Haason Reddick

Edition #645

Good morning! ☕

Is it time for us to worry about Haason Reddick? I think it’s too early, but that’s our subject for the day.

Plus we have Keith Carter changing his way, Saleh praising his RB room and Olu Fashanu getting a chance to both learn and play under Tyron Smith, exactly as the Jets drew it up.

🟢 Jets offensive line coach Keith Carter has committed to changing the way he delivers his message according to reporters who met with Carter at the Jets OTA’s earlier this week. Carter has been under fire since arriving in New York from Tennessee. Taylor Lewan criticised him and then Breece Hall left laughing emojis on a post from Lewan about not liking Carter which he quickly deleted. Mekhi Becton also retweeted that post. Carter has a different dynamic to work with this year with seasoned veterans like Smith, Simpson and Moses on the line. You also get the feeling that if Carter gets fired then he may struggle to get another job, getting fired from multiple jobs in a row where players publicly berate you isn’t a good look for any coach.

⚪ Unsurprisingly, the Jets didn’t have a single safety in the top-32 list ahead of the 2024 season. It’s a big year for Tony Adams, Chuck Clark and Ashtyn Davis for different reasons. Adams is trying to cement himself as a viable starter in this league, Clark is trying to return after missing 2023 through injury and Ashtyn has proven to be a good special teamer and role player, but he want’s to be a starter. Antoine Winfield Jr. was voted the best safety in football heading into next season, and Baltimore’s Kyle Hamilton came in at number two.

🟢Robert Saleh is intent on getting the ball into the hands of Breece Hall this year, and hopefully he reminds Nathaniel Hackett that Breece is more than capable of catching the football - "If you get a guy like him the ball in space, he makes it happen," Saleh said. "I think the quarterback's best friend is a guy who can take a 5-yard checkdown and turn it into 20, which I think he made a routine of last year. We can use him a bunch of different ways, but at the end of the day, it's just trying to find ways to get him the ball."

⚪ Saleh has also been impressed by the two new additions to the RB room: "What's been cool about Braelon, he's very smooth for as big as he is," Saleh said. "Both he and Isaiah, we knew they were good enough to catch those checkdowns and do something with them. He's a very smooth route runner, has very easy hands — both of them do, really. Both of them have been pleasant surprises out of the backfield."

🟢 Tyron Smith was at OTA’s on Tuesday but he wasn’t practicing as the Jets continue to manage his workload in the run up to the season. This means that Olu Fashanu got plenty of reps with the first team and plenty of opportunities to protect Aaron Rodgers blindside and Saleh pointed to the value of having someone as accomplished and experienced as Smith as a mentor: "I know Olu is soaking up all the information he can get from him, which is awesome," HC Robert Saleh said. "I think all the tackles and O-linemen are gravitating toward him (Smith)."

⚪ Christian Hackenberg was on the Ross Tucker Podcast recently and he had this to say about the Jets: “There’s so many circumstances that go into it and and when I came out I still knew that I needed a lot that I needed to get better at but at the same token I had all these expectations and this narrative out there of this kid being really really good and like it was just this kind of battle internally and then externally with like messaging and and how things were being portrayed that I had to deal with and New York was probably the last place I should have gone to in terms of the market the expectations the way it was, and you know my rookie year we ended up keeping four quarterbacks so there was just not a lot of opportunity for me to develop and grow and no plan, kind of a up and down organization and it was just one of those things where I think just the timing and where it where it ended up just wasn't in the cards for me that position and then you know when I look at it introspectively I was young I needed a lot of help and I needed a lot of Direction and guidance and I never I never sought that out so that's where my shortcoming was is I didn't do all those things until it was ultimately too late”

✈️ One storyline that seems to be picking up momentum this week is the absence of Haason Reddick.

The Jets traded for the premier pass-rusher to help plug the gap left by the departing Bryce Huff. Unfortunately since trading for him, there has been radio silence.

Earlier this week we learned that not only had Reddick failed to attend any OTA’s, which is a touch strange when you’ve just been traded and you need to not only learn a new system but adapt to new surroundings and form relationships with coaches and teammates. But that he’s also not been in communication with Robert Saleh, his new head coach.

Saleh did say: "I'm focused on the guys who are here and Haason's a pro, He's been in this league a while. He's produced it at a very high level for a long time. He's got his routine and if it makes people feel better, we know where he's at, we know what he's doing and we know he's working his tail off to get where he needs to get you to have a productive '24 season." But I’m sue he’s prefer his new star to be in the building.