Florham Park: There is a saying that you often hear from scouts about guys who play extremely hard:
“That guy plays like his hair is on fire.”
And that is what I saw today watching veteran defensive end Takk McKinley, who the Jets signed on June 13.
He had a few QB pressures (I don’t know the exact number because I don’t do training camp stats) where he flew off the ball and harassed the quarterback.
McKinley, a first-round pick of Atlanta in 2017 out of UCLA, was playing like a guy who realizes this might be his last chance, and he’s not blowing it.
After spending his first four years with Atlanta, he had stints with the Las Vegas Raiders, Cleveland Browns, Tennessee Titans, Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys.
Jets defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich was an Atlanta assistant during two of McKinley’s better seasons in 2017-18 when he assessed 13 sacks.
I know he’s bounced around a lot, so that is a slight cause for concern, but man, this guy’s motor was revving today, and it was hard not to notice.
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