Today's inactives

Sunday November 1, 2009 12:33 PM By Roderick Boone

We're about 30 minutes away from kickoff and here are your inactives for today's big tilt with the Dolphins at the Meadowlands.

The biggest news is, as expected, WR Jerricho Cotchery is active for the first time in two weeks, but WR Brad Smith (quad) still remains sidelined. CBs Lito Sheppard, Ahmad Carroll and Marquice Cole, and OL Matt Slauson, LB Marques Murrell and QB Kevin O'Connell are the other inactives.

Erik Ainge is third QB.

As for the Dolphins, LB Channing Crowder is out as we knew yesterday. He's joined by RB Kory Sheets, T Andrew Gardner, DE Lionel Dotson, T Lydon Murtha, WR Patrick Turner and LB Quentin Moses.

Tyler Thigpen serves as the third QB.

We'll have a live game blog as always, so join us for that during the game.

Today's inactives

Sunday October 25, 2009 2:37 PM By Roderick Boone

We're live here in the press box at Oakland-Alemeda County Coliseum. It's my first visit here and I will say that this is a very interesting place in more ways than one.

Make of that what you will.

Anyway, here's the Jets' inactives: QB Kevin O'Connell, WR Brad Smith, CB Lito Sheppard, DB James Ihedigbo, OL Matt Slauson, WR Jerricho Cotchery and LB Marques Murrell.

Erik Ainge is the third QB.

As for the Raiders, RB Darren McFadden, LB Ricky Brown, T Langston Walker, T Cornell Green, G Robert Gallery, WR Chaz Schilens and WR Nick Miller are inactive.

Enjoy the game. We'll have someone live blogging as always.

JCo & Smith Are No-Gos...Again.

Friday October 23, 2009 1:10 PM By Kimberley A. Martin

For the second straight week, wide receivers Jerricho Cotchery Brad Smith will not be able to play, said coach Rex Ryan.

CB Lito Sheppard is also ruled out for Sunday's game against the Oakland Raiders.

JCo is still hampered by a hamstring injury and Smith (quad) may be two weeks away from being game-ready."

Said Rex: "I was hoping Jerricho was going to be able to do it. (But) To make that trip all the way out there...

"We feel it's best he stays back and rehabs. We'll hopefully get him back 100 percent for next week."

WR David Clowney will replace him in the starting lineup.

Added Rex: "As far as Lito, we have to push himm out of this building at night. He's trying to do everything he can. He's just not ready.

"Brad is better. I thought Brad was less likely to play than Jerricho and I'm not sure he'll be able to play next week."

CB Donald Strickland (ankle) and T Damien Woody (knee and foot) are questionable for Sunday, though Rex said he thinks both will play...

WR Braylon Edwards (quad), DE Shaun Ellis (knee), LB David Harris (wrist), LB Larry Izzo (hamstring), LB Marques Murrell (head), S Kerry Rhodes (knee), LB Bryan Thomas (wrist) and WR Wallace Wright (knee) are all probable.

(above, WR Brad Smith runs through drills during the Jets training camp.)

Schotty: Sanchez's start mirrors those of Eli, Peyton and Carson

Thursday October 22, 2009 5:51 PM By Roderick Boone

After a horrendous performance that left him with a glazed over look in his eyes, there are those who are ready to start picking Mark Sanchez apart with a fine-tuned comb, questioning if he can really get the job done.

Huh?

I heard someone mention on television earlier that some people he talked to around the league said Sanchez had small hand and that he didn't have good enough arm strength.

Huh?

Where were these people a week ago when Sanchez was coming off that great showing versus the Dolphins on "Monday Night Football?" Are these the same people who were praising Sanchez as the second coming as he was tearing things up during the first three weeks of the season, when he held his own against the Texans, Patriots and Titans for the most part?

Anyone with half an eye for talent can see Sanchez has the goods. The guy is six games into his pro career and did you really expect him not to have some serious hiccups along the way? All right, so Sunday was more like a loud belch than a hiccup. But to act like all of the sudden he won't be able to get the job done is flat-out ludicrous.

It's just silly.

So just to see where he thought Sanchez was at the moment in his development, I asked Brian Schottenheimer in his availability with us today to give me his assesment.

"We went back and looked," he said. "Somebody put the stats on my desk and it compared Mark after six games to Eli [Manning], Peyton [Manning], Carson [Palmer] and a couple of other guys. It's amazing, the numbers. They are not identical, but they are almost identical. They all have about half as many touchdowns as interceptions, their passer rating is about the same, in the 50s or 70s. Some have more yards than others.

"I don’t think that this is something unusual. I think this is what happens. We were all excited with the way we started and the way he started. Has he taken a couple of steps back? Sure. When he took a couple of steps back against New Orleans, he stepped right up and played well enough for us to win on Monday night in Miami. I think he’ll do that again this week."

Schottenheimer said they've taken some of the 'alerts' out of the game plan in order to help alleviate some of Sanchez's workload. The 'alerts' are sort of like audibles. A particular play is called and there's an 'alert' that accompanies it.

If, for example, the original play call is a run left and the defense has a stacked look where the play is supposed to go, Sanchez can go with the 'alert,' which is essentially an audible that allows him to change things up and run it in a different direction.

"The big thing we are trying to do is get back to what we do well," Schottenheimer said. "Oakland plays really one front, one coverage. It's in your face man-to-man, so you don't have to carry a huge package. You know where they are going to be. They are going to be up in your face playing you man-to-man, they are going to have eight guys down in the box trying to stop the run. We are really looking at us this week, the things that we do well and feature those.

"Just allow him to go out there and play."

***************************************************************

It's looking more like CB Lito Sheppard (quad) isn't going to play Sunday. That was the gist of the feeling Rex Ryan gave off yesterday and reiterated it again today when asked about the likely status of the starting right cornerback.

"I think he's out," Ryan said, adding Sheppard's injury wasn't the reason he was beat on Lee Evans' 37-yard touchdown reception.

"I’ll tell you this about Lito," Ryan said. "He tries everything he can above and beyond the normal thing to try and get back. He works his tail off on getting back. If somebody had a home remedy, he would try it. He wants to play. He feels like he’s letting this team down."

WRs Jerricho Cotchery (hamstring) and Brad Smith (quad) were on the field again today, but technically neither practiced because they didn't participate in any of the team drills. Of the two, seems like Cotchery has the best shot at playing and it sounds as if he'll likely be listed as questionable. Smith might still be another week or so away.

CB Donald Strickland (ankle) still seems to be a go, as does RT Damien Woody (knee, foot).

***************************************************************

Life without NT Kris Jenkins begins this week and the Jets understand there's no replacing Big Jenk.

Lineman Sione Pouha, Howard Green and Mike DeVito will each see increased roles and don't expect the opposition to shed any tears because they won't have to game plan to stop Big Jenk. 

"Nobody's feeling sorry for us," defensive coordinator Mike Pettine said. "We checked the mail and no sympathy cards arrived."

***************************************************************

With the decision to have DB James Ihedigbo and LB Marques Murrell inactive this week and not make the trip to Oakland coming to light in the early afternoon yesterday, we didn't have the chance to ask Rex about it. So I asked if he could address the situation, and he said he's not going to stand for those kind of penalties.

"Quite honestly, that's not the way we're going to play football," Ryan said. "We want to be the most physical team in the National Football League within the confinements of the rules. What they did was selfish I thought. You don't do those things on a football field. They got carried away. Both of them took a swing at a guy. The guy was swinging and was hitting our guys at the same time. But still there's no excuse to throw a punch at somebody. I'm just not going to have that on our team and that's it.

"This is a tough lesson for our team, but it's one I think we have to do." 

***************************************************************

Penalties have been a serious issue that's cropping up for the Jets as of late. They were burned by the penalty bug in overtime against the Bills, committing six boneheaded mistakes with Ihedigbo's unsportsmanlike penalty and TE Ben Hartsock's holding call inside the red zone on the Jets' first drive of overtime at the forefront.

"If I'm not mistaken, we're one of the most penalized teams in the league," Woody said. "A lot of them are pre-snap, so that's completely on each individual. So those are the things that we need to eliminate, especially offensive because a lot of times when you have pre-snap penalties, what it does is it really kills your drives.

"One of the stats that we looking at now is, we're at the bottom of the league as far as three-and-outs and I think a lot of that is due to the penalty situation. It's something that we've talked about and it's definitely a big focal point for us to rectify that. That way, we stop shooting ourselves in the foot, then we are able to sustain drives and have more scoring opportunities."

***************************************************************

Kimberley Martin covers for me tomorrow as I make my excursion to the Left Coast. She'll have you guys completely covered as she does every Friday with all the injury news and notes. She may even throw in a Tweet or two.

I'll check in with you guys from the Bay.

J-Co, Smith return in a ho-hum practice

Wednesday October 21, 2009 4:53 PM By Roderick Boone

After having two days to stew over the unfathomable loss to the Bills at the Meadowlands, the Jets hit the practice field out here at The Hangar today, looking to get back to work and prepare for their Sunday date with the Raiders in Oakland.

As practices go, footage of today's session likely won't be bronzed and kept in a trophy case somewhere if you ask Rex Ryan.

"It just felt a little off today," he said. "It wasn't that the energy wasn't there, it just never seemed dead on. But that's OK because the last few weeks, it seems like it's been dead on. So we'll see if that's a good thing."

Here's a good thing for the Jets: two of their walking wounded practiced somewhat today, although not totally.

WRs Jerricho Cotchery (hamstring) and Brad Smith (quad) didn't do a whole lot in practice, but were on the field and not on the stationary bikes, which shows each is improving somewhat. Cotchery seemed encouraged by his progress and appeared to be moving well during our 40-minute window, as was Smith.

So will J-Co be able to play Sunday?

"It’s probably too early to tell," Cotchery said. "But I know today was a good step for me. So I’m just trying to continue to get better with this thing."

Cotchery was bothered he saw his offense struggling mightily in the passing game Sunday, yet he had that helpless feeling knowing he wasn't able to contribute in any other way than serving as the head cheerleader.

"It was tough to watch and you have to sit there and watch it," he said. "You are not in position to do anything about it, just sit there and watch what’s going on and not be able to help the team. That's tough to sit there and watch. So that’s why my main focus right now is just trying to get as healthy as possible, so I can get back out there and help us win some games."

If Cotchery does play this week, it would continue the maddening game of addition and subtraction the Jets seem to be unwillingly playing over these last few weeks.

CB Lito Sheppard apparently had a setback Sunday with his quad. He got pulled out in the fourth quarter because the staff didn't think he was moving around well, and it doesn't look like it's healing so far. That means there's a real good chance Sheppard will sit out his fourth game.

Said Ryan: "I don't feel confident that he'll be playing this week."

The same can't be said about CB Donald Strickland. He's been out for a month with a high right ankle sprain and he's champing at the bit to get back out there and add a little more hard-hitting funk to the defense.

"Today was a good day," he told me. "I went out there and probably felt about 85 percent. But I think as the week goes on, I'll have more confidence in it."

Speaking of confidence, the Jets say they still have it despite the happenings over the last three weeks. They've been grounded a bit as the bandwagon slowly unloads, and there's only one thing that's going to cure their ills.

"This team," Ryan said, "we're in need of a win bad."

*************************************************************************

As for other injuries, RT Damien Woody didn't practice because of a foot and now a knee injury. LB Marques Murrell practiced, but was limited with a possible concussion.

Shaun Ellis (knee) was also limited.

*************************************************************************

Rookie QB Mark Sanchez was probably the happiest guy of all to hit the practice field today. He's obviously coming off that killer five-interception performance accompanied by a 8.3 quarterback rating and vowed the debacle is already behind him.

"Life goes on," he said. "You've got to move on for the sake of my team and for the sake of myself. You've got to bounce back and we're already into practice now. So I was just happy to get back out on the field."

*************************************************************************

Saw a spectacular grab in practice by Braylon Edwards. He made an unbelievable one-handed catch on a Kellen Clemens pass with his left hand, almost vacuuming in the ball like his hands were made of suction cups. It was a thing of beauty.

He's on the daily injury report for the first time as a Jet with a quad injury and was limited in practice. But it's really because he's been getting treatment on it.

Expect him to play Sunday.

*************************************************************************

We spoke with DE Richard Seymour, the former Patriot, on a conference call. He had some interesting things to say, such as when he was asked about what he thought Rex meant when he said he was going to simplify things for the rookie QB. 

"I translate that into running the football," Seymour said with a laugh. "When you look at it, why not?"

Then there was this zinger thrown at Giants LB Antonio Pierce, who said after the Giants clobbered the Raiders 44-7 two Sundays ago that the game was more like a scrimmage.

Seymour's response? 

"To be honest, I could really care less about what that guy said," Seymour said. "I think they got what they deserved this week. I’m not sure how many points the Saints scored on them, but if  I‘m not mistaken it was half a hundred points. So I think he got enough to chew on himself with that."

*************************************************************************

We caught up with DB James Ihedigbo, who had that silly unsportsmanlike penalty on the opening kickoff of overtime that backed the Jets up 14 yards. He threw an elbow at the Bills' Derek Fine -- Murrell also appeared to take a shot at him prior to Ihedigbo -- and Ryan indicated Monday that Ihedigbo could be facing some disciplinary action from the team.

Well, turns out Ihedigbo and Murrell were fined $5,000 each by the league and the plan is for them to be inactive and not travel with the team to Oakland.

After reviewing the play in film study, Ihedigbo, who we spoke to before we learned of the fines, said he was a bit taken aback at what he did.

"I just looked at it like, 'Whoa, did I really do that?' " Ihedigbo said. "It's uncharacteristic for me as a person to even attempt to do something like that. So I lost my cool for a split second. That happens in a game, especially in overtime when it's a heated situation and we're trying to get the score to win. That stuff, it happens and you've got to learn from it and move forward."

*************************************************************************

Rex reiterated he isn't about to change from his blunt, confident approach even with his team's struggles. That's good news to the players, who take their cue from their playful, trash-talking coach. 

"It's great, everything trickles downhill," LG Alan Faneca said. "So if you start sending the, 'Oh - - - - here we are, here we go' kind of mentality or you start tweaking and changing things and running around like a chicken with your head cut off, that's when it's not good."

Camp Cortland (Day 12)

Sunday August 16, 2009 1:35 AM By Roderick Boone

The big news of the day is actually something most of us saw coming, even though there had been no formal annoucement up until today. 

Mark Sanchez gets the starting nod in the Jets' second preseason game, which comes a week from Monday. In Baltimore. On ESPN's Monday Night Football. What a spot for a starting debut for the rook.

"It’s just a matter of the rotation, though," Sanchez said. "Nothing’s changed yet and it’s just the way that things shake out. Of course, I’m excited."

Sanchez's enthusiasm was probably tempered after an atrocious showing in practice. Running with the first team, he was off the Mark (Ok, pun intended) and went just 2-for-10 with a drop and three would-be sacks. Can't kill him on all the sacks, however, because one was a coverage sack (his intended target was blanketed near the sideline) and the other was a CB blitz from Dwight Lowery, who came in unblocked.

But you can kill him for his accuracy problems. He overshot a couple of receivers and had a few throws sail on him.

Clemens, who rolled with the second string today and will be back with the first team in tomorrow morning's practice, was 7-for-13 in one of his typical steady, yet unspectacular performances. After connecting on three in a row, he misfired on his final three attempts.

Rex Ryan isn't sure how many snaps each will get vs. the Ravens. He has said he would ideally like to name a starter by the start of the Aug. 29 game against the Giants. He hasn't totally set that in stone, however. He did admit today that showing something against the blitz-happy Ravens would go a long way in the evaluation process. 

"If you can do anything against that bunch," Ryan said, "you can move it against anybody."

From this vantage point, Sanchez is the early leader in the clubhouse. Clemens has some catching up to do. He doesn't think so, though.

"I’d say the good thing about that is that it is an outsider’s opinion," Clemens said of the perception that he's fighting an uphill battle."It is an insider who is going to make the ultimate decision. Rex has the ultimate decision. He is going to make his decision on the starting quarterback when he thinks that one of us has established ourselves, and he believes that one of us will give the team the best chance to win."

Daily QB Meter (on a scale of 1-5, zero being even): One in favor of Sanchez. The rook takes a step back with an uneffective practice, but still maintains his lead.

********************************************

Let's go over the injury situation because we have a new injury to add to the growing list.

Rookie FB Jehuu Caulcrick, who stepped up and filled in for veteran starting fullback Tony Richardson in Friday's loss, has a left knee injury that he apparently suffered in the third quarter. His status for the Baltimore game is questionable.

LG Alan Faneca was wearing a cast and had surgery to repair his broken left middle finger. Faneca is definitely out for the Ravens game and his status for the rest of the preseason remains unclear. But it doesn't seem to be too serious because Ryan said Faneca would be playing if this were the regular season.

Said Ryan: "He'll be ready to go when the season starts."

NT Kris Jenkins (strained left calf), CB Darrelle Revis (left hamstring) and Damien Woody (head) were all held out of practice and there's no definitive date when they'll each be back out there.

********************************************

Unhappy with what they're seeing out of punters Reggie Hodges and T.J. Conley, the Jets decided to bring in free agent Ken Parrish for a tryout today. Parirsh, an East Stroudsburg University graduate, was released by the Eagles Aug. 8.

The roster move was made by the Eagles then, in part, because they needed to sign TE Rob Myers when fifth-round pick Cornelius Ingram tore his ACL. Myers, you might recall, was released by the Jets in May. 

Of the few punts I saw of his, Parrish hit his share of decent ones. But there were a couple of Ugly Ducklings, too. If anything, Hodges and Conley have been put on notice. Ryan has had it with the inconsistent punting game.

"I'm tired of seeing ground balls hit," Ryan said, later adding: "I want to see an NFL punt."

(UPDATE, 4:10 p.m.): The Jets have signed Parrish and added him to the squad. He's out on the field stretching with Hodges as I type this update.

********************************************

CB Dwight Lowery struggled against the Rams, getting beat by WR Laurent Robinson for a 50-yard bomb despite grabbing and holding him the entire way. Lowery was flagged for pass interference, but the Rams declined the penalty to take the result of the play. Lowery also muffed a punt that luckily for him was recovered by S Emmanuel Cook.

Lowery was the first player on the practice field today, hitting it at 7:30 a.m. to work on his footwork. He's battling CB Donald Strickland for one of the DB top spots behind starters Lito Sheppard and Revis, and Ryan still has faith in the second-year corner.

Ryan said: "I have confidence in this young man."

********************************************

S James Ihedigbo is still laying the wood and continues to walk that fine line between playing hard and playing smart. He almost got into another scrap today after nearly clobbering WR Britt Davis. Davis caught a pass from Clemens in 7-on-7s and "Digs" led into him a bit with the shoulder.

TE Kareem Brown, who wasn't out on the field with that group and was standing with the reserves a few yards behind the play, took exception and ran to confront Ihedigbo. There were some words exchanged, but nothing happened.

"He's got a knack for getting under people's skin," LB Bart Scott said. "It's one of those things, when you are young like that, you want to attack. In this game you have to learn how to practice. You have to learn how to take care of guys because you can hurt guys and it hurts the team. But you've got to be able to practice fast and go 99.9 percent without pulling the trigger on the last percent."

********************************************

Ryan gave his own impromptu film session for the media, highlighting a few plays from Friday's game to give us a breakdown of things from a coach's perspective.

One play ne pointed to was the near punt block by LB Marques Murrell. Another involved Matt Slauson, whom Ryan said played well, taking on two players and well over 600 pounds on a PAT and completely holding his ground.

He also showed Leon Washington getting downfield out of the backfield to spring a block for Dustin Keller on his 26-yard, near touchdown catch and run on Sanchez's first drive. 

********************************************

OL Stanley Daniels, who started at LG in place of Faneca Friday, was excused from practice for personal reasons and is expected to return to the team sometime later today.

********************************************

WR Huey Whittaker, originally released last Wednesday, was re-signed and practiced this morning.

********************************************

We'll throw a little changeup today. Rather than finishing with the Rex Ryan Comedy Hour, we'll part with this barb from Scott about yours truly.

As I was finishing up another interview and Scott was waiting for me to speak with him, he said "Come on, Montell Jordan," a reference to the rather tall R&B singer who made a name for himself in the 90s with hits like "This is How We Do It."

Once we were done, Scott couldn't resist one more jab at a brother.

He quipped: "I bought your last CD."

********************************************

Reminder that you can find me here on Twitter at twitter.com/rodboone.

********************************************

There's an afternoon special teams practice at 4:15. If anything happens, I'll let you know.

Camp Cortland (Day 6)

Wednesday August 5, 2009 1:36 PM By Roderick Boone

Rookie QB Mark Sanchez has been lobbying for more snaps with the first team.

He got them today.

Sanchez was sprinkled in a little more often than he has throughout the first four days of training camp. Ryan said it's something Sanchez earned and admitted that in order for it to be a true competition, Sanchez needs to get more reps with the first team.

"We never brought him in here," Ryan said, "never drafted him not to be a guy that's going to compete for the starting job."

By my count, Sanchez was 6-for-13 and took good care of the ball. He showed a good pocket presence on one play in particular. LB Marques Murrell was bearing down on him unblocked from the left side, and Sanchez hung in there and fired a strike to TE Jack Simmons, who took a pretty good shot from S Eric Smith.

Clemens was 6-for-10 and one of those incompletes was a drop. He's been much steadier over these last two days or practice, although he's been victimized a couple of times by not getting rid of the ball and taking sacks.

Ryan said he'd like to have the starter in place by the time the third preseason game, which makes complete sense. That's usually the game where the starters play into the third quarter and serves as the true dress rehearsal for the season opener, which for the Jets comes Sept. 13 against the Texans in Houston. 

Daily QB Meter (on a scale of 1-5, zero being even): Remains at one in favor of Clemens.

*******************************************

On the injury front, Shaun Ellis has "a little back thing" but Ryan made it seem like it's not a serious issue.

CB Donald Strickland, who Ryan raved about because he likes how he can be moved around to different parts of the field, got kicked in he knee by David Clowney.

S Keith Fitzhugh will be out for a while with his left rotator cuff bruise.

Ryan said NT Kris Jenkins (left calf strain) continues to improve.

********************************************

A smallish scuffle took place toward the end of practice.

Sanchez took one step back and connected with favorite target Wallace Wright. DB James Ihedigbo, no stranger to starting a little somethin' somethin' as you might recall,  gave Wright a big pop and also held onto him a little longer than Wright thought was necessary. 

So Wright got a little bothered and started barking at Ihedigbo while others started pushing and shoving. Wright threw the ball at Ihedigbo and OL Matt Slauson, the Jets' sixth-round selection in April's draft, got into it with DB Dwight Lowery.

But after a little more pleasantries, cooler heads prevailed.

OT Wayne Hunter jokingly tossed off his helmet and was ready to join the scrum.

********************************************

Funny scene I: CB Drew Coleman, who was all over the field making plays today, might have taken the lateral thing a little too far when he came up with a great diving interception on a Eric Ainge pass. He decided to lateral to the guy next to him -- quality control/defense coach Jim O'Neil.  

Funny scene II: CB Darrelle Revis, flashing back to the B-Boy days of the 80s, attempting a backspin during post-practice stretching.

********************************************

Catch O' the Day: While running with the second string, Sanchez slung a nice pass to WR Wallace Wright. It was a tight squeeze and Lowery was a split-second too late to break the play up. Sanchez immediately ran down the field and slapped hands with his main man Wright.

********************************************

We interrupt The Rex Ryan Comedy Hour -- the usual programming we usually have at this point -- because there was a special guest visitor in the house.

NFL referee Walt Coleman, who was here in Cortland today with the rest of his crew meeting with the Jets to go over the rules, on being an official: "One of the prerequistites is to be blind."

********************************************

Afternoon practice only involves special teams, so there won't be much to report from that. But if anything goes down, we'll be on it.

********************************************

Another reminder that you can follow me right here on Twitter at twitter.com/rodboone.

Money Earnin' Vernon

Wednesday July 22, 2009 5:34 PM By Roderick Boone

While speaking to reporters out at The Hangar over in Florham Park, N.J. on Wednesday, Rex Ryan took the first step in proving he thinks Vernon Gholston can be a major contributor to the Jets' good fortunes.

The rookie coach, who was there to promote a program that's partly sponsored by the NFL and Gatorade called "Beat the Heat" -- which serves as a reminder for coaches, parents and athletes to stay hydrated during the hot summer and raises awareness for heat-related illnesses -- came out and said Gholston will start in Calvin Pace's outside linebacker spot for the first four games.

With Pace suspended for the initial four games of the Rex Ryan Era after he violated the league's policy on performance enhancing substances, Gholston was an obvious candidate to be plugged into Pace's slot. But Marques Murrell and Jason Trusnik were also potential options to fill the temporary void.

Going with Gholston makes the most sense, though, and Ryan's decision really doesn't come as much of a surprise. Look, the Jets need to figure out exactly what they have in the man who was selected sixth overall and wound up with 13 tackles and zero sacks.

The Jets did give him a five-year deal that could be worth as much as $50 million and includes $21 million in guaranteed loot. So Pace's absence will give Gholston the perfect platform to prove his worth.

During minicamp last month, I spoke with Gholston about a few things. One of the things I asked him was what he hopes to bring to the table when it's his time to show what he can do.

"Just a consistent playmaker," he told me. "I think that's what you can only ask for because at the end of the day, spots haven't been given out, situations haven't been given out. So you can't say, 'Oh I'm going to be the sack guy, I'm going to be the interception guy.' You can only say you hope to be as productive as you can wherever they put you."

(Photo by Patrick E. McCarthy)

Smith, Harris back at practice, and Favre talks about lots of stuff

Wednesday November 26, 2008 2:28 PM By Erik Boland

First, to the “news” portion of the program:

* Eric Mangini disclosed the team awards from the Titans game.

Offensive player of the game: Leon Washington

Defensive: Abram Elam

Special teams: Marques Murrell

Practice: Brett Ratliff

Also, Mangini said Eric Smith and David Harris would practice today and when the media went out to practice, both players were stretching with the team. We saw Harris working in the positional drills but Smith, after the team adjourned from stretching, went to the sideline and the exercise bike. I’d say Harris is the more likely of the two to play Sunday, but my bet is neither will suit up.

* Brett Favre’s answers are usually pretty good and it was no exception when he was asked to give a snapshot of each of his offensive linemen – D’Brickashaw Ferguson, Alan Faneca, Nick Mangold, Brandon Moore and Damien Woody.

“Nick has the chance to be the best I’ve ever played with. Athletically speaking he’s by far the most athletic.”

“Faneca is one of those guys that every team wishes they had on their team. He never complains; is always running, blocking, doing something. He’s a perfect fit for he side that breaks on, because I see a change in Brick. Once again, I wasn’t here last year, but just form the start of the year now…it goes without saying that Brick is ultra talented. Using that is the key. I think he’s finding out day in and day out he can be pretty darn good.”

“Brandon and Woody, the right side, they’re all playing great. Woody’s got the best feet I’ve ever seen. Brandon is probably our best just pure run blocker. I mean he’s hard to move. He can move people.”

Favre also talked about an in-practice skirmish between Ferguson and Shaun Ellis from a while back.

“Having a little spunk about you is not a bad thing," Favre said. "Everybody laughed, stuff like that. Most people were like, ‘Man, we haven’t seen that side of Brick.’”

* Favre was asked about the dangers of the team getting ahead of itself as the wins keep piling up and the positive attention continues to come. Favre said nothing has changed much since the early part of the season, other than players' confidence.

“You know, you’re on top of the world one day, hit the bottom the next,” Favre said. “As we struggled early in the year, I don’t think it really affected anyone, because look where we are now. I really don’t think that the success we’re having right now will affect us. In saying that, I don’t know what’s going to happen the next five. But I think our preparation, guys will say the right things. It seems like a pretty focused team.”

* Favre on the offense of late, its ability to hold onto the ball and overall effectiveness:

“The key in all of this to me is the fact that our running game has really dominated, no different than our defense, stopping the run. The fact we’ve been able to run the football at our discretion has made all the difference. For any quarterback, if you can run the football the way we’re running it, sort of dictates to the defense, I don’t want to say you want them to play, but how they have to play you. Do they bring an extra guy in the box? If they do that, then a slant should be there, a go route, a back shoulder throw or whatever. We have the guys from our receiver corps standpoint that can catch the ball at the line of scrimmage, get 10 or 15. They did it the other day. If you’re a defensive coordinator, you’re scratching your head going, what do I do?”

* Finally, a quick congrats to the Associated Press' Jets beat reporter, Dennis Waszak, for tagging Thomas Jones and Leon Washington as “Pow and Later.” The nickname seems to have caught on a bit [Washington called it his favorite on ESPN yesterday morning] and whatever you may hear, it originated with Waszak.

And with that, happy Thanksgiving to everyone. I have been - and continue to be - thankful for the readers of this blog since I started on the beat.

I would tell you all about my plans tomorrow, but I don’t want to make anyone jealous. Enjoy the holiday.