Ryan ripped into his entire squad after a lackluster practice at Hofstra and chided them for a lack of focus and leadership. The team had its second consecutive poor outing in a sloppy performance against Washington and you could feel the edginess emerge from the coaching staff.
Brian Schottenheimer states flat out that the offense lacks leadership and there is no one to get these guys going on the field. When a play needs to be made everyone is standing around waiting for someone else to make it.
This is an interesting development. The organization took some heat this off-season for cutting ties with two of their most respected leaders – Alan Faneca and Thomas Jones. I had no issue with either move. The team needed upgrades at both positions and it was time to make a change.
Tony Richardson and Damien Woody are solid leaders and I expected both to fill the void but neither brings the consistent emotion to set the tempo for the offense. Jones who was by far the most vocal leader in the offensive huddle and it is clear the team misses his presence.
I thought Mark Sanchez would step into more of a leadership role but that has not happened. He clearly has a presence among his teammates but with his own play still leaving a lot to be desired, he has not brought the consistent fire to motivate his teammates and that is apparent when you observe the offense’s performance.
The lack of consistency from the offense, and more specifically the play of Sanchez, is definitely a concern with the regular season opener just 11 days away.
The defense has done its job. The starters have allowed just one touchdown in three games. The offense however looks stuck. They have run the football well, which is a testament to Bill Callahan who oversees the running game but the passing attack is out of sync.
Sanchez’ play has regressed and he has made some of the same poor decisions as he did during midseason last year. It is up to the coaching staff to get him turned around, particularly the triumvirate of Schottenheimer, Matt Cavanaugh and Mark Brunell.
If Sanchez’ poor play continues, more and more pressure will build for Schottenheimer. He will need to keep Sanchez’ reads simple, keep his mistakes to a minimum and still keep his confidence high.
Jets fans may have to endure some ugly performances early on before he gets rolling again. Sanchez will ultimately be the leader of this offense but until his play improves, it is hard to envision him fully stepping into that role.
One thing we saw in this week’s episode is the lack of discipline that comes with a Rex Ryan-coached team. I was shocked to see players scarfing cheeseburgers before the practice at Hofstra.
What was even more surprising was Ryan’s reaction to it. Sure he was ticked off and he let the team know it. But instead of yelling at the entire squad, I would have had the culprits running. Those guys should have been doing wind sprints until they puked. That is how you teach them not to do it again.
And what was going on with Jason Taylor? Being late for three consecutive practices is ridiculous and Ryan merely razzed him when he finally arrived. The first transgression was the time to discipline him and send the message that that kind of behavior was unacceptable. But he did nothing so the behavior continued.
By not condemning it, Ryan condoned it and by extension he is condoning sloppiness on the field by permitting sloppiness off it. This is the downside of Ryan’s loose coaching style that has endeared him to his players and it will not change any time soon.
Jets fans have to accept this as part of the package. There will be times when the team looks out of sync and sloppy and much of it can be traced back to Ryan.
Regarding the team’s sloppy play, Jets fans should not be too worried. This is what every team goes through every year. There are ups and downs for most clubs and it takes time to build chemistry and team identify.
Right now it is being molded in the wins and losses of the preseason and in the emotional ups and downs of players being cut. Speaking of which, one of the most difficult scenes to watch was Mike Tannenbaum having to tell fan-favorite Laveranues Coles he was being released.
Coles may very well be back but it was still hard to watch. No Jet has sacrificed his body more or worked harder than Coles and seeing him accept the bad news with such class just made me respect the guy even more.
These behind the scenes conversations between players and management have been interesting. Last night we got to see Kellen Clemens accept a cut in pay in order to remain with the team.
I was surprised at how brief and matter-of-fact these conversations were. Clemens was in Tannenbaum’s office less than five minutes and the talk was done.
A quiet guy, we have not heard much from Clemens but he made it clear he liked being with the organization which was a theme other guys echoed as they were being cut.
Clearly the Jets are a team that players want to play for and as a fan that is encouraging, especially considering that was rarely the case throughout the team’s history.
One of the highlights of last night’s show was the play of John Conner. Ryan and the whole team are falling in love with this guy and for good reason.
Conner is consistently jacking guys up in games and scrimmages and it won’t be long before the love fest extends to the fans. Conner embodies what football is all about – toughness, aggressiveness and physical domination and so his role with the team will continue to expand.
Last episode Mike Westhoff stood out as real star of this show. He is an old grouch who steals every scene he is in and it is hard not be riveted to his every word. The guy commands respect not only from his players but also from Rex Ryan himself.
It was almost hard to tell who the head coach was when Westhoff approved of Ryan yelling at the team in a meeting the night before. Clearly Westhoff has sway with the headman in charge.
The quote of the night belonged to Westhoff, as usual. While reviewing film of their upcoming opponent he declared, “I don’t care what they do. Do what we do well. You can win. Redskins - f*ck them.”
Ya gotta love this guy!
This week’s episode was tougher to watch then previous weeks. The offense is struggling and the seriousness of cutting players is permeating the entire organization.
But I do not want the show to end. One more week to go and I am already thinking about replaying old episodes on my DVR.
Written by Alan Levin