Recent News

New York Jets Defense to Turn up the Heat

June 17th, 2013 at 11:23 PM
By Donald Lappe

New York Jets' head coach Rex Ryan is going to be more involved with the defense this season as a result of the departure of Mike Pettine. For the Jets, that will include a return to the aggressive, attacking style that became their trademark back in 2009. The Jets sat back a bit more with Mike Pettine calling the defense and putting together consistently good defensive outings. While the Jets are selling the philosophical shift as purely a desire to get back to what worked at the beginning of Rex Ryan's tenure with the team, personnel is also a likely factor. 

'New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan' photo (c) 2011, Marianne O'Leary - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The New York Jets are going back to attacking the quarterback, the ultra-aggressive style that became associated with the Gang Green defense shortly after Rex Ryan took over as head coach. After delegating defensive playcalling duties to Mike Pettine, the defense became a bit less reliant on the blitz, instead flooding the field with defenders in coverage. Every player likes to play aggressive, downhill football on either side of the ball, so the change has been well-received.

Read more...
Join the Conversation...

New York Jets Sign Tight End Kellen Winslow Jr

June 14th, 2013 at 8:18 PM
By Donald Lappe

As expected, the New York Jets have signed tight end Kellen Winslow Jr. The Jets brought Kellen Winslow Jr. to mini-camp for a tryout this week and he quickly caught the eye of the coaching staff. Probably the most accomplished receiving threat on the field, Kellen Winslow Jr. showed flashes of the athleticism he was known for earlier in his career when healthy. He has the ability to be a true matchup problem for defenses, something the Jet have been looking for on offense.

'K2 Warming up' photo (c) 2006, Andrew Morrell - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

The New York Jets may have found an answer at tight end in Kellen Winslow Jr. The former first round pick and University of Miami star was brought in for a tryout this week at Jets' minicamp. Kellen Winslow Jr. impressed the coaching staff early on and continued to have strong practices throughout the three-day mini-camp. As a result, the team decided to offer him a contract.

After losing Dustin Keller to the Miami Dolphins this offseason, it was assumed that the Jets would do something to address their tight end position. The bust period of free agency came and went, as did the 2013 NFL Draft, without any real help at tight end added. The Jets grabbed undrafted free agents to compete for a roster spot, but it seemed as though Jeff Cumberland would be leaned on very heavily as the odds-on favorite to start without any experience behind him.

Read more...
Join the Conversation...

New York Jets General Manager John Idzik Defends Offseason Signings of David Garrard, Mike Goodson

June 13th, 2013 at 10:50 PM
By Donald Lappe

Reasonable observers knew that the New York Jets needed to hit the reset button if they planned on building the team back up the right way. Lack of talent combined with a lack of salary cap space will do that to a franchise. That's exactly what the Jets did this offseason, refusing to spend on free agents, whether their own that eventually landed elsewhere or potential targets from other teams. Two signings the Jets did make, David Garrard and Mike Goodson, haven't panned out as of yet. David Garrard was forced to retire due to knee issues and Mike Goodson is tangled up in some off the field issues. Still, rookie general manager John Idzik defended his offseason on Thursday.

'Oakland Raiders v Miami Dolphins' photo (c) 2012, June Rivera - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0/

John Idzik didn't step into an easy job as general manager of the New York Jets. That's the way it works in the NFL, as most won't walk away from a good situation. It's a reclamation project, but not one without glimmers of hope and reminders of somewhat recent success. The Jets weren't in a position to make many big-time acquisitions this offseason, which put the moves they did make under a microscope. When two of the more notable signings of the offseason result in a retirement and an arrest, some questions are going to be raised.

Read more...
Join the Conversation...

New York Jets Minicamp: Kellen Winslow Jr Likely to Sign, Mike Sims-Walker not as Impressive

June 12th, 2013 at 10:37 PM
By Donald Lappe

It looks like the New York Jets will go 1-for-2 on their high-profile tryouts at minicamp this week. Kellen Winslow Jr. has been impressive and will almost certainly end up signing a contract with the Jets. Mike Sims-Walker hasn't impressed at the same level, and his status with the team beyond minicamp is much less certain.

'IMG_0320' photo (c) 2011, Parker Anderson - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/2.0/

The New York Jets are thin and inexperienced at tight end, but Kellen Winslow Jr. looks like a serviceable answer to their need for a true starter. Brought in this week for a tryout at the team's minicamp, Kellen Winslow Jr. impressed on Tuesday and continued to do so today. Given the lack of receiving depth for the Jets, the prevalence of the tight end in today's NFL and the past production from tight ends under Marty Mornhinweg (Brent Celek), the Jets needed to find a contributor in the passing game at tight end. It looks like Kellen Winslow Jr. will fill that role, along with some help from Jeff Cumberland.

Rex Ryan wasn't quiet about his satisfaction with Kellen Winslow Jr., as reported by Rich Cimini:

Read more...
Join the Conversation...

New York Jets Minicamp 2013: Day One Recap

June 11th, 2013 at 3:50 PM
By Donald Lappe

The New York Jets kicked off their 2013 Minicamp today, with practices also set for tomorrow and Thursday. Kellen Winslow Jr. made an appearance, and some players jumped out with big performances. It is still too early to get overly excited about practice performances, but there were some notable happenings at minicamp today, which was open to season ticket holders. Tomorrow's practice is a true open session.

'New York Jets Quarterback Mark Sanchez Warms Up' photo (c) 2011, Marianne O'Leary - license: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

The defense ruled the day for the New York Jets at minicamp today, which is far from a surprise. The defensive is expected to be the stronger of the two units this season, plus the offense is still learning a new system under Marty Mornhinweg, all while missing some of their top wide receivers in Santonio Holmes and Jeremy Kerley. 

Antonio Allen, who showed plenty of ability when given the chance last season, recorded a sack while outside linebacker Ricky Sapp tallied two sacks. The disappointing development is that there's still plenty of talk about the inability of the wide receivers to make catches expected to be completed at the NFL level, though the aforementioned absences have an impact in that department. On the bright side, Kellen Winslow Jr. grabbed two receptions during team drills.

Read more...
Join the Conversation...