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It’s very early
and it’s not tackle football yet, and he has a lot of work to do, but this undrafted free-agent receiver from Kutztown, Jerome Kapp, for the second week in a row, in the practice open to the media, made a bunch of catches. He knows how to get open and has consistent hands. Hey, maybe the Jets have found a poor man’s Adam Thielen. Remember, Thielen, came out of a small college program Minnesota State, got a tryout with the Minnesota Vikings in rookie minicamp, and got signed. Kapp also was a rookie minicamp tryout who earned a contract . . .
There was a kind of ridiculous penalty call in Jets practice today. I’m not sure which defensive back it was, but that is beside the point. It was in a red zone pass drill. There was no pass rush. Zach Wilson held the ball forever, way beyond what a normal play would last. You can do that because there is no pass rush. And the ref eventually called holding on a DB. Very few defensive backs in the world would be able to hold up in coverage for 8-10 seconds without holding.
This is another example of why you need to take a lot of what happens in the spring with a grain of salt. You can’t touch the QB, and a lot of plays last way beyond reality . . .
But while on the subject of Zach Wilson, he looked better today than he did in the previous two practices open to the media . . .
You don’t have to be Bill Walsh or Don Coryell to watch a practice like today and realize that Aaron Rodgers (who was back from the calf injury) that the Rodgers-Garrett Wilson combination is going to be prolific this year.
You have an all-time great QB working with a receiver with rare natural ability, and they are working hard together in the spring to get on the same page. If they both stay healthy, don’t be shocked if Wilson gets over 100 catches this season . . .
An under-the-radar player, who missed last year to an injury, who was missed more than people realize, and could really help the Jets this year, is fullback Nick Bawden.
He has caught a lot of passes in the spring out of the backfield. And two other things about his game, that you won’t see in non-contact spring practices, but were missed in the real tackle football games last year, is what a tenacious lead blocker he is, and what a terrific blocker he is on kick returns (whatever that is going to look like this year with the new rules). But the Jets certainly missed him last year on their kick return team. Bawden was on IR last year . . .
Remember we wrote that every time we saw tight end Jeremy Ruckert in the locker room last year, he seemed to be limping.
Well there is a good reason. Robert Saleh said today that Ruckert was dealing with plantar fasciitis, a foot injury involving the connective tissue which supports the arch of the foot. It results in pain in the heel and bottom of the foot.
He looks a lot healthier in the spring practices.
June 6, 2023
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