Content available exclusively for subscribers
Florham Park – Time for a couple of interesting items from Jets Camp in Florham Park. Sign-up for Dan’s Daily Website Whispers for just $7.95 a month . . .
Todd Bowles has to give Woody Johnson straight answers, not the media.
I’m specifically talking about injury.
And the Jets, like most teams early in camp, have a ton of injuries. Most of them are minor. There don’t seem to be any season-enders, aside from one suffered by long-shot rookie DE Julien who was waived-injured.
I think Todd is getting tired of going over all the injuries with the press every day. Plus he’s not required to. The league doesn’t demand injury reports until the regular season starts.
But sometimes things are so obvious, you might as well come clean.
Mo Wilkerson was taken off the PUP list today. Bowles said today he wouldn’t rule out Wilkerson playing Thursday.
Let me tell y’all something. I have a more of a chance of playing Thursday than Wilkerson.
Wilkerson isn’t even practicing full yet. He was very limited today.
And when Wilkerson was told Bowles said he might play, the defensive end seemed surprised and said, “I didn’t hear that.”
It makes no sense for Wilkerson, who just signed a contract for $17 million-a-year, to play on Thursday.
Same with running back Khiry Robinson (pictured above rehabbing), who came off PUP yesterday, like Wilkerson, from a broken leg.
When asked about Robinson’s availability Thursday, Bowles called it “a game-time decision.”
Like Wilkerson, Robinson is still very limited in practice.
He’s not playing either.
Why Bowles is being so coy about obvious answers, is perplexing.
Like I said, during the regular season, when the games count, and you don’t want to give your opponent clarity on which injured players are going to play, it’s smart to taking a clandestine approach.
But to talk this week like there is a chance that Wilkerson and Robinson are going to play this week, is bizarre.
Any fan or reporter who believes that, you might try to sell them the old Tappan Zee Bridge . . .
Another day, another practice where the Jets’ starting outside linebackers couldn’t get off the blocks of the starting offensive tackles.
The backup tackles, no problem, plenty of QB pressures, but the starters, Ryan Clady and Brent Qvale/Ben Ijalana, as they say in the neighborhood, “Fuhgeddaboutit.”
The Jets seem to want Lorenzo Mauldin and Jordan Jenkins to start at outside linebacker based on all the starting reps they’ve received the first two weeks.
But forget this self-fulfilling prophecy stuff.
Open up the competition and let Freddie Bishop, Josh Martin, Trevor Reilly, Mike Catapano and Deion Barnes compete for both jobs.
The Jets coaches aren’t stupid. They have to be noticing that Mauldin and Jenkins aren’t getting near the quarterbacks against the starting offensive tackles.
Look, I’m not writing either one of them off. I think both players bring a lot to the table. But put away the anointing oil, and make it an open competition.
Tuesday, August 9
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Wednesday
