The Boone Docks
New York Jets news, commentary and insider info from beat writer Rod Boone
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- Gameday Live 9: Jaguars at Jets
- Today's inactives
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- Rex: Lito Won't Start, But Will Play...
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Hartsock's days might be numbered
When the rosters were trimmed down to 53 on Sept. 5 and the Jets went searching for a blocking tight end to help their rushing attack, Rex Ryan thought they picked up a good one in Ben Hartsock.
Doesn't sound like he feels the same way now.
Hartsock has had some killer penalties and essentially has cost the Jets two wins. Remember when the Jets were in overtime against the Bills two weeks ago? His holding penalty was a critical one that backed up the Jets as they were closing in on the red zone during their initial drive of overtime.
Well, yesterday he had two more tough penalties, although the second one wasn't completely on him. There was no sugar-coating the first penalty however, which came after Mark Sanchez's 1-yard touchdown run pulled the Jets within 17-12 in the third quarter. As the Jets were lined up about to go for two, Hartsock was flagged for a false start and the Jets wound up kicking the extra point instead.
He was also called for an illegal shift when the Jets trailed 30-25 in the fourth quarter, and were attempting to go for two following Dustin Keller's 16-yard touchdown reception.
Those backbreaking penalties are beginning to get to Ryan and he didn't discount benching the sixth-year pro who was inked to a one-year $1.25 million deal in September when I asked him if he was thinking about sitting Hartsock.
"That's always a possibility," Ryan said. "I don't need to see a penalty in practice and then you do the same thing in a game. We definitely have to improve in those areas. That doesn't give us a chance. I thought we'd been doing a better job at it. But, it's not something that’s just a little thing. Little things get you beat. That's what we have to get better at, those type of improvements. We can get better that way. There's no question about it. There no question. That's where I bring it up, because I saw him do it in practice.
"We took him out and had him run laps and did all those things, and then he does the same thing in the game. The focus is there's something missing here. And I'm not picking on Ben. It just happens that that happened in a game as well. There have been others. Trust me, he's not the only guy that jumped."
Hartsock was pretty downtrodden after the game.
"You never want to have your name called and a flag associated with it," he told me. "So I'm frustrated, I'm disappointed in making those mistakes. But you've just got to try to move on and try to improve week after week."
The only other options the Jets have at this point are to use reserve offensive linemen Robert Turner and Wayne Hunter as extra blockers. Those are the two guys whose numbers you keep hearing the referee announce as tackle eligibles.
Matthew Mulligan, a second-year blocking tight end out of Maine, is on the practice squad and he could get a look. But either way, Hartsock's game needs to improve really quickly.
Or else.
Tags: Ben Hartsock, Rex Ryan, Matthew Mulligan, Bills
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Jets not overlooking Titans
Greetings from The Hangar.
It was back to work for the Jets today as they come off their high from Sunday's big 16-9 win over the Pats. It's time to start preparing for an 0-2 Titans team that's coming off that 34-31 shootout loss to the Texans, the very squad the Jets trounced in the season opener.
We've already addressed the overconfidence factor in our story Tuesday, so no need to go there really. But that was the theme behind some of the questions Rex Ryan was asked today in his press conference with us.
Ryan almost seemed bothered when someone asked the proverbial trap game question.
"I don't know why this would be a trap game," he said. "This is just our next opponent. We know they're an outstanding football team. If they beat us, it has nothing to do with it being a trap game or us not putting forth the effort. We're going to give everything we've got this week. If they're going to beat us, they're going to have to earn it."
Well, what about that Titans' secondary, Rex? Isn't it vulnerable since they've allowed 678 yards through their first two games? You guys can torch them through the air, right?
Doesn't always work that way as we know because things change from week-to-week in the NFL. The Titans still have some good personnel and Rex knows that. They are the second-ranked team against the run after all, surrendering 49.5 yards per game.
"That's the dreaded combo platter," Ryan said. "Maybe they're No. 1 (really No. 2) against the run, but 32nd against the pass. They're playing an excellent run defense and if you can't run the ball, then you've got to throw it. Sometimes if a team throws it 60 times on you or 50 times, they're going to get yardage. Clearly they had some mistakes in the secondary. ... I'm sure they're going to be trying to get everything fixed. Hopefully, they make mistakes against us. We'll see. We're not anticipating that, though."
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WIth regards to the injury situation, as I Tweeted earlier, CBs Lito Sheppard (quad) and Donald Strickland (right ankle) were riding the stationary bikes and working out on the side during the 40 minutes of practice we were allowed to witness.
Ryan said neither participated in practice and he's not 100 percent convinced if both will be available Sunday, thus the reason CB Marquice Cole was signed from the practice squad and TE Matthew Mulligan was waived.
I spoke with Strickland, whom I wrote about in today's paper, to inquire how he was feeling after two days of treatment.
"Each day it's getting better," Strickland told me, adding that he's 'hopeful.' "So I'm very optimistic for Sunday, the way it's going. If it keeps getting better each day then I'll be out there."
Strickland said he got twisted up in a pile when he was coming in on a blitz and his foot got stuck in the turf. The receiver kept pushing him and his foot got trapped in between someone else's foot and just got rolled up.
OL Matt Slauson, this year's sixth-round pick, was limited in practice. Others listed on the injury report who practiced fully: QB Kellen Clemens (right elbow), DL Kris Jenkins (back), S Jim Leonhard (knee), CB Dwight Lowery (ankle), C Nick Mangold (toes), DL Sione Pouha (ankle), LB Bryan Thomas (ankle), LB Jamaal Westerman (quad), T Damien Woody (right shoulder), WR Wallace Wright (hamstring).
For the Titans, TE Bo Scaife (knee), G Eugene Amano (illness) and LB Stanford Keglar (hamstring) didn't practice.
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The situation between the two could be awkward, considering they share the same agent in David Dunn and Mark Sanchez was drafted as the future franchise quarterback while Clemens has essentially been forgotten about.
But Clemens has been helping Sanchez with his development and the rookie threw considerable praise Clemens' way today. The biggest compliment of all? Listen to this:
"Kellen is like a big brother," Sanchez said. "The best way to describe Kellen, totally honest, is if I had a sister, I'd want her to her to marry Kellen. I'm totally honest. He's a great guy and when it comes to football, he's totally well-versed in this offense. He knows exactly what I'm thinking out there."
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Funny scene: Owner Woody Johnson served as the quarterback on a couple of defensive line drills early on in practice. Wearing his business attire (minus the sport coat), the Jets' owner squatted like he was behind center and threw two passes to the lineman.
Someone shouted: "Break it down Wood."
The first pass, well it wasn't very good. But the second was thrown right to LB Ryan Fowler.
"I thought it was really neat that he was able to not only come out there and not only watch, but get involved," said Fowler, a 6-3, 250-pound sixth-year pro out of Duke. "He threw the ball around."
Quipped Ryan: "We're always looking for guys out there and we only have four quarterbacks on the roster. He's got a good arm. We've got to work on that movement outside the pocket, but he has a good arm."
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Get those throwback Titans jerseys ready. The Jets will wear their blue throwbacks against the, uh, um, Titans Sunday in the first of three occassions they'll be doing so.
The 'real' Titans will have an old school look of their own going on, wearing their old Houston Oilers' garb complete with the oil derricks and all.
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Let's return to our regular-scheduled programming and head for the Rex Ryan Comedy Hour.
With the game time moved back from the original 4:15 p.m. start because of the Jewish holiday, that means the Jets and Giants will be playing at the same time Sunday. That rarely happens, but both will be going at their respective opponents starting at just after 1 p.m.
Thoughts, Rex?
He said: "Are we playing in the same stadium?"
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Reminder to follow me here at twitter.com/rodboone.
(Photo: Getty Images)
Tags: Rex Ryan, Titans, The Hangar, Patriots, Donald Strickland, Lito Sheppard, Marquice Cole, Matthew Mulligan, Woody Johnson, Matt Slauson, Kellen Clemens, Kris Jenkins, Jim Leonhard, Dwight Lowery, Nick Mangold, Sione Pouha, Bryan Thomas, Jamaal Westerman, Damien Wood, Wallace Wright, Bo Scaife, Eugene Amano, Stanford Keglar, David Dunn, Mark Sanchez, Ryan Fowler, Titans throwbacks, Giants, Houston Oilers, Rex Ryan Comedy Hour
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Today's inactives
Big piece of news breaking here in the press box as we've found out Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker is on the inactive list. Welker was battling a knee injury and his unavailability comes as a bit of a surprise.
But I'm sure the Jets aren't shedding any tears about Welker not playing.
As for the Jets, they're apparently going to be a little thin on the defensive line and at backup quarterback. QB's Kevin O'Connell and Erik Ainge are both inactive, and reserve defensive lineman Mike DeVito, Howard Green and Ropati Pitoitua are inactive.
LB Ryan Fowler, OL Matt Slauson, and TE Matthew Mulligan are also not suiting up.
The rest of the Pats' inactives are WR Matthew Slater, CB Terrance Wheatley, LB Jerod Mayo, OL Rich Ohrnberger, OL Dan Connolly, G Kendall Simmons and TE Michael Matthews.
Enjoy the game. We'll have someone live blogging the game, so you can play along at home.
Tags: Wes Welker, Kevin O'Connell, Erik Ainge, Mike DeVito, Howard Green, Ryan Fowler, Matt Slauson, Mike DeVito, Ropati Pitoitua, Matthew Mulligan, Matthew Slater, Terrance Wheatley, Jerod Mayo, Rich Ohrnberger, Dan Connolly, Kendall Simmons and Michael Matthews
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No debut for Shonn Greene today
The rookie running back is on the inactive list, not dressing for today's season opener here at Reliant Stadium in Houston.
Greene had been nursing a case of sore ribs, but has practiced for the bulk of the last two weeks. He pronounced himself ready to go earlier in the week when I spoke with him, so I'm a little surprised that he's not playing today.
Besides Greene, QB Kevin O'Connell, CB Drew Coleman, CB Marquice Cole, LB Ryan Fowler, G Matt Slauson and TE Matthew Mulligan are all out of today's game. Erik Ainge has been designated as the third QB.
DE Marques Douglas will start in Shaun Ellis' spot and DT Sione Pouha starts in Douglas' defensive tackle position.
As for the Texans, S Eugene Wilson, who was hurt on that cheap shot of a block by he who's name has been banned from this blog, is out. CB Jacques Reeves, C Antoine Caldwell, C Chris White, DT DelJuan Robinson, WR Kevin Walter, and TE Anthony Hill are also inactive.
Dan Orlovsky is the third QB. Nick Ferguson starts in Wilson's place at safety.
Lastly, the roof is closed and that's a good thing for the Jets, believe me. It's sweltering outside and it's not even noon yet.
Enjoy the game everyone and remember to follow me on Twitter as I offer a few observations during the game. We'll also have Stephen Haynes live blogging the game right here so join him, won't ya?
Tags: Shonn Greene, Kevin O'Connell, Drew Coleman, Marquice Cole, Ryan Fowler, Matt Slauson, Matthew Mulligan, Erik Ainge, Marques Douglas, Shaun Ellis, Sione Pouha, Texans, Reliant Stadium, Eugene Wilson, Jacques Reeves, Antoine Caldwell, Chris White, DelJuan Robinson, Kevin Walter, Anthony Hill, Dan Orlovsky, Nick Ferguson, Stephen Haynes, inactives
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Woodhead's roster stay was short
The Jets just officially announced their acquisition of QB Kevin O'Connell, and also were awarded three players off of waivers. So that means four players had to get cut and fan favorite Danny Woodhead was one of them.
Woodhead, P Reggie Hodges, LB Brandon Renkart and T Michael Kracalik were all released to make room for TE Matthew Mulligan and P A.J. Trapasso -- who were claimed from the Titans -- and FB Jason Davis formerly of the Bears.
Looks like Kellen Clemens is staying because O'Connell is expected to be fourth on the team's depth chart behind franchise QB Mark Sanchez, Clemens and Erik Ainge. While the decision to carry four quarterbacks seems curious, leading to speculation from yours truly and others, the Jets did that last season. They had the guy who's name has been banned from this blog, Clemens, Ainge and Brett Ratliff.
"We had a lot of interest in Kevin when he was coming out in the draft last year," GM Mike Tannenbaum said in a statement released by the team. "He’s smart and athletic and we feel good about adding him to our team. We will move forward with four quarterbacks on our roster."
As for Trapasso, he was the guy who boomed a punt into Jerry Jones' huge scoreboard in the new Cowboys Stadium, causing a uproar among some about the prospect of having to continually have do-overs because that's what will happen anytime a punt hits the massive and pricey high definition television screen.
Hodges' days appeared to be number almost weekly in training camp because Rex Ryan wasn't happy with his consistency and indicated yesterday that Hodges would be gone once the staff had a chance to pour over all the roster cuts from yesterday.
Mulligan gives the Jets another blocking tight end and should be third on the depth chart behind Dustin Keller and recently-acquired Ben Hartsock. Davis adds depth at FB behind Tony Richardson.
So we're one week away and things are taking shape.
Tags: Kevin O'Connell, Danny Woodhead, Reggie Hodges, Brandon Reinkart, Michael Kracalik, Matthew Mulligan, A.J. Trapasso, Mark Sanchez, Kellen Clemens, Erik Ainge, Cowboys Stadium, Jerry Jones, high definition, Dustin Keller, Ben Hartsock, Tony Richardson
