Breaking down the race for Jets’ No. 4 receiver spot
The Jets’ meticulous summer-long evaluation includes bolstering their wide receiver depth beyond starters Robby Anderson, Quincy Enunwa and Jamison Crowder. It’s an underplayed yet important pursuit given that each of the three pass catchers missed time last season due to injury, and two of them have repeatedly been nicked up.
Deontay Burnett, Tim White and Deonte Thompson have each flashed in the first couple weeks of training camp, giving Adam Gase hope that perhaps at least one of them can emerge as a reliable relief pitcher if needed.
“It’s a young group and they’re picking it up and making some plays,” Gase said. “Do we need guys that come along
fast? Yes, we need those guys to be ready to go because if something happens to one of those top three guys, somebody else will have to be able to step in there and we can’t have any fall off.”
The 510, 175pound White, undrafted out of Arizona State in 2017, has gotten the brain trust’s attention this summer. He had trouble staying healthy for parts of two seasons with the Ravens.
“Tim has done a good job … just seeing him develop,” Gase said. “We [need to] keep him healthy. He is progressing, he understands what we are doing and he’s making plays. He’s showing up a lot and we have to keep challenging those second wave of guys and put them against that first group at some point to see how they do.”
“Anytime that you have a guy that has good body control, good ball skills, and understands route running and how to get open, that’s what you want,” Gase continued. “It’s just can you do it when it’s Sunday? Can you do it when the lights are on? Can you do it against another team when you are not sure how he is going to play?”
Burnett, who flashed briefly last season as an undrafted rookie, has also had some good moments. Thompson, who played for Gase in Chicago in 2015, has come on strong in recent practices as well. The next step for all of them will be taking those good vibes from the practice field to the preseason to earn the coaches’ trust even more.
“When you start doing this in training camp, you kind of get used to how a DB is going to handle you, how he’s going to press you, what’s his move,” Gase continued. “And when you get into a real game, you got to study that on film and then apply it on a Sunday, whether it be preseason or regular season. That’s the challenge. That’s the hardest part. The good ones… figure it out.”
COACH HINES
Former Steelers wideout Hines Ward has made his presence felt with the receiver corps in his first two weeks as a camp coaching intern. Robby Anderson has repeatedly praised the four-time Pro Bowler and two-time Super Bowl champ for being a “great resource.” General manager Joe Douglas was interested in bringing in Ward, who has exactly 1,000 career catches for more than 12,000 yards, to help with Philly before asking him to help respected wide receivers coach Shawn Jefferson this summer.
“Right from the get-go when Hines came in — and he was here two days before the rest of [the players] got in there — he was going through the offense,” Gase said. “He was creating a notebook for himself to learn the offense. Those
guys came in and they saw how he was taking notes and how he was doing things and I think that was just the starting point to where they saw how he was preparing to get ready for training camp.”
“That was the lead point and then everything that he talks about, whether it be the run game stuff… making sure you’re in dynamic shape, just all the little things that a lot of us were saying the same thing,” Gase said. Ward is “just another voice coming in saying the same thing. Sometimes, that’s what it takes to trigger some of these guys.”
NO JERSEY NEEDED
If Sam Darnold looks a little different in camp, it might be because he’s not wearing a red no-contact jersey. In fact, none of Gang Green’s quarterbacks are donning the traditional gear. Why?
“It was something that started in Denver,” Gase explained. “Peyton, he was like, ‘Why are we wearing different jerseys? The guys know not to hit us.’ And it just stayed that way.”
Manning’s influence is apparent in other ways too. It’s become standard practice to hear Darnold to shout “Omaha!” before taking a snap.
BEACHUM BANGED UP
Left tackle Kelvin Beachum and RB Ty Montgomery suffered minor ankle injuries in practice Friday that might keep one or both of them out a few days…. CB Trumaine Johnson didn’t finish practice due to a sore groin.