Coles can't wait for chance to prove naysayers wrong
Laveranues Coles is buried on the depth chart, but thinks he still has plenty to offer if the Jets decide to hold onto him. Credit: Pat Orr
FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - Laveranues Coles was in a room with other wide receivers, checking out some route running video when Vic Hall turned to Coles, telling him something he was glad to hear.
"He said, 'Man you look like you've still got it,' " Coles said Tuesday. "And that made me feel good."
"The guys are letting me know that I can still do it," he added. "Even J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery] is like, man, that was a tight route. So certain things I do that I didn't feel myself being able to do last year and I know it had a lot to do with my mind state and where I was. I've still got a little bit of gas in the tank."
Coles, 32, is fully aware of the situation he's in. He's behind Braylon Edwards, Cotchery, Santonio Holmes and Brad Smith on the depth chart, and there's a good possibility he'll be released when Holmes returns from his four-game suspension Oct. 4, the week leading up to Brett Favre's New York homecoming.
So in essence, he's likely in the final weeks of his NFL career, one that will end whenever the Jets cut ties with him. But he's doing his best to make that decision as hard as possible. His three receptions in the preseason tie him for second among the main wide receiving corps.
"In the offseason, my name never came up as a guy who could be a key piece in helping somebody win," the 5-11, 199-pounder said. "But right now at this point, the way I feel, I'm all right. That's all I'm going to say. I'm all right. It's going to be fun to watch when I actually do get a chance."
Coles' big chance might not come against the Redskins - one of his former teams - at the New Meadowlands Stadium on Friday since the Jets' starters will likely play into the third quarter. However, he's already salivating at the full-blown shot he'll get in the preseason finale versus the Eagles.
"So I can get out there," Coles said, "and give them a little bit of 'Sizzle Man.' "
"I know I can still play," he added. "Now it's just whether or not that opportunity arises here for me to play. If it doesn't arise here, other teams had their opportunity. They didn't take a swing at me. Oh well. They missed out."
