12/04 – For fans of young, hot inside linebackers, Sunday's Jets-Niners game was circled on their calendars when the schedules came out: David Harris vs. Patrick Willis.
Needless to say, the two won't be squaring off against each other, and with Harris still working through his groin injury, the two may or may not even be on the field together at Candlestick Park.
But last year the two were among the NFL's top rookies. Willis, San Francisco's MLB, was named Defensive Rookie of the Year after unofficially leading the league with 174 tackles. And Harris might've given the new Niner a run for his money in the award and honor areas since he had 93 of his 117 tackles and all five of his sacks in his eight starts in the second half of last season.
Harris, who has missed the last five games since suffering his injury in Game 8 vs. Kansas City, remains limited in practice and not available during locker room media availability. But head coach Eric Mangini, asked at today's news conference if "the Hitman" would be available for San Fran, said, "Yes, I'm pretty optimistic."
And for those who may have forgotten some of the finer details in the last month, Mangini gave a scouting report of his second-year inside 'backer.
"David's a very, very good young player," Mangini said. "He had an excellent rookie season and I thought he was doing a good job this year. He's stout against the run, more fluid than you think in the passing game, a good blitzer, very consistent in his performance. He has an excellent feel, too, in terms of blocking schemes and getting to the ball. All those things I think he does really well."
But the Jets, who traded up to take Harris in the second round, also did their homework on Willis, who went 11th overall to the Niners.
"Patrick has a great motor, he has great instincts, he’s very good at avoiding blockers, takes excellent angles with the football," Mangini said. "You could see it in college. He’s one of these guys that you turn on the game and there’s 15 or 20 tackles a game, and if he’s not making a tackle he’s causing a problem. He was really impressive on college tape. As you talk to people from Ole Miss, people that played with him, in terms of his mentality and his approach, it’s just all football. It has really transferred well."
I checked with David Bowens, who's been ably starting in Harris' place, to see if he had an opinion about Willis.
"Great nose for the ball," D-Bo said without hesitation. "We've watched tapes of other offenses when they've played the 49ers, and you definitely see No. 52 all over the place."
So the Jets offense will have to be at its crispest to keep 52 in red and gold off of Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. And Jets fans will be heartened if 52 in green and white is out there for the first time in a month and a half to help in the effort to keep Frank Gore and the Frisco offense in check.
Rain Riff
Mangini had a great perspective on questions for the third time this season about the physical and mental effects on players' boadies when they go from East Coast to West Coast to play a game.
"It doesn’t sneak up on us. We’re not heading on a safari or anything," he said. "It’s the West Coast. It’s three hours. I don’t see the big deal. It’s hot in Miami, we knew that going down in September. It was going to be cold in Green Bay a couple years ago when we went up there. What’s the big deal?
"As kids, you used to die to get outside in the rain and play football, and in the cold and the snow. It’s the same thing. Now it’s just a couple hours different, with a little extra sunlight."
Performing in the Precip
Speaking of rain, the New York Jets Flight Crew continues to be a featured unit on the weekly sportsillustrated.com slideshow featuring cheerleading squads around the NFL. Click here for four shots of the Flight Crew ignoring the inconveniences of Sunday's inclement weather with knockout individual and team performances during the Denver game.
Brick's Story of Heart
Eight Jets told their stories and fans can help turn one of them into the NFL's "Super Ad: Believe in Now" commercial. And one of the stories you may not have heard involves D'Brickashaw Ferguson's tale of heart.
Before Brick made it to the Jets, or to the University of Virginia, or to Freeport High School on Long Island, he had to make it off of a hospital bed as a child. In his story, Ferguson talks about his journey from open-heart surgery as a child to playing professional football.
Rookie TE Dustin Keller's story about how hard he pushed himself at this year's training camp so as not to show any weakness, is another Jets feature. Fans can visit the Jets section to also see the pieces on Ahmad Carroll, David Clowney, James Dearth, Vernon Gholston, James Ihedigbo and Wallace Wright.
Fans can vote on the 24 stories from AFC players on nfl.com/superad beginning today through Dec. 17. Four AFC stories, one from each division, will be selected to continue to the Championship Round, where they will compete against four videos from the NFC as well as one wildcard video.
