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Madison – Time for a heaping helping of Jets Website Whispers from Jets Country, including notes on Chris Owusu, Wesley Johnson and Brandon Marshall . . .
While I try to keep emotion out of reporting, I have to admit my heart sunk today when Todd Bowles said Chris Owusu had another concussion.
At first he didn’t say what the injury was. He just said he missed practice.
Nobody asked a follow-up. Owusu isn’t a player they really focus on.
I finally jumped him ask the coach the nature of the injury, and he said “concussion.”
It was a depressing moment on a human level.
He’s such a great kid – smart, polite, hard-working. He loves football and wants to keep playing.
But you have to wonder if this is the end of the line.
Three concussions in college, and now two with the Jets.
When did it happen? After all, he never left the game. Bowles said he didn’t know.
There are two plays I think are prime candidates.
Early in the game, he got his helmet hooked by cornerback Justin Coleman, and it turned his head awkwardly.
The other play was late in the game when he caught a 21-yard pass from Ryan Fitzpatrick over the deep middle and he got hit very hard by safety Duron Harmon. If I were to guess, this was likely the play.
Very sad. We will keep you posted on whether he’s going to walk away from the game . . .
The Jets promoted center Wesley Johnson from the practice squad.
This makes people think that Nick Mangold isn’t going to play.
Actually that determination hasn’t been made yet.
We all know how tough Mangold is. Don’t count him out yet.
He is dealing with a lot of soreness on the right side of his neck after getting slammed by the helmet of LB Jamie Collins.
Mangold is so smart that he could be cleared on Saturday and still play.
But why would the Jets promote Johnson when they already have Dakota Dozier as a backup center.
Because Johnson is a better center than Dozier at this point.
Johnson started seven games at center as a sophomore at Vanderbilt.
And was working there throughout the spring and summer.
Dozier was a college left tackle, moved to guard by the Jets, and was moved to center this year, but got most of his work in practice.
Johnson played a lot in preseason games at center. Dozier didn’t.
Dozier’s best position now is guard. Johnson’s best position is center.
Johnson told me today he’s most comfortable at center, after playing both guard and tackle in the past.
So Johnson is the better insurance policy over Dozier . . .
I asked Brandon Marshall today about the perception that it’s a little hypocritical for him to call out Greg Hardy, when Marshall has had some blowups himself (last year he had shouting matches with Bears defensive assistant Chris Harris and kick Robbie Gould).
“I think I’m the perfect person to talk about issues like that because I’ve been through it and now I’m on the other side,” Marshall said. “So I get it, I understand it. I don’t care what other people say. I don’t care what other people say. I know who I am, I’m proud of the person I am today.”
Marshall is a heck of a player, and he’s helped the Jets a great deal.
However, this “Inside the NFL” gig is a distraction to the Jets.
It’s not a great idea for a current NFL player to do a weekly national show that involves critiquing players on other teams.
As Stephen Covey likes to say, “Make the main thing the main thing.”
Marshall had a few bad plays in the second half of the Jets-Pats game. A drop on a touchdown that forced the
Jets to kick a field goal, instead of scoring a touchdown (never good against Tom Brady). Then he had a drop late in the game on a short pass over the middle. Then he had the penalty to end the game before the Jets could throw a Hail Mary.
Like I said, he’s a heck of a player, but maybe he could be even better with even better focus. This Showtime show needs to go.
October 28, 2015
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Thursday.
