A Trip to the Red Zone
Monday afternoon's Jets practice was devoted mostly to make-or-break red zone situations. Sandwiched in-between the common one-on-one tackling drills and no-huddle hurry up situations, Coach Mangini had his four-man quarterback quartet running various plays from 20 yards in for the majority of the two hour, twenty-two minute session.
Patrick Ramsey saw the majority of snaps with the first string offense, although it appeared that the rotation was altered slightly, with a couple of quarterbacks running plays with different lines at times. Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens shared action with the third string, although Pennington worked in with the first string during red zone drills. Brooks Bollinger worked in with the second string and displayed sporadic bursts of precision.
Bollinger hit Laveranues Coles on a lofty 10-yard toss for a touchdown early in practice and then struck again with a perfectly executed play action pass to Reggie Newhouse in the corner of the end zone.
The red zone meant go for the offense as each unit jumped out with early touchdowns. Cedric Houston plowed through for a 20-yard touchdown run, which got the relatively sparse crowd on its feet. Nick Hartigan also punched one in and that caused a celebratory outburst from Clemens, who was clearly enjoying the success of his teammates picking up the system.
Pennington got into the scoring mix with an unlikely target in Ben Moa, who has been working mostly as a blocking back, rarely seeing chances for receptions. After Moa's short score, the defense was instructed to take a lap followed by a frustrating Mangini order of, "figure it out, secondary!"
The defense had its moments throughout the day as well, as rookie Eric Smith and cornerback Justin Miller each hauled in interceptions from Ramsey during both the red zone and no huddle drills. In addition, Kerry Rhodes remained impressive, swatting down a pass and then clobbering Houston behind the line as he tried to slip out of the backfield. Anthony Schlegel had Clemens' number Monday, swatting a pass at the line of scrimmage and registering a would-be sack in the red zone drill.
Camp Notes
Coach Mangini offered some more praise today, this time to undrafted rookie free agent Stacey Tutt, who has been shuffling around the offense and special teams. "I have been impressed with Stacy Tutt," said Mangini. "He has done a lot of positive things. Here is a guy who was a quarterback last year and consistently makes tackles in the tackling drill and will pretty much do anything he can do to be successful. I like the way that he has shown up each day."…Kimo von Oelhoffen, a 13-year vet, has enjoyed his time with the Jets thus far. He figures to be a great point of reference for some of the younger players on the defensive line. "I have to do everything that needs to be done to win," said von Oelhoffen. "That's what I do now. Sometimes they (my teammates) help me. That's just being part of a team. That's what you are here to accomplish – to win football games, to work together to be the best at what you do. We have been getting along really well. It's been good."… Center Nick Mangold, the Jets second first round selection in April, says veteran guard Pete Kendall has helped ease his transition. "Pete has a great sense of humor. I think a lot it has to do with his timing. He makes all the right comments. He's a great help and I'm real blessed to have Pete with us." Rookie Blake Costanzo was the lone player to record a tackle during the punt return drill… After practice, newcomers C.J. Fayton and Chris Baker (no relation to TE Chris Baker) spent time catching passes from Clemens… Also late to leave the field were Coach Mangini and his youngest son Luke… Assistant running backs /special teams coach Sam Gash led some post practice blocking drills, instructing Hartigan, Tutt and Moa…Rookie receiver Wallace Wright made an impressive tackle in the one-on-one tackling drill.
