Safety LaRon Landry

While all of Jets nations waits on baited breath for new and relevant Darrelle Revis news to analyze, another major off-season task is being handled by the Jets front office: Trying to re-sign Pro Bowl safety LaRon Landry.

According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, the Jets have had preliminary discussions with Landry’s agents and would like to re-sign the safety.

Landry’s asking price is expected to be around $6 million a year, which could really be a stretch for the cap-strapped Jets.

Though the Jets may be planning to re-sign Landry, he is expected to test the free agent market which begins March 12th, per Rich Cimini.

In other news, the Jets’ plans to have competition at the quarterback position may mean having as many as FIVE quarterbacks on the roster, including free agent QB Brady Quinn. According a report from Chris Mortensen, the Jets plan to sign Quinn to compete with Sanchez, third-year back-up Greg McElroy, Matt Simms and a TBD free agent in camp.

Mortensen also noted that Tebow is not expected to be part of their plans at the quarterback position (duh).

Update: Mort has since clarified that was originally called a “report” is actually closer to speculation, though it’s worth mentioning that Quinn and new quarterback’s coach David Lee have a close relationship.

Safety LaRon Landry

Jets safety LaRon Landry and cornerback Antonio Cromartie have been named to the AFC’s Pro Bowl roster. Both players are listed as backups, according to the NFl’s official website.

Left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson was named second alternate, and center Nick Mangold and running back Joe McKnight were named third alternates.

Landry is the first Jets safety selected for the Pro Bowl in 23 years — the last Jets safety to earn a selection was Erik McMillan in the 1988-89 seasons.

It is Landry’s first Pro Bowl selection.

Given this announcement, i’s hard to imagine the Jets find a way to keep Landry on the roster next year. The safety has admitted that he is looking for a lucrative long-term deal and with the Jets tight cap situation, it seems unlikely they will be able to offer him the kind of contract he is seeking.

Antonio Cromartie earned his second Pro Bowl nod — his last selection was in 2007 when he was a San Diego Charger. Given Cromartie’s outstanding performance this season – particularly in the absence of Darrelle Revis, it seemed to be a given he would earn his second nod.

The Pro Bowl will be held on January 27th in Honolulu, Hawaii.

This guy.

Ever since Rex Ryan became the head coach of the New York Jets and vowed he wouldn’t kiss Bill Belichick’s rings, the bitter Jets – Patriots rivalry has stolen the spotlight, evolving into one of the top rivalries in the NFL.

Don’t believe me? Just google Jets-Patriots memes.

As if the fact it is Patriots week wasn’t enough to hype up Sunday’s game, the Jets now find themselves tied with the Patriots atop the AFC East at 3-3. To be fair, two divisional wins would technically put them in first, but let’s go with a tie for the narrative, okay? Then again, you could also say  they’re tied for last…whatever makes you sleep at night.

The tie – and the Patriots worst record through six games since 2005 – presents the Jets with the opportunity to overtake the Patriots and rise to the top of the division, and you can bet Rex Ryan plans to pull out all the stops  in order to walk away with the win.

The Patriots opened as 10.5 favorites over the Jets. Here are a few key points to consider as we look ahead to Sunday’s game:

*The Patriots can be beat deep: Opposing teams have attempted 36 passes of 21 yards or more downfield, allowing 44.4% completion percentage on those attempts (and tallied 4 interceptions, tied for most in the league). Coincidentally, Mark Sanchez has a passer rating around 100+ on throws greater than 25 yards.

Opposing quarterbacks have also thrown 15 touchdowns for a 100.9 passer rating against the Pats defense.

*Mark Sanchez remains the 2nd most pressured QB in the AFC behind Philip Rivers and the Jets’ offensive line could be in for a rough day against the Patriots first-round pick Chandler Jones, who currently leads NFL rookies with five sacks after getting two against Seattle last week.

*Unleash Tebow time? (*Skip Bayless voice*). Relax, I don’t mean he should be the starting quarterback, but I think the Jets have to let Tebow take a deep shot downfield in this game. I know we are hearing he could “possibly”play running back, but I’ll believe it when I see it. I’ll take the under on 10 snaps for the backup quarterback in this game, but they’d be wise to let him throw the ball at least once.

*For all the talk about Ground and Pound, the Patriots have actually had more success running the ball than the Jets. New England has gained more rushing 1st downs (37) in two wins over the Bills and the Broncos than Jets have all season (33).

*The Jets revamped the safety position this off-season to account for the play on the Patriots tight ends, Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez, but despite the makeover, the Jets are still ranked 26th vs. the tight end, according to Football Outsiders. Landry and Bell are going to have to earn their money tomorrow if the Jets are to have a chance.

The same goes for cornerback Kyle Wilson, who is expected to match-up against Wes Welker. I’ll refrain from expressing my opinion on this; I wouldn’t want to ruin your day.

*The Jets have allowed opponents to convert 18-of-41 (42%) on 3rd-and-6 or more this season, the worst percentage in the league.

*The Patriots rarely lose back-to-back games, especially at home, and they have also won their last nine games at home against division opponents. However, the Patriots have their worst record after six games since they were also 3-3 in 2005. (In a strange coincidence, the Patriots three losses have all come against opponents with birds as mascots — the Ravens, Cardinals and Seahawks. Perhaps they will have similar luck against a team that “flies?”).

*Rule 5, Section 2, Article 10. What the heck is that? Well, according to the rulebook, ““if a substitution is made by the offense, the offense shall not be permitted to snap the ball until the defense has been permitted to respond with its substitutions. . . . The offense is prohibited from rushing quickly to the line of scrimmage and snapping the ball in an obvious attempt to cause a defensive foul (i.e. — too many men on the field). . . . The umpire will stand over the ball until the Referee deems that the defense has had a reasonable time to complete its substitutions.”

The Jets will want to ensure they are given the appropriate time to make defensive subsitutions in this game, as it will allow them to adjust to the Patriots no-huddle offense. Keep a close on this throughout the game — I have a feeling it will be a discussion point on Monday.

Update: According to Conor Orr of The Star-Ledger, Sione Po’uha, Eric Smith, Bilal Powell and Kenrick Ellis did not traveling with the team to New England. Joe McKnight did make the trip, and will be a game time decision. McKnight told the media earlier in the week he WANTS to play.

**Joe and I talked recapped Sunday’s win over the Colts and previewed Jets-Patriots on this week’s episode of “The Blue and Green Review.”

LaRon Landry will face one of his biggest tasks yet, matching up Patriots tight ends Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

4 things to look for in the Jets Vs. Patriots game.

1. The move to start Austin Howard at RT has paid off as the pass protection for the Jets this season has been much better.  Mark has been pressured at times but overall the protection has been sound, but it will be interesting to see how the O-line responds against the Patriots pass rush.  Their first round pick, Chandler Jones, has played well and is a favorite for the defensive rookie of the year.  He has already compiled 5 sacks and 27 tackles in the first 6 games and it will be interesting to see how the o-line fares against him.
2. The Jets secondary has a huge task ahead of them in Sunday’s game.  They will be facing one of the most potent offenses in NFL and how they respond will dictate the outcome of the game.  The Jets safeties will have to play aggressive and make sure that both the Patriots tight ends don’t have another huge game. I feel that should not be an issue because both Landry and Bell are physical players and should be able impose themselves.  What really concerns me is Kyle Wilson and how he will respond to covering either Welker or Loyd.  Both of these players are huge play makers and Welker has been Brady’s go to guy for a long time.  I expect the Jets will struggle to contain Welker but it remains to be seen how much the Jets can limit his big plays.
3. The Jets defensive line will have their hands full against the Patriots running game.  Their up-tempo offense allows them to run a ton of plays and the Jets will need to make sure they don’t give up huge chunks of yards to the running backs.  The tackling and run blocking will have to be as superb as it was last week to limit the Patriots control of the game clock.
4. The Jets’ offense is down to only 2 healthy running backs and they will need a good performance from Greene to make sure they can stay in this game.  I expect the Jets’ to run the ball at least 20 times to help open up the passing attack.  There will be some big explosive plays in this game and it remains to be seen whether the Jets avail those chances.

Shahmeer is a regular contributor to The Green Room. You can follow him on Twitter at @shehzada_ .

After the Jets opened the season with a decisive win, they fell flat on their face against the Pittsburgh Steelers, losing 27 – 10.

The Jets opening drive was fantastic, with quarterback Mark Sanchez going 4 – 5 for 80 yards with a touchdown pass. Receiver Santonio Holmes made the touchdown grab on a slant route for 14 yards on Steelers star corner Ike Taylor. Receiver Jeremy Kerley also caught a beautiful pass on the drive, running a seam route for 45 yards, which appeared to ignite Sanchez & co.

After scoring 10 points off the first 2 offensive drives, the Jets offense flat lined the rest of the way. There is no coincidence that the Jets stopped scoring after Sanchez was blasted with a helmet-to-helmet shot from linebacker Lawrence Timmons. Timmons hit Sanchez with the crown of his helmet, which lead to a 15 yard personal foul call. Expect a fine on Timmons, who did his best James Harrison impersonation on the hit.

Sanchez finished the day 10 – 27 for 138 yards and a touchdown with a passer rating of 66.6 and a QB rating of 46.5. Although these numbers look miserable, Sanchez is not entirely to blame. Receivers Holmes, and Stephen Hill underperformed for most of the day. Hill was victimized at the line of scrimmage by press coverage, and went without a catch on two targets. Holmes benefitted from 4 defensive penalties, but still only came away with 3 receptions and a couple drops on 11 targets. Holmes lost the battle against Taylor, 32, who looked like his former self with 2 pass deflections and blanket coverage on Holmes. Sanchez will be very appreciative when tight end Dustin Keller returns from a hamstring injury. Keller’s backup, Jeff Cumberland is not close to producing at the same level as Sanchez’s most consistent target.

The running game was non-existent for either team, with Jets running back Bilal Powell leading all rushers in the game with 33 yards on 9 carries. The Jets had a total of 90 yards on the ground, while the Steelers had 66 yards. The Jets offensive line had a sub-par day, and will have to play with a meaner streak to be competitive against upper tier teams.

Backup quarterback Tim Tebow played only 3 offensive snaps, all consecutive in the 3^rd quarter. Tebow gained 22 yards on one run, and the only time the Jets had back-to-back first downs came when Tebow was in at QB. Granted, both 1^st downs were running plays.

The Jets defense, minus cornerback Darrelle Revis, did their best to contain the Steelers, but couldn’t manage. The Jets pass rush made the Steelers offensive line look like a set of pro bowlers, coming away with 2 sacks. Backup linebacker Garrett McIntyre, who was thrust into the starting lineup due to injuries, came away with both sacks on Ben Roethlisberger. Outside those two sacks, Roethlisberger looked near perfect, evading pressure consistently by sliding up in the pocket and passing 24 – 31 for 275 yards and 2 touchdowns. Big Ben had a great day, finding open targets consistently, and even throwing a touch down pass to receiver Mike Wallace for 37 yards on 3^rd and 16. Cornerback Antonio Cromartie did not play the ball and got lost in the end zone when Wallace came down with the ball.

The Jets also lost the time of possession battle by being on offense for 23 minutes while the Steelers were in control for over 36 minutes. The most important drive of the day came with just under 14 minutes remaining in the 4^th quarter, when the Steelers took 10 plus minutes off the clock on 14 plays for 75 yards and a touchdown. The defense had a hard time getting off the field all day, only forcing 3 three and outs, and allowing 4 drives of over 9 plays. Those 4 drives resulted in 20 points for the Steelers.

Jets safety LaRon Landry made matters worse, with 2 personal fouls that extended drives and killed the defense. Landry is a ferocious hitter who tries to make plays, but both penalties were ill advised. Landry also whiffed on a potential red-zone sack that lead to more points for Pittsburgh.

Both special teams units were relatively quiet, except for Jeremy Kerley’s muffed punt that evaporated any hope left for the Jets to muster a comeback. The play took the Jets from starting at midfield to going back on defense at midfield.

After being out played in Pittsburgh, the Jets will look to rebound against the 1 – 1 Miami Dolphins. The Dolphins are coming off a big win against the Oakland Raiders, 35 – 13.

The first team offensive line game up 3 sacks in the first half

The 26 – 3 loss the New York Giants handed the New York Jets was disheartening, to say the least. The lone bright spot was the starting defensive unit, which limited Eli Manning to 7 – 14 passing for 62 yards and an overthrown pass that was intercepted by LaRon Landry. While the starting defense held its own, the starting offense was anemic.

The Giants defensive line destroyed the Jets starting offensive line. That’s putting it mildly. Right Tackle Wayne Hunter was the main culprit, allowing 2.5 sacks on Mark Sanchez. There was one nullified on an off sides call. Giants defensive ends Jason Pierre-Paul and Justin Tuck victimized Hunter on almost every passing down. Although the Giants boast one of the most dominant defensive lines in the NFL, one thing is clear; hunter has no business starting in the NFL. Sanchez had little time in the pocket and was forced to throw check downs all night, going 9 – 11 passing for 59 yards and a costly interception of the pick 6 variety. The interception was on a shallow crossing route to Sanchez’s favorite target of late, receiver Patrick Turner.

Bart Scott looks faster and more agressive so far this pre season, and was constantly involved in contact, ending with 5 tackles on the night.

LaRon Landry looked more athletic than critics have given him credit for. He was flying around during the first half and came away with the lone Manning interception, including a nice 21 yard return.

Tim Tebow completed a couple of nice passes, throwing 5 – 14 for 69 yards, and only rushing twice for 5 yards.  Against second teamers, rookie receiver Stephen Hill had a couple nice opportunities, hauling in 2 passes for 21 yards. Hill did leave a touchdown on the table due to an underthrown Tebow pass. Like Sanchez, Tebow was a victim in the sack department, getting sacked 4 times on the night. Sanchez was sacked 3 times. Tebow did provide kicker Josh Brown with an opportunity for a short field goal, which hit the right post and bounced in.

Overall, the “vanilla” offense has shown little signs of life, whereas the Rex Ryan led defense has been superb and appears ready to punish opposing offenses. Although it is still just the pre season, the offense better get things going quick or else the Tebow chants will only get louder.

Jeremy Kerley had a breakout rookie season last year for the Jets, stepping up and surprising after Derrick Mason’s dramatic exit left. Kerley demonstrated nice chemistry with Mark Sanchez and came up with several big plays in key moments, leaving expectations high for the receiver heading into his second year.

But Kerley has been struggling to learn Tony Sparano’s new offense, and Rex Ryan told the media today he is a little disappointed.

Jeremy needs to step it up because, quite honestly, I was a little disappointed in Jeremy in the offseason. He’s got to pick up the system, this new system. You got to put the time in. 

Of little help to Kerley is the fact that he will be now sidelined for the next or so with a hamstring injury. Unfortunately, he also missed the majority of OTAs for the same reason, which might explain, in part, why he is so behind.

The question is, is Kerley struggling to pick up the offense only because his nagging hamstring problems have kept him off the field? Ryan told the media that Kerley has previously demonstrated an excellent work ethic, and I would venture to guess the injury is the biggest factor here.

But hamstring injuries are very tricky, and the team needs to handle Kerley’s injury delicately. They also need to move ahead and make plans in the event Kerley is not healthy enough to play regularly and/or he is unable to pick up the offense. Rex assured the media that a plan is already in motion, presenting the idea of Santonio Holmes playing in the slot should Kerley not be ready to suit up.

Holmes and Hill. Photo c/o of @JetSerious, writer for The Jet Press.com.

Holmes was extremely effective in the slot in Pittsburgh, and regardless of how Kerley progresses, this is worth consideration. Keeping Holmes happy and getting the most out of him is also a high priority, and I think he could potentially do the most damage playing here.

Furthermore, Rex and the coaches seem highly impressed with both Schilens and Hill (then again, it’s rare they don’t offer glowing reviews), and provided they are ready to take on the roles on the outside, this  would maximize everyone’s abilities.

Either way, sounds like Sparano plans to roll out some very unique unique offensive packages that may or may not include CB Antonio Cromartie playing wide receiver (Wait, what?). Should be interesting.

Here are a few other highlight’s from today’s practice, which was open to the public.

• S LaRon Landry got his first day of practice in with the team. He worked with the second team: Eric Smith and Yeremiah Bell played with the ones.
• The Slauson/Ducasse LG competition is on. So there is that.
• OLB Aaron Maybin was impressive today, with two sacks.  Apparently Maybin also spent time playing on Special Teams
• CB Ellis Lankster also had a very impressive showing according to The Jets Blog’s Jake Steinberg and several other sources I spoke to in attendance.
• Per Jake Steinberg, “Joe McKnight was very impressive. John Griffin has great hands out of the backfield. And Bilal Powell looked amazing.”
• Sanchez went 6-for-8 with a sack, Tebow went 3-for-8, also with a sack.

The team will practice in pads on Sunday.

And what would this practice report be without a Tebow story or two? The big headline from today is that Tim Tebow was supposedly “heckled” by Jets fans. Apparently it was all of 5 people, which is hardly a fair representation of the 2,588 that attended.

Sounds like the “heckling” didn’t upset Tebow much; he felt comfortable enough to remove his shirt and run around in the rain. And I’ve got proof, thanks to this video.

According to a report from ESPN New York,  the Jets have opted not to re-sign veteran free agent safety Jim Leonhard. The report cites “league sources” and also adds that Leonhard could return if there is an injury at the safety position.

Leonhard is currently recovering from knee surgery and coming off of his second season with a major injury. His 2011 season ended early when he injured his patellar tendon in December; in 2010 he broke his leg in practice.

Many would argue the writing was on the wall for Leonhard after the Jets added two new starting strong safeties this off-season – LaRon Landry and Yeremiah Bell – to a roster that also includes everyone’s favorite punching bag, Eric Smith, and rookies Josh Bush and Antonio Allen.

Given the crowded roster, along with Leonhard’s  age and injury history, this decision is understandable. But the question is, can anyone one of these players replace what Leonhard brought to the defense cerebrally? That certainly remains to be seen. We also do not yet know the status of LaRon Landry. What if Landry is not ready to play Week 1?

Despite the report, I am not completely going to rule out the possibility of Leonhard returning. There is a history between Leonhard and Rex, and with Landry being a question mark, this may not be the end of the road. Of course, the like-able Leonhard could easily be signed by another team…

Cue Belichick signing Leonhard in 3,2,1…..

This is the first in a series of columns that I will write on the Jets defense.  

After last seasons 8-8 season, Rex Ryan promised the fans that he would be more involved in the defensive and offensive team meetings.  When I heard this news, I knew the Jets would finally be taking an aggressive approach in their defensive strategy.

Early impressions from the draft and OTA’s give an indication that Rex is taking a more hand-on approach with the defense so that they can regain their “attacking” mentality.  By picking Coples in the first round, the Jets will not only be able to line up a 3-4 defense, but will also be able to switch to a 4-3 base defense.

For those who don’t know, a 4-3 base defense is based on 4 defensive linemen and 3 linebackers. This gives the Jets more flexibility as they can switch into the 46 defense.  The 46 defense is very effective against the run as the team can bring the strong safety as the 8th man in the box, but it also creates more opportunities for pass rushers.

The Jets 46 defense will be a variation of the ’85 Bears defense -and will allow the Jet’s to stuff the run as well as give Aaron Maybin the chance to play more downs and be an effective edge rusher. There are some weaknesses however, especially when the opposing team uses short effective passes that neutralize the pass rush.

Nonetheless, this year will be the first time Rex has so much depth in the defensive roster, and I believe that this will allow them  to keep their best pass rushers on the field at the same time. Opponents better get ready because the NY Jets are going to go all out and create mayhem in 2012.

Shahmeer is the newest contributor to The Green Room. Please welcome him with a follow, @shehzada_ on Twitter.

I’ve you’ve been following Twitter at all today, then you already know that the first day of mandatory minicamp kicked off this morning. You’ll probably be happy to hear that I am not going to provide a play-by-play of what happened today. (But you can find that on Jetstwit.com, from the amazing Erik Manassy). Instead, I have extracted  a lot of important and newsworthy information and provided some commentary on it.

I can tell you that the general consensus on today is that the defense once again outplayed the offense.

Note: I have relied heavily on Jenny Vrentas and the two beat writers from Jets insider, Chris Nimbley and Wesley Skyes for the insight on practices this off-season. I find it to be the most informative and perhaps more importantly, the least obnoxious.

Rex Changes His Approach with Media. (Sort of).

Today we saw Rex Ryan attempt to take charge of situation with the media that has quickly gotten out of control. The team informed the media that Rex would be conducting his chats with the media prior to the start of camp, rather than after practice had concluded. According to the Post, the official reason is related to film study and meetings, but I suspect that it’s not the only reason.

Ryan is changing the plan to have more time to study film and attend meetings in the afternoon. Under this plan, he takes care of his media obligations in the morning, goes to practice and then has the rest of the afternoon to meet with coaches, players and watch film.

Of course, when he did speak with the media he engaged in his regular hyperbole, using words like “tremendous” to describe quarterback Mark Sanchez. I usually take his off-season trips to the podium with a grain of salt, and I believe you should do the same. He’s not going to say anyone looks bad, and you won’t see him pretend to be someone he is not. Get used to it.

Defense

• Darrelle Revis was in attendance for camp this morning. As Cimini tweeted, Revis will not comment on his status for training camp, but he did add he hopes that he and Mr. T can sit down “soon.”
• Safety LaRon Landry did not and will not participate in team drills in camp, but he was present at the facility, attended meetings and was working off to the side with trainers. Rex said he never expected Landry to participate in this camp anyway, for what it’s worth.
• Rex praised the work of rookie safety Josh Bush saying, “He has really looked good. He’s been impressive,”  but he wants to see how physical he can be in camp. (Per Manish Mehta). I’m very curious to see what kind of a role Bush can play this year and what effect it could potentially have on the re-singing of Jim Leonhard.
• Rex told the media that outside of Cromartie and Revis, Bart Scott and Muhammed Wilkerson have impressed him the most this offseason. Par for the course with Revis and Cromartie, as they have performed as expected.
• Between Rookie minicamp, OTAs and the first day of mandatory minicamp, it sounds as though Quinton Coples is making an impression. From someone who was somewhat critical of the Coples selection on draft day, I am thrilled to hear how he is playing. I am also looking forward to seeing what this defensive line will look like this year, particularly given the presence of Karl Dunbar and the new schemes the unti has been running in practice.
• The defensive unit got the better of the offensive line and quarterbacks today, racking up 5 total sacks. I don’t mean to minimize or overemphasize sack totals from minicamp, but I do think this is a sign that this defense can get a little more pressure on the QB than we’d seen in the past. It also means the offensive line has some work to do.

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