Wednesday Whispers

Maybe I’m missing something . . .

and if I am, I will write that.

But watching the Jets practice on Tuesday, there is something I don’t understand.

Mekhi Becton isn’t practicing. He still seems to be rehabbing his surgical knee. He is still wearing a bulky brace on his surgical knee.

Here is what I don’t get:

While they might want to hold him out of drills, why wasn’t he with the offensive linemen during their drills, listening to the teaching of the team’s new offensive line coach, Keith Carter.

There could be a reason. Perhaps they are concerned that somebody from the drill might get tossed into his area and roll his leg.

But the drills this time of year are basically non-contact and very tepid. They are basically chess on grass, with coaches, teaching concepts, schemes and techniques without a lot of entanglements.

Once again, if I’m missing something here, and somebody can point out what I’m missing, I will write about that in the coming days.

However, on the surface, I don’t understand why Becton wasn’t with his offensive lineman getting mental reps and listening to what Carter was teaching them.

He seems to be far enough along in his rehab to stand on the side of a drill and listen in.

I want to make it clear, I’m not calling out Becton here. Maybe it’s not his decision. I have no idea. But, to me, it would be ideal for him to be around the offensive linemen in these drills, getting mental reps . . .

At Tuesday’s OTA practice, linebacker Jamien Sherwood had a nice PD in pass coverage

Watching Sherwood in the practice open to the media in the spring (which isn’t all of them), Sherwood looks very confident and is triggering quickly, trusting his eyes after diagnosing a play. He seems very comfortable in the system and with his role.

He really could be an X-Factor for the Jets on defense, where they need another linebacker in the mix who can help in coverage.

Heat-seeking missile Quincy Williams had just 1 PD last year, and C.J. Mosley is 31, and while still a good player, probably doesn’t have the wheels he used to, so he has some coverage limitations. So they need somebody else in the mix who can compliment Williams and Mosley in coverage, and it could be Sherwood.

The AFC East has two teams with dynamic tight end combinations, the Buffalo Bills (Dawson Knox and Dalton Kincaid) and the New England Patriots (Hunter Henry and Mike Gesicki), so the Jets mostly certainly need to upgrade their linebacker coverage from the last two years.

Perhaps Sherwood can help them do that . . .

Speaking of linebackers, Chazz Surratt has been out with some kind of injury. He was on the rehab field yesterday. He’s another fast linebacker who can help them in coverage but must prove he can stay healthy. Last year he landed on IR, and now he’s injured again.

Remember, coming out of UNC, Surratt was considered one of the better linebackers in the 2021 draft, and was picked in the third round by the Minnesota Vikings. The Jets claimed him on waivers last summer.

June 7, 2023

Premium will return by 9:30 pm or sooner on Thursday