Jets Training Camp Report

[Rovers]

I'll be attending the Jets opening day of camp tomorrow. During his press conference today, coach Herman Edwards said Pennington would throw in the afternoon session, which I will attend. I had planned on the morning session, but have now changed plans. Afternoon sessions have more team drills and practice than the morning sessions do. My first chance to see our rooks and get a better look at projected starters (ORT, Adrian Jones, Slant nose T Pouha and Legree, and TE Jolley)

 

All the rooks are signed, and will be there... CB Justin Miller, S Kerry Rhodes, DT Sione Pouha, PK Nugent...... GM Bradway keeps his streak intact of getting all the rookies signed before camp.

 

Of course I'll report on how good/bad Pennington looks, as well as C Martin, Coles, McCariens, etc, but if there is a particular player you'de like me to watch, let me know. Man, I am STOKED!

[MikesVikes]

Morning sessions, afternoon sessions. At your age take those sessions every chance you get.

[MikesVikes]

Tell us what you think of Nugent. If Martin can continue from last season, he could get plenty of FG attempts this year.

Edited July 29, 2005 by MikesVikes

[Kup DeVilles]

Hey Rover, I'm eating my heart out.. I am a LI tramsplant living up here in Vermont. Still remember the days when Freeman McNeil used to come to Hempstead on a bike wearing a boller.,

Well anyway interested in Blaylock & all the WR's

[Goopster24]

I am very interested to see how the WR's look. Pennington is a good QB and with Coles back I expect a solid year.

 

I am also curious to know how Nugent looks also. I remember watching all the Ohio State games. This guy was a absolute stud. He was voted the MVP of their team! A kicker!!!!

[Rovers]

Here are some nuggets written by someone else who attended the morning session, I'll be going this afternoon when Pennington is scheduled to run the O.

 

I am in the parking lot at hofstra, morning session just ended. A couple of high lights:

 

Chad never threw

 

Jolley is fast and has real soft hands

 

Justin Miller picked off the second pass thrown in his direction, took it right away from the WR

 

Vilma looks fast as always

 

D-rob looks like he lost some weight

 

OL Mike Kracalik is the biggest mofo I have ever seen

 

Coles made so sweet catches across the middle

 

Blaylock had stone hands

 

Miller looked real good on PR duties

 

Pete hunter broke up a long pass to Carter, 4 plays later Carter burnt him for a TD

 

Cotchery was all over the place, reminds me of Chrebet the way he blocks

 

Curtis was steady

 

Bollinger's new nickname should be check "down"

[Rovers]

WOW! What a great day! I started in the bleachers, but the 11 on 11's were on the grass field, which made it pretty hard to see anything going on with the lineman. On the turf, before that, they were running some route running/timing pattern drills, and the DB's were in coverage. After watching Chad warm up, I was worried. Anything over 20 yards was lofted, HIGH into the air. But in this drill, he looked much better. He made several throws of 30+ yards, and I think just to prove a point, put one up that went 55 yards in the air, with some real zip on it. I think it was Gessner, #82, that couldn't quite catch up to it. That pass looked as good as any of the other QB's deep throws. He didn't air it out like that again in the afternoon session, but he made his point. He threw without wincing, his throws were crisp and had some zip on them. I came away pretty confident he'll be ready for the season!

 

The TE is going to be a factor this year, if today was any indication. Jolley, Baker, Dreessen and even Dearth all caught balls in the 11 on 11's. Jolley has hands like pillows. He catches the ball with his hands and just looks smooth as silk and makes it look effortless. This guy can be dangerous. He caught one fairly deep ball too. That was on the opposite sideline, where J Miller was, which brings me to my next paragraph.....

 

We don't need Law. I'm telling you, Miller is the best CB we have, and it isn't even close, at least to my eyes. During the drills, he had two picks, and was the only DB who never got beat all day. He never let his reciever get even with him, nevermind behind him. He was in position to make a play on the ball every time. He was playing ALL the time with the 1st team D, and Pennington NEVER even threw to his side in 11 on 11's, except for one shortish throw to Jolley, which wasn't his assignment. He comes up to play the run, and appears to read the run well too. This kid is something really special. He did have some trouble fielding punts though. I figure if Chad didn't want to throw that way, there is a very good reason. He was picking on Barrett quite a bit though. If we need Law, it's to replace Barrett, not Miller.

 

McGraw was with the 1st D, Rhodes on the second, and both looked good. McGraw got beat once or twice though. I don't much care for Washington or Celestin. This is supposed to be non contact, and they both took what I think were several cheap shots. I understand they want to make the team, but.... Blaylock, Dreessen and Gessner were on the recieving ends. They didn't retaliate. There was another big hit in the middle of the field by Washington, I didn't see what reciever took that hit. Hunter looks like chit, I mean he looked just awful. He was faked out of his shoes several times, and beaten on a regular basis. I doubt he survives the first cut. Mickens looked OK, but happilly, was on the 2nd team D, behind Miller.

 

Blaylock looks pretty bad catching the ball. His hands are anything but sure, at least today, could be early jitters. Curtis looked quick and agile. Not quite the burst he had last year in camp, but still looked more dangerous than Blaylock. Houston only had two balls thrown to him, but he looked the ball into his hands and turned upfield. He looked comfortable catching and running, in contrast to Blaylock. He also had what looked like good burst, his first few steps are fast. I'm not sure what his second gear looks like yet, but first gear looks good to me. Sowell caught one that looked like it would have gone to the house in a real full contact scrimmage.

 

Coles looked comfortable, and appeared to be running without pain at all. After Jonathan Carter, he looks to me to be the next fastest guy on offense. McCariens was on the far side, and Pennington seemed to want to avoid that side, maybe because Miller was there? Coles' hands looked good.

 

I saw Graham punt the ball over 70 yards at least 4 times. That was while the 11 on 11's were going on. That's 70 yards, and high, very high. It was with the wind, but he has a bionic leg. During special teams drills, kicking from the fifty, he was inside the ten yard line very time, often inside the five, with enough hang time for the gunners to arrive when the ball did. He din't overhit one time, he never booted it ito the end zone during that drill. Knorr was inside the 15, but mostly just short of the ten yard line.

 

I didnt see Nugent kick at all. He was on the field, and may have been kicking on the turf field while I was watching the 11 on 11's.

 

I'll be going to camp again next week, as it's only 15 minutes away, and FREE!

[yo mama]

Thanks for the skinny, Rovers.

[Ziachild007]

Great stuff Rovers! And might I say, there are a lot of great homer huddlers out there with great info, but does anyone go into depth and give such detailed reports as Rovers? Once again, good job!!

[Vet]

Well done, Rovers!

 

Good to hear Chad was throwing well.

 

I'd be a bit worried if the Jets went into the season with a rookie cornerback, even if Miller did look good the first day of camp.

 

I heard a caller on WFAN who said he was at camp (morning session, I guess - he called in early afternoon). He said Nugent was very good. Kicking from 45 yards he said he was dead center everytime and had leg to spare. As a matter of fact, he said he bounced a few off the top of some tower behind the goal posts. Having never been to Hofstra, I'm not sure where this tower is situated (perhaps Rovers can shed some kight here) - but the guy said it as if it was an impressive feat. Of course, I don't think there was a rush or anything - just lining them up and booting them.

 

I'm starting to get psyched for the season!!!

[Kup DeVilles]

Rover... Great Job.. It's awesome to get the straight skinny without any "coach speak" mixed in. It sounds like Jolly might put baker to sleep real early on. Or will they go to multiple tight end sets?

 

Keep up the great work..

[Rovers]

I'm telling you, right here, right now Justin Miller is flat out awsome. I don't care if it was the first day of camp, my homer board is still buzzing about how good he is.

 

Not sure what tower they were talking about, I'll have to look when I go back next week. Ah, I know now.... they have these scafold-like towers they put up, on wheels. One is placed at the end of the end zone. That must have been what the caller was talking about. Nuge seemed to have taken the afternoon off, unless I was too busy watching the 11 on 11 drills. Coleman needs to improve his coverage skills. He was good, but with both him and McGraw at the safety spots, the deep ball worries me a bit. Rhodes, as I said, is very good in coverage. Better than either McGraw or Coleman. He has a nose for the ball, but I can't say enough about Miller. This kid is REALLY good.

 

They picked on Barrett all day, and he held up pretty well. He's a solid CB, but a #2 I think. Man, it sure was sweet to watch the boys play withing a few yards of them!

 

Kup: My take is Baker will get the blocking assignments, Jolley will be the recieving TE. I hope to get a better handle on how Jolley can block at other practice sessions, these are stll non-contact drills, although there is in fact plenty of contact. If Celestin or Washington hurt someone with thier...er, um... exuberance, I'll kill em. Oh, yeah, Dinger likes two TE sets, so you can expect to see Baker and Jolley out there at the same time.

Edited July 30, 2005 by Rovers

[Wolverines Fan]

Was Chad really throwing well? This is what I found on the Jets web site:

 

** NewYorkJets.com reports Jets QB Chad Pennington said his surgically

repaired right shoulder still isn't 100% even though the procedure was

done almost 6 months ago. "I feel about 85 percent right now,"

Pennington said. The 6th-year QB spent some time working out with his receivers

in Florida this month but as of last week he was reportedly yet to

throw further than 40 yards – or even get cleared to throw on successive

days. Pennington has missed 9 games in two years with serious injuries:

this right shoulder and 2003's horrific preseason injury where he

dislocated 3 metacarpal bones in his left wrist and shattered one of them.

Backup QB Jay Fiedler might be wearing a helmet more often than a

baseball cap this season.

[Balzac]

Was Chad really throwing well?  This is what I found on the Jets web site:

 

** NewYorkJets.com reports Jets QB Chad Pennington said his surgically

repaired right shoulder still isn't 100% even though the procedure was

done almost 6 months ago. "I feel about 85 percent right now,"

Pennington said. The 6th-year QB spent some time working out with his receivers

in Florida this month but as of last week he was reportedly yet to

throw further than 40 yards – or even get cleared to throw on successive

days. Pennington has missed 9 games in two years with serious injuries:

this right shoulder and 2003's horrific preseason injury where he

dislocated 3 metacarpal bones in his left wrist and shattered one of them.

Backup QB Jay Fiedler might be wearing a helmet more often than a

baseball cap this season. 

 

902868[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

 

I was there today as well and Pennington certainly threw a few deep balls that looked pretty nice. That said, hard to say how sore he might've been afterwards.

 

Jolley looked great. After the way he finished 2003, I could never understand how he was so badly misused last year . . . he's a legit offensive threat.

 

I didn't see Blaylock try to field any passes, but he looked quick and strong running the ball - he's a little more solid physically than I imagined he'd be.

 

Vilma will be a beast.

 

I'm a Pats fan, but I think the Jets will make some noise in the AFC East this year. Camp was a fun time.

[Swiss Cheezhead]

EXCELLENT stuff, Rovers!

 

Man, I wish I could check out ANY team's TC. Friggin' Nebraska!

[Rovers]

Was Chad really throwing well?  This is what I found on the Jets web site:

 

** NewYorkJets.com reports Jets QB Chad Pennington said his surgically

repaired right shoulder still isn't 100% even though the procedure was

done almost 6 months ago. "I feel about 85 percent right now,"

Pennington said. The 6th-year QB spent some time working out with his receivers

in Florida this month but as of last week he was reportedly yet to

throw further than 40 yards – or even get cleared to throw on successive

days. Pennington has missed 9 games in two years with serious injuries:

this right shoulder and 2003's horrific preseason injury where he

dislocated 3 metacarpal bones in his left wrist and shattered one of them.

Backup QB Jay Fiedler might be wearing a helmet more often than a

baseball cap this season. 

 

902868[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

As I mentioned, I saw Pennington throw one pass over 50 yards in drills, and that was early in practice. Yesterday, his second day of throwing, he reportedly threw a 40 yard pass in 11 on 11 drills. So, that was the first time he's thrown on successive days, seems like he's OK so far.

Some of you might want to visit

 

http://forums.theganggreen.com/forumdispla...daysprune=&f=10

 

It's my Jets homer forum. The site owner has posted some really great pics in some threads. We get reports from TC on a daily basis from those who attended practices. You don't have to register to view the forum or the pics, unless you want to post. I'll go to TC again.... either tomorrow or Tuesday.

[Rovers]

Went to camp again today. Short report: move McCariens up on your WR list. Move Coles down just a bit. Pennigton is throwing to McCariens a LOT! This could be the "second year on a new team WR syndrome". This being his second year as a Jet, the new offense and Pennigton's so far favorite target in camp..... he could be a nice surprise.

[spain]

Did Pennington throw many deep balls today? Does he have some zip on the ball?

[Rovers]

He can, and and has thrown 55 yard passes. He's holding back on those, but he did zing a couple of red zone drill TD passes into McCariens from the 25 and 20 yard line to the back of the end zone. He has a ways to go, and his velocity does need to improve. As a Jets' homer, I am pretty sure he'll be fine..... but he may not get to 100% this year. He does need to improve his arm strength, and it's hard to predict when he will be at 100%, but I think he's healthy enough now to start a regular season game if he had to. These reports about him throwing the ball short are bogus, at least based on the two practices I've seen. I'll put it this way..... he's throwing the ball with more authority than he did in the playoffs, and that's a fact.

 

Did I mention that McCariens should move WAY up in yer WR rankings?

[Jimmy Neutron]

Great report, Rovers. Keep an eye on Jolley, the Raiders gave up the wrong TE. Once Gannon went down, they never used the guy right. He could be HUGH if he and Pennington develop some chemistry.

[Rovers]

Jolley has been lining up in...the SLOT! Yup, they have started to use him as an H Back and as a WR. McCariens and Jolley have been Pennington's favorite targets thus far in camp. I now have McCariens ranked OVER Coles. I'm going to camp again tomorrow.... if there is anything worth reporting I will.... if there isn't anything worth reporting, I'll probably rpeort anyway!

[rhippens]

great stuff rovers. thank you.

[Rovers]

I pusslied out on camp today. Almost 100 degrees here today. I did hear our new Aussie punter (6'4", 290 lbs) say he wants to lay some leather this year! (That was on local ESPN radio on a remote from TC) I wish I knew what restaurant Bradway and Edwards are taking Law and Poston to tonight? They have an evening practice tomorrow, it will be a zoo, but at least the heat won't be so bad!

[CaptainHook]

Mike and Mike this morning made it sound like Pennington was throwing friggin' underhanded. They said he had no zip and was lofting most of his throws. They said it takes two years to get "it" back after the kind of surgery Chad had. Whaddya think Rov?

[sacosud]

Jolley has been lining up in...the SLOT! Yup, they have started to use him as an H Back and as a WR. McCariens and Jolley have been Pennington's favorite targets thus far in camp. I now have McCariens ranked OVER Coles. I'm going to camp again tomorrow.... if there is anything worth reporting I will.... if there isn't anything worth reporting, I'll probably rpeort anyway! 

 

907208[/snapback]

 

 

 

 

Good news since I have Jolley in my dynasty league along with Cumar,Blaylock,and Nugent.