved. He had zero catches against Buffalo, though he did draw a pass interference call on a play called for him.
Reading the tea leaves being around the team this week, I think Winslow is going to be a big part of the passing offense this week . . .
Jets reserve guard Will Campbell was a college defensive tackle at Michigan.
So it should not come as a surprise that he played the role of Casey on the scout team, at least early in practice.
The scout team works to give the starting offense and defense the look of the opponent in practice to help them prepare for the game . . .
Nick Folk has been money in the bank for the Jets this year.
Perhaps the masseuse who he works with endlessly on Friday’s at the complex is part of his winning formula . . .
September 27, 2013
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