New York Jets Training Camp Day 1: No Surprises

July 23, 2014; New York, NY, USA; New York Jets player

arrives for training camp at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: William Perlman/THE STAR-LEDGER via USA TODAY Sports

The biggest takeaway from today’s Jets activities is that everything went as expected and there were no surprises. On the injury front Antwan Barnes and Willie Colon start on the Physically Unable to Perform list (PUP) but can be activated at any time. Colon and Barnes both passed their conditioning tests and Rex Ryan says they are only holding them back as a precautionary measure. The team did hedge its bets on Barnes by signing pass rush specialist Jason Babin, who had 7.5 sacks with the Jaguars last season.

The whole team passed their conditioning tests for the 1st time in Rex Ryan’s tenure, a fact he made sure to point out that was a not so subtle jab at Joe McKnight. Chris Johnson stood out and was “flying” according to Rex Ryan. Johnson has been fully cleared by noted orthopedic Dr. James Andrews and will have no restrictions. Also the whole team, sans Jeff Cumberland who had a death in the family, reported and there were no holdouts. Muhammad Wilkerson said that he never considered it because it would be letting his teammates down and leaders don’t do that. You know that $22 mil in extra cap money Idzik is holding? A good chunk of that is going in Wilkerson’s pocket either before or after the season.

The team as a whole was confident in interviews but very measured in what they said.

“We understand there’s so many steps we have to take to get there,” Ryan said. “We have to improve as a football team. If we could talk about it and get there it would’ve already been done.” New York Jets’ optimism is measured, ESPNNewYork.com, Jane McManus, 7/23/14

Chris Johnson added:

“We know we’ve got a pretty good team, but we know that we’ve still got to take one step at a time, and that’s getting training camp out of the way and start winning games,” running back Chris Johnson said. “We can’t just jump to the playoffs or straight to a Super Bowl. We’ve got to take it one game at a time.” New York Jets’ optimism is measured, ESPNNewYork.com, Jane McManus, 7/23/14

Today was the day for players to check in, for the team to make sure that every one was there and in shape and get ready for when the real fun starts. That would be tomorrow when practice and meetings begin. The 2013 season and offseason are officially over and everyone is 0-0 and has a clean slate. Welcome 2014 Jets let’s see what you’ve got.