So far, rookie Lee has got it covered
About midway through 11-on-11 team drills Monday afternoon at Jets training camp, quarterback Bryce Petty dropped back to pass at the 10-yard line. He cocked his arm and fired the ball to the middle of the field, looking for tight end Zach Sudfeld in the back of the end zone.
But rookie inside linebacker Darron Lee was in coverage and read the throw perfectly. He leapt in front of Sudfeld and made a full-extension two-handed catch for his second interception of the day.
It’s the type of play the Jets envisioned when drafting the 6-1, 232-pound Lee with the 20th overall pick in April’s draft. And coaches and teammates have started to notice the Ohio State product, who’s received firstteam reps this week in practice with Erin Henderson nursing a stinger.
“He’s doing what we brought him here for,” defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said of Lee, who intercepted Ryan Fitzpatrick earlier in Monday’s practice after the quarterback was hit as he threw. “A cover linebacker, being fast out there. And he’s also stopping the run.”
Richardson was quick to point out, however, the one slight against Lee: his size. “I feel like he needs to put on a little more weight,” Richardson said. “I always call him Little Dog.”
That’s coming from a guy who spent his whole career with the Jets playing in front of Demario Davis — now with the Browns — and David Harris, two guys who weigh closer to 250 pounds than 230. “Just seeing little skinny guys back there is a little funny to me, that’s all,” Richardson said. “But he’s also effective, so I won’t knock him for it.”
Inside linebackers coach Mike Caldwell agrees with the second part of Richardson’s statement about Lee.
“The size part of it is really not a big thing. When we drafted him, we knew what we were getting. We knew the temperament he had. And he’s an aggressive player,” Caldwell said. “He’s physical. He’ll come downhill. And he’s pretty much an average-sized linebacker. I know he’s considered small, but when you look at him…he’s put together pretty good.
“Linebacker’s a tenacious position,” Caldwell continued. “You have to have that in you. And he has it.”
Lee’s slimmer build is also what allows him to boast such tremendous speed for a linebacker. At the NFL Combine in February, Lee ran a 4.47 40-yard dash, the fastest time among linebackers and the 14th fastest time among all defensive players. Quite simply, Lee’s speed can be game-changing, especially when it comes to coverage, an area in which the Jets linebackers — particularly Davis — struggled last season. But first, according to head coach Todd Bowles, Lee must master the nuances of the position.
“He can run. But there’s still technique involved in that,” Bowles said of Lee’s potential coverage skills. “He’s got to clean up some technique. Physically, yes he can do it. But fundamentally, you’ve got to be consistent at what you’re doing to make sure it fits with what the defense is doing.”
Developing those proficiencies takes repetition, and Lee has only been around the NFL game for a short time, including two preseason AP games.
But he’s doing his best to adjust. In the second or third practice of camp, Lee said he learned a lesson he’ll “never forget” when Fitzpatrick and Brandon Marshall connected on a completion after the linebacker bit on a fake.
“It was in (a two-minute drill). It was a situation. Fitz hit B-Marsh right there on a back-hash throw, and he was looking me off the whole time,” Lee said. “And then right after they completed it, (Marshall) was like, ‘Don’t take the cheese, rook.’”
Lee took that advice to heart and has committed to staying disciplined in coverage. He took a step forward as a result.
If he continues to play the way he did in practice Monday, there should be many more steps to come.