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It’s time for another dose of Dan’s Website Whispers from Jets Camp in Florham Park, as the team prepares for their big game against the Football Giants . . .
Mo Wilkerson has some kind of right knee injury. He is wearing a brace on it . . .
Donald Strickland feels the key to the Jets beating the Giants is Gang Green’s secondary.
“This game is on us,” Strickland said.
Eli Manning is coming off a bad game, but overall is having an outstanding season.
“He can make all the throws,” Strickland said. “He pinpoints the 7-Route on the sideline.”
Eli (Manning) throws a back shoulder fade as well as any quarterback in the league and that’s really hard to stop, because if you’re behind I,t he can throw it on top of you,” Rex Ryan said. “If you’re even with it or on top of it, he can throw it back shoulder. It’s not easy, that’s for sure.” . . .
Early in practice, Santonio Holmes dropped a short pass right in his hands. It was a perfect throw, and he was wide open.
You have to wonder where his head is at . . .
It’s no secret this is a big game for Plaxico Burress facing his former team, a team he didn’t think stood behind him when he was sent to jail on a trumped up gun charge.
After practice, he was on the field by himself, catching extra balls on the jugs machine.
This game is HUGE to him . . .
I saw TE Jeff Cumberland today in the field house, and he seems to be progressing well from his achilles injury. He has no limp or brace. If he can come back as strong as Ropati Pitiotua, he should give the Jets offense a nice boost next year . . .
On Saturday, members of the cast from the Broadway production of “Spiderman” will sing the national anthem . . .
The Giants clearly like to “Zone Blitz” on defense.
We hear the Jets had scout team defensive linemen dropping into coverage this week in practice . . .
The Giants are a little thin at cornerback, so you get the sense that Jeremy Kerley is going to have a big role this week . . .
By the way, Kerley looked really good in practice today, and is clearly feeling much better after dealing with a virus earlier this week . . .
Ross Tucker of Sirius NFL Radio tweeted, “If the two teams swapped quarterbacks, the Jets would win by 20.” . . .
In the Jets loss to Philadelphia, both Calvin Pace and Marcus Dixon were flagged for helmet-to-helmet hits on Mike Vick.
Pace was fined by the NFL, and Dixon wasn’t.
With so many flags being thrown for these kind of hits, what is Rex advising his players about hitting and tackling quarterbacks?
“You have to lower your target, that’s the number one thing,” Ryan said. “But a target can change. It can move, the helmet can come down, but we’re very mindful of it. It’s tough. But you have to get to the quarterback, you have to hit the quarterback to win in this league. It’s not that you’re trying to maim the guy, but you are trying to hit him.”
Ray Lewis said he’s not going to change the way he plays, and you get the sense many players are with him – it’s hard to change your flight path while lunging towards a target.
What the NFL is trying to force isn’t steeped in reality, but they feel they have to do it, with such an intense focus on concussions right now.
Premium will return on Saturday by 7 pm. Enjoy the Jets-Giants!
