Thoughts and Observations from New York Jets’ Thursday OTAs
By Alan Schechter
May 22, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan during organized team activities at the New York Jets training facility. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports
No matter what is going on, workouts, drafts, signings…etc. it sure feels great to have football coming back, doesn’t it? As these workouts move along, you start to feel the Fall coming, the crisp air, you smell the tailgate cooking, and anything else you associate with football. There are under 100 days left until the return of the game. How great is that?
Yesterday was the second set of OTA workouts that were open to be viewed by the media. This morning we bring you some news and notes, based on the observations of those in attendance. Let’s get right to it.
- The quarterbacks were much sharper than last week. No, I am not going to go crazy like the guys in the media and track pitch by pitch. However, it is a nice note that neither Geno Smith nor Mark Sanchez threw an interception during the session.
- Hayden Smith improves every day. What a story he would be if he made a major impact on this league, am I right? Coming from last year, when he never even had played football before, to now. Observers called his catch on a tough Sanchez throw over the middle the “catch of the day”.
- Is McElroy in the “dog house”? Again, this is still very early, but yet an interesting point to notice. For the second straight open OTA session, the quarterback taking the reps with the third string was Matt Simms, not Greg McElroy. It’s May, so not making official conclusions. Just saying this is something to pay attention to.
- Hill returns, Holmes sidelined. The viewers at Florham Park all mentioned that Stephen Hill was back, and looked pretty good for himself in his return to the team. If the Jets are going to have ANY chance, Hill will have to be back, and improved. Santonio, however, is not ready to go yet, and is not a guarantee for minicamp. As we have talked before, his foot injury is a tough one to come back from, so this isn’t a surprise.
- The real “end of an era” for the New York Jets defense. For the first time, there was mention made of two long time Jets that are gone from the defense, Darrelle Revis and Bart Scott. Calvin Pace talked about both guys yesterday, as he considered Darrelle a friend since day one, and that it is hard to see someone else in #24 (RB John Griffin). He also noticed the difference in not hearing Bart’s voice all day long. It’s clearly a new day in New York.
And there is nothing wrong with that, it was time for change, and I look forward to the progress of that change.