Back to The Hangar
They're back.
The Jets returned to their home today, holding their first practice of the 2010 training camp at The Hangar. Their 11:50 a.m. practice was supposed to be open to the public, but Mother Nature didn't cooperate.
So the team was forced to practice inside the field house, something it couldn't do if things were still being held in Cortland. That's just yet another reason why, for some, the day the Jets left Cortland in the rearview mirror to bring their camp operations back to the metropolitan area couldn't come soon enough.
"I know everybody is disappointed to be back here," Rex Ryan said. "It is unfortunate the weather never cooperated since the practice was going to be open to the public. There were only a select number of people out there.
"It feels great to be back here. I think coming back from Cortland, we are right where we want to be as far as building our team. It is always great to go away. I think your team becomes closer because they just have each other. I think that’s where we’re at right now. Now we have to get better as a football team and that’s what we are working on."
******************************************************
Drew Coleman is showing how much he wants to be a part of this year's squad.
The reserve CB had his one-year, $1.176 million tender restructured. Coleman's new deal calls for a salary of $850,000, and also includes some upfront money in the form of a signing bonus. He was adamant about hanging on with the Jets and figured he'd do whatever he could to prove it
“We just reworked the deal, pretty much gave me money upfront,” Coleman said. “It’s security on both our behalf. The main thing was I told them I wanted to be here, so I’ll do whatever it takes for us to get to this goal, get to this championship. Whether it’s taking a pay cut, less playing time, whatever.
"Even though it’s a recession and there may be a lockout, my main thing now is trying to get a championship and then let the season work out for itself."
******************************************************
Not happy with what you've seen out of backup QB Mark Brunell so far?
Well, Brunell's spot as the No. 2 behind Mark Sanchez is perfectly safe, according to Ryan. Brunell has completed 4 of 10 attempts for 16 yards in the preseason with 14 of those coming on one pass. He has a QB rating of 47.9.
"You pretty well know what you have, but you’d still like to see him get some confidence and make a couple throws," Ryan said. "This guy’s been in conference championship games, he went to the Super Bowl last year, he’s made a ton of Pro Bowls.You know what you’re getting from Mark Brunell."
The Jets are still waiting to see what they get out of Kellen Clemens, who's been playing well throughout the preseason. Ryan admitted Clemens is ahead of Kevin O'Connell in the race for the No. 3, but still didn't offer a glowing assesment.
"I think he’s doing well," Ryan said. "I think he clearly leads it. We’ll see."
******************************************************
Reserve defensive lineman Ropati Pitoitua was placed on injured reserve today, officially depleting the Jets' line depth. Pitoitua wasn't a household name, but he was expected to take things up a notch this season and be a part of the gameday rotation.
"It really hurts. It does," Ryan said, "because here’s the guy who can be a backup end, a backup tackle. He was really developing as a sub rusher, too. Arrow’s pointing up on this guy and it will still be that way. It’s just an unfortunate setback for him because I bet he was going to have a big year for us. He played last year.
"He played about 150 snaps or something like that. In there, it showed a big huge guy that can run, play hard. He did a lot of things. You just saw him improving, so that was a big loss for us."
With Pitoitua's season now over, does that mean the Jets could take a look at Adalius Thomas?
"Adalius Thomas is more of an outside linebacker, which is probably one the strongest positions we have on the team," Ryan said. "Defensive end, though, if someone gets cut off a roster or if someone is available, our scouts do a great job of making sure we have the information. He is really more of a linebacker than he would be an end."
******************************************************
Mentioned on Twitter earlier that rookie T Charlie Tanner was carted off with an injury during practice. Ryan said Tanner probably had an MCL sprain and got injured during a 9-on-7 drill.
S Donovan Warren (concussion) didn't practice and LB Josh Mauga (head) was limited.
