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Premium – It takes pretty thick skin to play in the NFL, and perhaps twice the thickness to play for the New York Jets . . .
With Rex Ryan not biting on Michael Vick questions, Manish Mehta tried to hit him with an end around today.
Instead of asking if he’s thinking of replacing Geno Smith with Vick, Mehta asked Ryan today, “Will Geno
Smith finish the game in San Diego?”
Rex didn’t bite.
Then Mehta asked Geno if Vick coming in the game could it provide a spark?
“That’s an opinion, not a question,” Geno responded.
Geno didn’t raise his voice, but this might be portrayed as Geno bristling.
As one writer put it, some are looking for the angle, “Jets quarterback cracking.”
This is not an easy team to play for.
This might be the toughest press room to deal with in the NFL. I’m not saying it’s the best, but just a highly-competitive room with some trying to stir things up.
You can understand why some players avoid going in the locker room when the press is in there.
I have to give Geno a lot of credit. You should have seen his press conferences on Monday and Wednesday. He was bombarded with one “stir-it-up” question after another. For a 23-year-old, he does a remarkable job handling it.
Tough crowd . . .
This is another game the Jets should have a big health advantage.
The Chargers had 15 players on their injury list today.
The Jets have eight players listed, but five of those players are virtual locks to play – Chris Johnson, Nick Mangold, Damon Harrison, Eric Decker and Willie Colon.
It’s quite possible the Chargers will be playing with their third center this year. Pro Bowl center Nick Hardwick is on IR. His backup Rich Ornberger (from East Meadow, New York), missed the last game with a back injury, and there is a good chance he will miss this week. So the Chargers will likely be on their third center, Doug Legursky.
One injury factor that could help Geno Smith and the Jets offensive line are the injuries to pass rusher
Melvin Ingram, who is out, and his backup, rookie Jerry Attaochu, who is iffy with a hamstring injury.
Two Chargers running backs are out – Danny Woodhead and Ryan Mathews.
Inside linebacker Manti Te’o hasn’t played in quite some time due to a foot injury.
The Chargers are banged up at corner with two of their top three corners iffy – Shareece Wright and Jason Verrett. But like last week, I refuse to make a big deal about a Jets opponent having injuries at corner, until the Jets prove they can do something about it. They did very little about it in the last two games.
So there is no question, the Jets enter this game as the much healthier team, especially with the expected return of Dee Milliner this week.
The only two players on the fence are Calvin Pryor and David Nelson. Pryor has a shot at playing, but Nelson is probably out . . .
I had a chance to speak to one of the newest Jets, speedy wide receiver Chris Owusu. What an impressive kid. Speaks the King’s English. He is so bright, he will pick up the Jets system quickly.
I was wondering why Tampa Bay got rid of him after three games when he caught a touchdown in their opener.
Part of it was that he tweaked his ankle in Week Two, so they brought in the healthier Louis Murphy . . .
It’s strange.
Jalen Saunders was released because the Jets like Walter Powell better as a punt returner.
But today in practice (the part of media is allowed to watch) the two players returning punts were Jeremy Kerley and Eric Decker.
This might have just been an aberration, but it’s possible that in a must-win game, the Jets don’t want to mess round with the punt returning, and they just want to use a veteran who they feel can just go back there, and catch the ball cleanly . . .
October 1, 2014
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