‘HOLM’ WRECKER
Santonio nothing but headache for Jets
ATLANTA — Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes is out for Monday’s game with a hamstring injury, but that didn’t stop him from making headlines this week.
Holmes came under fire for his comments that he can’t throw the ball to himself, a shot at rookie quarterback Geno Smith. Holmes’ time with the Jets is entering its final months. The team surely will cut him as a salarycap casualty after the season. He has a $10.75 million cap number in 2014 and the team can save $8.25 million against the cap by cutting him.
After a tumultuous four seasons with the Jets, it will be fascinating to see what the market is for the wideout, who is undoubtedly talented but also a headache.
“Well, there will be a cou ple of names in free agency next year, but I don’t see any gamebreakers,” one league executive said of the wide receiver market in 2014. “I do think, if he proves he’s healthy, he would have somewhat of a market, but the payday he got from the Jets would be long gone.
“Durability, character and age (he will be 30 next March) all will suppress the totality of his earning power I believe — but I think in the right situation he can be a complementary piece, and may be better if he doesn’t have to be ‘the guy’ and can be the ‘other guy.’ ”
Holmes suffered a seasonending Lisfranc injury to his left foot in 2012 that cost him almost all of that season. He returned this year and played well in the team’s first three games before injuring his hamstring last week against the Titans.
“One, he’s got to prove he’s healthy,” the executive said. “Two, teams will assess medically how durability could or could not be a factor when they examine this foot injury. And three, fit into that team’s program. I think with a strong veteran presence and leadership in locker room and at the head coach position, he’d do better than one where that may not exist.”
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said the offense knows it needs to clean up turnovers and penalties this week. The team is 10 in turnover differential and led the NFL with 44 penalties through Week 4.
“We had a little putitonthetable meeting when the players got back in,” Mornhinweg said. “And these things have to change for us to be any good at all and to get to where we want to be and to be a good offensive football team. So, that’s where we’re at. Now we’re a quarter of the way through the season, usually at a quarter of the way through, it might take another game or two, you sort of know where you’re at. I’m not sure we do yet.”
A win by the Jets would gain them a game on every team in the AFC East, as the Patriots and Dolphins and Bills all lost this week.