There are a whole lot of good issues occurring with the Jets, even nonetheless six months away from them taking part in a sport that counts. However they made a wise transfer in hiring Aaron Glenn, a Invoice Parcells man, to be their coach, and what may transform a fantastic transfer in signing Justin Fields to be their quarterback, one thing that signifies that they could be out of the savior enterprise with their quarterbacks as soon as and for all.
The easiest factor concerning the Jets proper now, although, in the event you’re a Jets fan, is that this:
The Jets aren’t the Giants.
Can I inform you for positive that Glenn, an outdated Jet, is lastly going to show issues round for the primary time since Rex Ryan was coach? I can’t. However I imagine that he’ll, simply off the work we noticed from him final season with the Lions protection, when it seemed as if he was pulling guys out of the parking zone due to all of the accidents the Lions had suffered, and nonetheless profitable.
Can I additional inform you that Darren Mougey, a younger man who’s something however an outdated Jet, might be the perfect normal supervisor the staff has had since Mike Tannenbaum (one other Parcells man) was in cost they usually have been going to 2 straight AFC championship video games? Can’t try this with Mougey, about whom everyone knows little. However I belief Tannenbaum and Tannenbaum favored him and Mougey is in Mike’s outdated chair.
All we will actually go by to this point is the 2 huge strikes the agency of Mougey and Glenn has made since they’ve been of their new jobs: They confirmed Aaron Rodgers the door and now they’ve signed a 26-year-old quarterback with a ton of upside, one who may have coaches constructing an offense round what he can do — and never obsessing about what he can’t do — for the primary time in his two-team NFL profession.
These are the Jets, in fact, and Woody Johnson remains to be the proprietor so nobody is spiking the ball earlier than the brand new guys even get to their first NFL draft. However for now, and it’s just for now, the Jets are displaying a reasonably stunning and nearly dizzying lack of dysfunction.
And this all goes on at a time when the Giants, who had unhealthy quarterback play that goes in with any unhealthy quarterback play they’ve had in 100 years, will not be simply speaking to the 41-year-old Rodgers, whom the Jets not wished, but additionally 40-year-old Joe Flacco, and Russell Wilson, who will flip 37 subsequent season. Rodgers is three years youthful than Eli Manning in the event you’re protecting rating. Flacco is 4 years youthful than Eli.
And guess what? They’d all give the Giants a greater likelihood to win video games subsequent season than they did final season with Daniel Jones and Drew Lock and Tommy DeVito and Tim Boyle. There might have been others, however sooner or later I believe I blacked out watching them. Perhaps the Giants are nonetheless going to maneuver as much as take Cam Ward, or perhaps they may take a shot on Deion Sanders’s child, Shedeur. Or perhaps the Giants don’t love both of them, and within the yr once they do have the No. 3 decide within the draft due to the final lousiness of final season, it can transform the mistaken yr.
The Jets had the No. 3 decide within the draft as soon as and used it on Sam Darnold after the Giants drafted Saquon Barkley (no matter occurred to him?) proper forward of Darnold. Now Darnold, after resurrecting his profession in Minnesota, successfully will get handled like a No. 1 total decide by the Seahawks. After Darnold, the Jets — deep within the throes of Jets-like dysfunction — took Zach Wilson with the No. 2 decide.
That labored out so properly that they subsequent went after Rodgers the best way Tannenbaum as soon as went after Brett Favre, displaying you again then that even the most effective normal managers the Jets ever had may again the mistaken horse.
Now Rodgers is in play for the Giants and Wilson is in play and Flacco is in play, in what seems like some type of AARP draft earlier than we get wherever close to the true one in April. We’re speaking about three Tremendous Bowls with these guys, 1,000,000 landing passes and passing yards, all of the MVP awards that Rodgers gained — and likewise a mixed age of 117.
The Jets, who actually weren’t searching for a savior this time, both out of Inexperienced Bay or out of the upcoming draft? They get Fields, who can throw and run, on a fairly cheap two-year deal. Nobody is suggesting that they’ve discovered their very personal Jalen Hurts. However Fields is younger, he has expertise and if the Jets encompass him with sufficient taking part in expertise and — simply as importantly — teaching assist, he has an opportunity to be as dynamic a two-way quarterback as they’ve ever had. And that ain’t nothing.
The Bears completely gave up on Fields. So did Mike Tomlin final season when he took the ball away from Fields in Pittsburgh and handed it to Wilson, who seemed as if he nonetheless knew what to do with it till the Steelers blew out all 4 tires on the finish and misplaced their final 5 video games and Wilson began to make you keep in mind why Sean Payton couldn’t wait to take the ball away from him in Denver.
So typically in sports activities, all sports activities, coaches completely do change into mounted on what gamers can’t do versus what they will. I believe that has occurred to Fields in each his stops. He was taking part in on a tomato can offense with the Bears. And it was clear final season he was only a placeholder, not less than in Tomlin’s thoughts, with the Steelers. Perhaps you’re positive that the Steelers wouldn’t have completed higher than they did with Fields behind heart. However I’m not.
If he develops right here beneath the teaching of the brand new offensive employees, the Jets can win extra video games than they’ve since Todd Bowles was the coach and Ryan Fitzpatrick (when do the Giants give The Beard a name?) was the quarterback. Even in a 5-12 season, the Jets have been in so lots of the video games they misplaced, all the best way into the fourth quarter. There was clearly a whole lot of expertise on the sphere, although we might have overrated it within the perception, or not less than the hope, that Rodgers can be a savior, even in a season when he turned 41 and generally trying as if he was carrying furnishings on his again when making an attempt to flee the push.
Perhaps this may all go mistaken, as a result of issues do with the Jets. However they do have a graduate of the varsity of Parcells teaching. That they had a Parcells man concerned with the method of hiring him, and the brand new normal supervisor. Perhaps not the Identical Previous Jets, in spite of everything. Positively not the Giants, not less than not proper now.
A REAL KNICK CONVERSATION STARTER (OR NOT), GIVE YOUNG YANKS A SHOT & REMEMBERING JOHN FEINSTEIN …
I’m sorry, however did Mikal Bridges and Tom Thibodeau have that dialog about taking part in starters much less and bench gamers extra, or not?
Thibodeau and Bridges reportedly talked this all out earlier than Bridges made that shot to beat the Blazers.
Thibodeau, although, mentioned the dialog by no means occurred.
And by no means walked that again.
And if it by no means occurred, he’s saying that Bridges made it up.
However why would Bridges try this?
It’s a undeniable fact that the Knicks got here into the weekend with the fourth-best report within the sport, the identical as it’s a undeniable fact that they haven’t gotten a sport off the groups with the higher data.
So the story right here isn’t the transient dispute between Thibs and Bridges, as shocking because it was that Thibs was so plain-spoken along with his denial.
No, the story with these Knicks doesn’t change:
The Knicks didn’t make the Cities commerce and didn’t commerce 5 No. 1 draft picks to get Bridges and nonetheless not make it out of the second spherical.
They need to determine it out.
However so, too, does the coach, regardless of all of the methods he has helped make the Knicks matter once more.
He can’t have his staff get rolled by both the Cavs or Celtics within the second spherical, in the event that they make it that far.
As a result of in the event that they do, he may change into a special type of story.
I at all times love the concept that all the opposite groups in baseball are simply dying to assist the Yankees now that Gerrit Cole is misplaced for the season.
For the final time:
If among the younger guys on the Yankees aren’t going to get a full shot this season, when do they?
What number of instances can the Rangers’ season be on the brink, that’s what I’d wish to know.
Some greater program than New Mexico goes to need Richard Pitino to come back coach their basketball staff subsequent season.
Lastly immediately:
Our enterprise misplaced a fantastic author and reporter and I misplaced an outdated buddy on Thursday when it was introduced that John Feinstein had died immediately on the age of 69.
John wrote 50 books throughout his profession, probably the most well-known of which remains to be “Season on the Brink,” his huge finest vendor about Bob Knight.
He spent so many Sundays with us on “The Sports Reporters,” and he did golf commentary for The Golf Channel, and beloved faculty basketball and Duke basketball most of all.
His remaining column, about his outdated buddy Tom Izzo, the Michigan State coach, appeared within the paper the morning he died.
For all of the books he bought and all the perfect sellers he had, it was becoming that he was within the Washington Submit one final time.
Who he was:
