The Patterson enigma

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This Dimitri Patterson situation is bizarre.

Why did he not show up to the game on Friday?

I don’t think he was going to play. During the three days of practice last week in Florham Park, Monday-Wednesday, I didn’t see Patterson take one rep. He returned to practice on a very limited basis last week.

Now I’m not saying that excuses him for not showing up.

“Why did Dimitri Patterson skip Friday’s game? I’m told he’s not thrilled with Jets CB pecking order,” wrote Manish Mehta. “His injuries dropped him on depth chart.”

That explanation makes little sense. If Patterson was indeed thinking that way, it would be misguided.

First of all, he was projected to start once his quad injury healed.

Secondly, he’s a starter on the depth chart on the Jets’ website.

Perhaps one of the defensive coaches said something to him that he found insulting at the hotel, and he bolted. This leg injury really has him down.

This clearly was a major misunderstanding.

I have to say this whole thing caught me by surprise.

This guy isn’t a punk.

You talk to him, he’s a mature, intelligent man, who has a lot of interesting things to say.

You never heard one bad thing about his character in Philly, Cleveland and Miami. Not one.

I would not release him. The Jets are so thin at corner. They need to bury the hatchet here. This was just a bad misunderstanding. This guy isn’t a knucklehead . . .

I think the Jacoby Ford release surprised a lot of people. The guy is a very good kick returner. He returned four kickoffs for touchdowns during his three years in Oakland.

He’s a bad punt returner, who isn’t great at fielding punts, but that isn’t why he was brought in, so it would be unfair for the Jets to release him because he botched a punt against the Giants.

The Jets released Ford because they are going with Saalim Hakim as their kick returner.

Here is my concern about Hakim as a kick returner. No question his speed is scintillating, but does he have a plan?

I haven’t seen a plan yet.

4.2 speed doesn’t mean you are a good kick returner.

Joe McKnight, Leon Washington and Chad Morton, three very good kick returners in modern Jets history, didn’t just run up field with reckless abandon – they followed their blockers and made people miss. Ford was also a good tactical kick returner in Oakland.

Hey, this Hakim thing could work out great for the Jets, but right now, all I see, watching practices and games, is a player who running up field like a house of fire.

Let’s see his plan . . .

Coaches work on very little sleep, and it also seemed like Rex Ryan was under the weather today. He was sniffling. So perhaps this explains, what is being perceived by some in the media, as a slip-up today by Ryan, that revealed some valuable information to the press. Ryan said Jalen Saunders suffered “a seizure.”

Up until this point, Saunders, or anybody from the Jets, would be specific about what happened to Saunders on August 15, when he was involved in a single-car accident in the Florham Park-area, due to what was being described as a “medical incident.”

So for Ryan to say it was “a seizure” today was a big surprise.

And even Saunders seemed surprised when reporters told him that Rex said it was “a seizure.”

He clearly didn’t expect anybody to be that specific, so when asked about Ryan’s disclosure, he said, “that is what happened, I guess.” . . .

August 25, 2014

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