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It’s a balancing act.
The Jets had a lot of work to do this spring with a new head coach in town, and new systems being installed on offense and defense.
And Robert Saleh, unlike some other coaches, didn’t cave to the pressure to cancel work days.
However, he was always cognizant on not overworking his players, and had his training staff monitor how much running players did with GPS devices.
“GPS numbers, and tracking data, and all the different things that have been made available to us, not only as a coaching staff, but as a performance staff, have really helped with regards to how we train, de-load, up-load, whatever you want to call it,” said Saleh.
Remember, Saleh has totally changed how the Jets train and deal with injuries. On March 11, they made the following announcement:
“The New York Jets have established a new Athletic Care and Performance Department that will include the team’s athletic trainers, strength & conditioning and nutrition staffs in addition to a rehab department. Highly decorated Dr. Brad DeWeese, who was named director of high performance, will oversee the operation that also added Mike Nicolini, head strength & conditioning coach; Dr. Matt Sams, director of sports science; Dr. Robert Sausaman, assistant director of high performance; and Dr. Omar Ahmad, assistant strength & conditioning coach. The charge of the newly created department is to align the club’s athletic performance staff to better position players for success.”
Saleh, and Joe Douglas, are trying to put the Jets at the cutting edge of modern training and injury prevention.
“How we handle and help these young men get through a football season, try to eliminate risk of injury,” Saleh said. “We’re also mindful of making sure we’re always trying to peak, and reach different peak levels, we don’t want to train them to be soft. We want to train them to continue to build and get better with regards to their loads. There’s a lot of information that comes through, and it’s all tied in together with what the performance staff gathers on a day-to-day basis.”
Heady stuff. Certainly above my paygrade.
But even with the advanced sports science the Jets are using under DeWeese and company, there is going to be plenty of hitting in training camp. While hitting obviously increases the risk of injury, you need it to get ready for a football season.
“I do believe that you do need pads on,” Saleh said. “I do believe that you have to be able to hit and run into one another on a day-to-day basis. That doesn’t mean you grind a guy. I still think you got to be smart with how you prepare these guys to be their absolute best on Sundays. If you’re driving them into the dirt, they’re just not going to be as efficient on gamedays. There is a lot of balance there, there’s that nudge to make sure you’re always building that callus, but at the same time you want to be very mindful of their wellbeing, and making sure they have longevity through this thing.”
June 23, 2021
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