Tuesday Camp Whispers

Florham Park – A bunch of things to get into today . . .

Sam Darnold loves throwing to Chris Herndon.

In practice today, first he had an overthrow to him down the left seam, and then a few plays later, hit him over the middle for a nice gain.

But the fact that he threw to him twice in such a short period shows you how much he likes to throw to the talented tight end.

But shortly, perhaps next week, clearly Darnold and Adam Gase are going to have to start pulling back on passes to Herndon, because he’s not going to be available for the first four games, so there isn’t much of a point throwing to him a lot in late August practices.

It is going to be time to start dialing up more throws to Daniel Brown and Ryan Griffin, who have been kind of quiet the last couple of weeks. True, both missed a few days with injuries, but even when they are out there, it’s rare they get thrown to.

This is going to need to change the 2-3 weeks leading up to the opener . . .

Jon Harrison is actually having a good camp, and if another team is looking for a starting center, they should be interested in him. In today’s practice, he pancaked Foley Fatukasi on a run up the middle.

Today, with Keleche Osemele out, Alex Lewis was starting at left guard. During a break in the action, Harrison was going over some plays with Lewis, who just got here last week.

Harrison had to be disappointed at losing his starting job to Ryan Kalil, but Jets offensive line coach Frank Pollack called him a “pro’s pro” for how he’s handled things . . .

Arthur Maulet got starting reps today with Trumaine Johnson and Kyron Brown out with hamstring injuries, and held his own.

I noticed, he had good coverage of Quincy Enunwa on a deep out that was incomplete.

Maulet is a really tough kid from New Orleans who doesn’t back down from anyone. The Jets seem to really like him.

He also made a nice play in a special team’s drills, keeping the ball out of the end zone, diving on the goalline to throw it back to the one.

Speaking of special teams, Aussie Rugby player Valentine Holmes, is a really quick study. Let’s keep in mind, this isn’t just an NFL rookie, but a football rookie, and you watch him out there, and you’d think he’s been playing the sport for five years.

Today, while fielding a punt, the ball was going to land inside the 110, and he back off and let it go. How many times have we seen punt returners, with a lot more experience, forget where they, are catch these punts inside the 10, but Holmes let it go. That was impressive.

This guy is more than a novelty act. He is legit NFL potential . . .

Gregg Williams seems to really like DE/OLB Tarrell Bashem. He is getting reps as a nickel pass rusher with the starters. He’s a long, athletic pass rusher, built like a basketball forward, and has a knack for getting to the quarterback. In today’s practice, he beat left tackle Eric Smith with an inside move for a QB pressure . . .

The Jets signed cornerback Marcus Cooper today and released tight end Nick Truesdell.

First off, I don’t think Truesdell is healthy. He seems to be dealing with a shoulder.

As for Cooper, that is the best you are going to do if you are looking for a cornerback in the middle of August.

I’m not saying he’s a bad player, but some people expect the Jets to be able to land a cornerback in a trade who is going to be the panacea for them at the position, and that doesn’t happen in the NFL this time of year. Top-shelf corners aren’t getting out of the other team’s facilities. They are in short supply.

But Cooper is decent and a guy who has started 28 games in the NFL. The former Rutgers CB had four interceptions with Arizona in 2016. He was released by Detroit on August 12.

August 13, 2019

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