Dec 2, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill (84) catches a pass while being defended by Arizona Cardinals cornerback William Gay (22) during the first half at Metlife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

Well, better late than never, as this is something we all knew in September of last year.

A guy who got a lot of attention this past season was Stephen Hill, and not always for good reasons. After catching 2 TDs in the season opener, he proved to have hands that were just not ready for prime time, with six dropped passes, only catching 45% of the passes thrown to him.

We talked a lot as the year opened, as to whether or not Stephen Hill would be ready to be the number 2 wide receiver as a rookie, with most of us on the side that he WOULDN’T be ready.

Rex Ryan was asked about that last week at his press conference from the Combine, and here is what he had to say:

I don’t know. That’s a possibility. I think when you look at it. Actually, let me go back on that. No, he never did because he had two touchdowns his first game, so I’m glad we played him. In Week Two, maybe, but when you look at it, you see what he has – that height, that speed, those intangibles like that. It is a process. There’s no question about it. I’m always reminded that Jerry Rice never started as a rookie. I don’t know who was coaching him, but it does show you the greatest receiver of all time never even started as a rookie. So it is challenging. Guys really do make improvements going into year two and I expect Stephen to do that.

Well, he partially admitted it. He started to, but then went back on it, but you know Rex. He doesn’t come to these conclusions too easily. Him thinking about it is a start.

We did that last September.

Dec 2, 2012; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets wide receiver Stephen Hill (84) catches a pass while being defended by Arizona Cardinals cornerback William Gay (22) during the first half at Metlife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports

The rookie season for WR Stephen Hill has ended early. The Jets have announced today that they have placed the young wide receiver on injured reserve, ending his season. It has been a difficult first campaign for Stephen, who was counted on for a lot, and has has difficulty with drops. He will finish the season with 21 receptions for 252 yards and 3 TDs. Two of them were in the opening game against the Bills, so it has been a bit of tough sledding for him since then. Stephen Hill will improve, but the Jets expected too much from him as a rookie. Not to foresee the future, but Hill would benefit greatly if the Jets keep Braylon Edwards around as a mentor, as they have similar types of games. Some lessons from Braylon wouldn’t hurt.

To replace Hill on the active roster, the Jets have officially activated cornerback Donnie Fletcher from the practice squad.

Tough break for Stephen Hill today and for the Jets.

Rex Ryan made the call: Greg McElroy came in for a struggling Mark Sanchez in the 7-6 win over an even more embattled Arizona.

Bilal Powell: Notice the trend? He is consistently getting wings from me because I think he’s not only a breath of fresh air in the run game but I think he’s just a damn good runner. He creates lanes or he fights for the extra yards by cutting or spinning around to throw off a defensive player enough to get just the slightest bit of advance. In an era where we’ve seen our usual running back running into a wall on most given plays, Powell is just refreshing. If he can remain healthy then he will continue to remain a factor and will be a bigger one as games go on. If the coaches use him properly and whether that will happen, well, who knows. The point is that he shows a lot of promise and in a season that’s been very up and down where there’s not that much to look at and know we’ll see work in every game, we need to hold onto whatever we can that seems to have consistency.

LaRon Landry: I can’t say it enough. This is the guy the team needed. His stats haven’t been tremendous since putting on the green and white uniform, but his impact is very well known and extremely obvious. In the game against the Cardinals we saw something that hasn’t exactly been foreign to us Jets fans who watch the games, whether it’s at home on a comfy couch or in the thick of things at the stadiums. LaRon Landry changes the scope of the game when he is on the field. He scares receivers. He literally dares them to come near him and for a quarterback to throw to a guy that’s anywhere close to being within his vicinity. And he pressures to the point that guys get thrown off their routes, which results in interceptions. Just like the one we saw today that right after had the big tough guy known as Dirty Thirty doing the Jet across the field. It’ll be a shame if cap issues make it impossible for the Jets to retain Landry for the 2013 season because on a team thin at Safety, he’s the exact answer to the problem.

Stephen Hill: The theme here is improvement. On a struggling team you have to reward that. And when it comes to rookie receivers thrown to the dogs early on due to injury and lack of depth that didn’t improve at all as the season went on, you reward it with a set of wings. After a stellar first showing in the team’s first game of the season (feels like forever ago, doesn’t it?) Stephen Hill was plagued with an injury that seemed to move from his hamstring to his hands. Balls seemed allergic to being caught by him, as if they had feet that would pedal the pigskin away from being able to be caught, or at least held onto. Today that first step to improvement was taken. Again it wasn’t impressive stat wise (though who was?) at just 5 receptions for 40 yards but that’s a significant enough jump to be worthy of noting. Hopefully it continues for the rest of the four games, as we’re not quite ready to give up on someone so green or wish he wasn’t in green and white. Not yet, at least. The next four games and the offseason will be key for Stephen Hill and we’ll all be watching.

Honorable Mention – Bart Scott: Say what you will about him, but this is a guy who is passionate and while that doesn’t always mean he’s going to bring it on the field (which he was effective enough on today, on a day when not many were), sometimes that just means more.

✈ Sydney
Find me on Twitter at @SydneyKira1; email: confessionsofajetsfan@gmail.com