Notes off the morning practice
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- April
- 17
The headline out of the morning practice is that Rex Ryan really likes Kellen Clemens.
“I thought he looked sharp today,” Ryan said.
Brett Ratliff made a few mistakes on the field, and Ryan said he liked the leadership Clemens (throwing in the photo, right) showed out on the field. The way he conveyed the game plan, his tone and manner, it was more authoritative than last year’s training camp where he was beaten out by Chad Pennington.
His passes were pretty crisp as well. David Clowney and Brad Smith, even a fluey Dustin Keller had some nice catches. Ryan singled out Clowney as a player he knew nothing about when he was at Baltimore, but who has impressed at the voluntary minicamp that started yesterday.
“All I know is what I see out there and he’s impressive,” Ryan said,
It was as if the reins have been taken off the team. Ryan, in his black sweatsuit, jogged awkwardly across the field and played the QB in defensive drills.
There was a scary moment when WR Wallace Wright and LB Kenwin Cummings collided, both running backwards, and fell to the field. They were receivers on opposite sides of the field, Wright was trying to catch a throw from Clemens’ left side and Cummings was covering Jehuu Caulcrick as Ratliff threw to his right — both balls coming to the same area of the field.
After the impact, Cummings looked dazed and Ryan said it was a possible concussion, while Wright limped off with a left knee injury. Both players were taken in but returned to watch the rest of the morning practice.
The coaches worked on punt returns, with S Jim Leonhard, WR Chansi Stuckey and even CB Darrelle Revis taking a shot. Ryan said he thought DE Vernon Gholston looked much better out there.
Ryan confirmed that the team would likely look for offensive players in the draft after going for defense in free agency.
What I noticed is that the mood has totally changed out here. Ryan answers questions frankly, using the word concussion about Cummings and relating the way he answered questions posed by the trainer to gauge his mental function.
That would have never happened when Eric Mangini was the coach. The word concussion was verboten, Mangini even used the term “groggy” to describe S Eric Smith after his first concussion last season.
On the humorous tip: Ryan was talking about how big Kris Jenkins is and used his listed weight of 370, smiled, reconsidered and said he will be 370. “He’s like a huge cat,” Ryan said.
He also said RB Danny Woodhead reminded him of Leonhard — both are small for football players and look pretty young. Ryan said the Jets have two guys who look like your next-door neighbor.
More up after the draft presser with Mike Tannenbaum and Terry Bradway.
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on Friday, April 17th, 2009 at 1:47 pm by Jane McManus.
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Jane McManus 
Alex, it early yet, but it looks like your man is stepping up to the plate thus far. Good for him. I really don’t care which one wins, as long as they are ready. It sounds like Clowney is picking up where he left off too. This year, his talents won’t be wasted.
It’s obvious who the quarterback of the New York Jets is. The sooner Rex makes that call, the better the Jets will be this year. Could be waiting for the Popes blessing, oh yea already got that.
David,
I just sense that he’s a smart guy who has learned from his years holding the clipboard. His arm has never been in question. Tell me, really, doesn’t this remind you of Pennington? Pennington looked awful early on-missing throws and holding on to the ball too long when nothing was open. Then, suddenly, after sitting and learning for a couple of years, he was surprisingly great (remember, no INTs in the red zone for a few years). Clemens also has the swagger finally down. His confidence in himself inspires me to believe. And his performance a couple of years ago, with that crappy, turnstile line, also leads me to respect his potential. I understand some fans’ reluctance to endorse him; if the Jets give him a chance and it doesn’t work out then it’s yet just another wasted Jets’ year. Sometimes, when it feels really right, you just have to roll the dice. Playing it safe with-say, Garcia or Leftwich-is just not the right thing to do. I like Rex all the more for rolling those dice. I like Rex’s balls-wait a minute. I like his moxy-that’s better.
LOL…You got me laughing on those closing comments, Alex. I’m happy to see the coach rolling the dice, also. The jets have invested in these guys, so there comes a time when we need to find out. Young quarterbacks typically take time to groom, but people are obsessed with finding the rare exception that can come in an wing it right away. Unfortunately, that approach is like pinning your hopes on a lottery ticket.
A friend told me that he heard the Jets are going to offer their 1st and 2nd round, plus a conditional pick to Seattle for the 4th pick (Sanchez).....Could very well just be a rumor, but I thought I would throw it out there.
God, I hope we don’t throw away all those picks to get Sanchez. I’m not sold on the kid’s level of maturity as it is. If they traded that much to get him and he didn’t pan out it would go down as the draft bust of the century…seriously. I hope that’s an ugly rumor.
[...] confident words from an unknown commodity, but if Rex Ryan’s compliments from minicamp are any indicator, then Clowney may really be ready to blow things up. I’m excited about this [...]