New York Jets’ Sione Pouha & Mike DeVito Plan Defensive Line Workouts
In what has become a trend around the league, especially with the New York Jets, defensive linemen Sione Pouha and Mike DeVito are planning workouts with teammates sometime next week.
Pouha and DeVito, the anchors of the Jets defensive line among the players under contract for next season, told the Associated Press that they’re going to meet up in New Jersey with some of their defensive line teammates, possibly including rookies Muhammad Wilkerson and Kenrick Ellis.
“We were talking and it was like, ‘Dude, we’ve got to put something together,”‘ Pouha said. “All of us have been lifting and running and working out. That’s one thing. Doing actual drills, making blocking reads and punching sled bags, well, that’s another thing.”
The players have made arrangements to bring in blocking sleds and add the physical element they’ve been missing in the absence of organized team activities because of the lockout. They also might review defensive plays from last season and reacquaint themselves with one another.
“It’s great to get together as a unit,” DeVito said, “so that we can start working together, getting our rhythm and timing right and to work that unity that is so important to have if you want a great defensive line.”
Also expected to be in attendance is big Ropati Pitoitua, a 6’8, 315 pound behemoth who the Jets are really high on. The 26-year-old Samoan signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in 2008 and was expected to be a big part of the Jets defensive line rotation last year before suffering a torn Achilles tendon in training camp, which ended his season.
Seeing Pitoitua back on the field will be a welcome sight for the Jets, even if it’s in a players-only workout with a few teammates.
Meanwhile, Pouha has been busy on Twitter the past few days, as he reached out to first-round pick Mo Wilkerson and third-rounder Kenrick Ellis to try to get them to meet up and train together, possibly to show the rookies the nuances of the playbook and defensive scheme.
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New York Jets Coach Rex Ryan Talks with Joe Gibbs & Tom Moore
Get better every day. That’s the name of the game. New York Jets coach Rex Ryan hasn’t been able to contact his players during the lockout, but that hasn’t stopped him from getting better this offseason.
Instead of talking to his players, Ryan picked the brains of ex-Washington Redskins Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs and former Indianapolis Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore, according to the Jets official website.
“I called Joe Gibbs,” Ryan said. “When they went through some work stoppages, the last two times the Washington Redskins won two Super Bowls. So I figured that would be a good guy to call.”
In 1982, there was a work stoppage due to a player strike that started in the middle of September and lasted into November of that season. In a nine-game regular season, Gibbs coached the Redskins to an 8-1 record and a Super Bowl championship.
Then five years later in 1987, a 24-day player strike caused the loss of a game and replacement players filling in for three weeks. But the Redskins went 3-0 in those games, 11-4 overall, and won their second Super Bowl.
“He said take this time to get better,” Ryan said. “Take time to gain an advantage on your opponents and whatever you think that is. He gave me some ideas and I followed them to a tee.”
He also talked with former Colts offensive coordinator Tom Moore to try to fix some of the red zone woes that have plagued the Jets the past few years.
“We’re bringing in former coaches in this league, the top guys: Tom Moore, the former offensive coordinator with the Indianapolis Colts. We brought in Bobby Jackson, regarded as the top running backs coach for probably 25 years of coaching…,” he said. “We’re bringing in all kinds of guys to come in here and speak to us and pick their brains. We have Dan Reeves coming in.”
“I think the biggest area we have to improve is in the red zone efficiency by our offense. For a top team, it doesn’t add up. We do everything else well except when we get in the red zone. We absolutely struggled in the red zone — I believe we were 26th in the league in red zone scoring efficiency…,” Ryan said. “We are going to change our practice schedule. We are going to practice more red zone and we are going to practice two-minute.”
Moore is the perfect coach to bring in for a team looking to be more efficient. The Colts have always had an efficient red zone offense under Tom Moore, and while a lot of credit has to go to Peyton Manning of course, you cannot overlook Moore’s presence either.
I think it’s fantastic that Rex Ryan is being proactive in trying to improve as a coach in whatever way possible. The fact that he can’t coach is players is tough, but he refuses to let it affect his desire to get better every day. That’s why he’s one of the NFL’s best coaches.
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New York Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez Visits NFL Network Studios in California
This past Wednesday, New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez stopped by NFL Network studios and sat down with Rich Eisen to talk about a variety of topics, including the experiences of rookie quarterbacks, chasing that first Super Bowl ring, and what it’s like to have Rex Ryan as a head coach.
Sanchez had a lot of interesting things to say, including some talk about possibly setting up team-wide organized workouts in June if the lockout continues.
In one segment, which you can view on NFL.com, the third-year quarterback Sanchez talked about how the lockout can affect the incoming rookie quarterbacks, who may be thrust into the starting lineup without a training camp to learn the playbook, putting themselves and their teams in harm’s way.
In another segment, Sanchez and Eisen discuss his success in the postseason, where he is in his development as he evolves into a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback, and his emerging leadership as Jets quarterback.
In an interview with Frank Tadych of NFL.com, Sanchez talked about the “Hard Knocks” experience, the possibility of having both free agent wide receivers Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes return next year, and who would play him if a movie about his life were made.
Manish Mehta of the Daily News has a recap of some of the other topics Sanchez talked about as well, including possible team-wide workouts in the wake of his Jets West passing camp.
“I had plenty of fun along the way [at Jets West], so it was exactly what we needed from an offensive skill standpoint,” Sanchez said on NFL Total Access. “Now, it’s moving on to getting the whole team together. That will be sometime next month.”
As a Jets fan, I get pretty pumped up to hear something like that. Seeing the 24-year-old Sanchez take charge and become a leader by example is exciting. I can’t wait to hear more about these team workouts next month.
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JetsReport Free Agency Roundup: Safety Brodney Pool
This is the ninth post in my JetsReport Free Agency Roundup series. You can look back at the other players I’ve covered so far: David Harris, LaDainian Tomlinson, Santonio Holmes, Braylon Edwards, Antonio Cromartie, Brad Smith, and Damien Woody and Eric Smith.
For the New York Jets, the safety position is an interesting one to fill.
They ignored the position during the NFL Draft, which presumably means they must be happy with the guys they already have under contract.
But who do they have under contract? Among defensive backs, they have Darrelle Revis, Drew Coleman, Kyle Wilson, Dwight Lowery and Marquice Cole. But all of them are cornerbacks, save for Lowery and Cole, who have taken snaps at safety before.
As far as true safeties go, Jim Leonhard is under contract, and so is young Emanuel Cook. That’s it. Eric Smith is a free agent, as is Brodney Pool and James Ihedigbo. Leonhard, the only safety under contract with experience, is recovering from a broken leg suffered during the season, and wasn’t great at pass defense anyway.
So if the Jets think they’re going to be ok at that position, they clearly believe they’ll be able to keep one, two or even all three of these guys when free agency rolls around.
Having already written about Smith previously, I thought I’d turn my attention to Pool this time. He’s an interesting player, having played his whole career in Cleveland before spending a year in New York this past season.
At first, like most defensive backs who are learning on the fly with Rex Ryan’s elaborate system, Pool struggled. He was benched midway through the year and had a hard time learning the playbook.
But sometime during the stretch run, the light went on for Pool.
After Leonhard’s season-ending injury, Pool was back in the starting lineup and became an important part of the defense. When fellow starter Eric Smith suffered a concussion and missed a few weeks, Pool became indispensable.
During the stretch run and postseason, Pool was flying all over the field, making great reads and locking down the back end of Rex Ryan’s pass defense.
The Jets have admittedly struggled with their safety play after the departure of Kerry Rhodes. Some say Rhodes was traded away because he struggled to learn the defense himself, for what that’s worth.
I think after seeing Pool’s improvement as he became more familiar with the defense, it would definitely be worth bringing him back. One thing that seems to be true is that it clearly takes new players a decent amount of time to fully grasp the playbook.
So why bring in a new player to fill Pool’s role? Hopefully the Jets will find room in their budget to bring Brodney Pool back, along with one or both of Eric Smith and James Ihedigbo.
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No Moss: New York Jets Need to Find a Way to Keep Both Braylon Edwards & Santonio Holmes
Another day, another story about the New York Jets possibly having interest in free agent wide receiver Randy Moss.
Most times that I hear rumors linking Moss to the Jets, I usually take it with a grain of salt, like I did when Jets coach Rex Ryan talked up Moss last month, or when cornerback Darrelle Revis spoke about potentially having him as a teammate a few weeks ago.
But a new story came out today from one of my favorite writers, Manish Mehta of the Daily News, wrote about how the Jets interest in Moss may actually be legitimate.
Free agent cornerback Antonio Cromartie, who has expressed a desire to remain with the Jets next year, evidently firmly supports bringing a guy like Moss into the fold.
“I would love to have Randy Moss on Jets,” Cromartie said in a tweet to the Daily News. “Much respect. Great vertical guy who has a lot left in the tank.”
I get that the Jets have to do their due diligence when it comes to free agent wide receivers, considering the Jets have three of their own in Braylon Edwards, Santonio Holmes and Brad Smith.
But I still think it would be wise if the Jets to try to keep their two Pro Bowl-caliber receivers Edwards and Holmes, if economically feasible of course.
Edwards has been tremendous since coming over the Jets in September 2009 from a trade with the Cleveland Browns. In an article today on Pro Football Focus by Khaled Elsayed, he looks at wide receiver drop percentage and notes that Edwards’ efficiency on catchable balls has greatly improved. Edwards only dropped 4 of the 66 catchable balls thrown his way, just 6.06%, good for 12th in the entire NFL.
Just outside the top ten is a name that will surprise a few, Braylon Edwards. The New York Jet developed a reputation for drops after a 2008 that saw his star fall in Cleveland. He didn’t help himself with the odd terrible (but highly publicized) drop in 2009 and even now the label of a guy with bad hands sticks (every drop of his receives more press time than other top guys). Remarkable then that he only dropped four balls all year, a better rate than either of the other Jets to make this list. The ever excellent Santonio Holmes dropped eight balls and finished in 42nd, while the normally reliable Jerricho Cotchery put 10 on the ground for the third worst number in the league. Edwards’ name will come up later, making his improvement in New York all the more stark.
What he’s referring to, as far as his name coming up later and the improvement he’s made is the fact that Edwards dropped 19 balls in 2008, a rate so terrible that Edwards’s drop percentage is the worst in the entire NFL over the past three years. Yet it speaks to his incredible improvement since being traded to the Jets that he just missed the top 10 after being dead last as a Brown.
Meanwhile Santonio Holmes is an incredible talent as well. He was recently voted by his peers to the NFL Network’s Top 100 players, coming in at number 76.
Brian Bassett posted this great YouTube video on theJetsBlog of the NFL Network’s segment on Holmes, which you can watch below.
I’ve been torn this offseason thinking about Edwards and Holmes, and who should stay and who should go. My head tells me Holmes is the better player, that “Tone Time” is the type of clutch intangibles that cannot be easily replaced. Yet my heart tells me Edwards is the guy who desperately wants to be here and has shown nothing but improvement since coming here.
Then I look at a guy like Moss, a guy who played for three teams last season and did more harm than good. I could care less about who he used to be, or how much left he has in the tank.
I’m sure he’s got his four routes per game that he’ll run full-speed. Of course he does. When you’re slouching through so many plays like he does, I wouldn’t be surprised he’s got a few more verticals he can run. I just don’t think he’s worth bringing in, no way no how.
In that same PFF article about the drop percentage, you can see that Moss is 4th-worst among all receivers in drops over the past three years, and that includes the dwindling playing time he got last year. Stay away from this guy, no matter who you lose in free agency.
As far as Holmes vs Edwards, it’s not an easy decision, and it’s going to be even more difficult considering the uncertainty of what free agency will even lookout post-lockout. I just hope there’s a way to keep both #17 and #10, and keep Moss away from here. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
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