Cowher compliments ‘competitive’ Chan
Bill Cowher remembers the first time he played racquetball with Chan Gailey back in the 1990s, when Gailey was Cowher’s offensive coordinator with the Steelers.
Cowher approached it like a friendly match, until he saw Gailey diving all over the court.
“When you see a guy dive on the racquetball court ... I thought I was competitive, but he took it to another level,” said Cowher, now a CBS analyst.
Cowher said it is that competitiveness that stands out about Gailey, the new Jets offensive coordinator.
“Chan is as competitive a guy as I’ve ever been around,” Cowher said. “He’s a great teacher, very good with people. He’s also very flexible. One thing about Chan is he’s not a complainer. If he has to go into a game with one healthy receiver, then he’ll put a game plan together for that. If he has five healthy receivers, he’ll utilize that. I like the fact that he’s not set in his ways. He has a system. He has a belief, but he’s flexible to know that if you don’t have it, you can’t force it.”
That flexibility could be key for Gailey with the Jets, as he figures out what this team’s strengths are. Gailey already has had to adjust from Geno Smith to Ryan Fitzpatrick at quarterback.
“I think what he’ll ask Fitz to do is to play smart,” Cowher said. “They have a good defense. They’re going to be able to run the football, shorten the game. Find yourself in the fourth quarter of these games and find a way to win. That to me is the formula for the Jets.”
The Jets converted $1.78 million of kicker Nick Folk’s $2.5 million salary into a bonus to create some salary cap space, according to a source. The move creates $1.19 million in cap space for the capstrapped Jets.
CB Antonio Cromartie has looked shaky at times during training camp, but the coaching staff is not worried about the veteran.
“No, not at all,” defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers said about being concerned. “The beauty we had coming in with me and my first experience with Cro is that Todd [ Bowles] had him last year [with the Cardinals], and said that’s the least thing of our worries right now, is Cro. This is the way he goes through the process of getting ready to play, he goes through and just works at it, works at it, works at it.”