McCown: Young QBs not taking my spot
Jets coach Todd Bowles said last week he does not envision a scenario right now where he would bench quarterback Josh McCown for one of his younger backups.
On Monday, McCown said he believes the same thing.
“We’re both kind of on the same page with that, and there wasn’t a scenario where I saw it either, so I think it’s good to hear it. But we were already on the same page, so I don’t know if that was necessarily a new thing,” McCown said. “We’re just excited about loading up and playing these last six weeks and seeing where it takes us, so that’s the main focus.”
McCown has played better than most people expected in the first 10 games of the year. He has completed 69 percent of his passes, the third-best mark in the league.
“What I said when I came here, you want to bring stability to the position and hopefully, play good ball when you’re in there and if the situation changes, be able to help whoever is out there playing,” McCown said. “I think I’ve been able to do that to a degree, but I still feel like my best ball is ahead of me these last six weeks and there is another notch that we can go, I believe. We’ll pursue that with everything we got and see where that leads us, but I’m excited about the opportunity to do it.”
DE Leonard Williams said he feels a wrist injury hampered his play early in the sea- son, and now that he is healthy he feels his play has jumped.
“I’m fe eling really good physically,” Williams said. “At the beginning of the season … I don’t want to use any excuses, but I can see on film that my wrist was definitely affecting me. I was playing with a cast. I see that I wasn’t really shooting my hand as effectively as I could have. These last few games before the bye on film it just looks completely different. I’ve been able to shed people, use my hands, get off blocks and just be more effective.”
Williams injured his wrist in the third preseason game against the Giants. The Jets said it was a sprain. Williams later said it was a bone bruise. Williams said Monday he wore a cast for the Jets’ first six games. Bowles had denied it was a cast early in the season, saying it was only a wrap.
Bowles declined to give any injury updates. The NFL does not require an injury report until Wednesday. … Bowles said every Jets player made it back on time from the bye week.
Panthers tight end Greg Olsen and center Ryan Kalil returned to practice Monday following the team’s bye week and could play against the Jets.
Coach Ron Rivera said Olsen is further along in his rehab than Kalil. Olsen has missed the last eight games with a broken foot, but said Monday he felt good. —WithAP