Mandatory: Interview Quotes

Edition #156

Good morning!

Welcome to the next portion of the off-season program, the mandatory minicamp. It’s just a short two-day camp but as the title would suggest, unlike most off-season activities, it’s not optional.

PFF has continued their run down of positional groups by ranking the NFL’s defensive lines. No surprise to see the Rams come out on top, with the Jets ranking #16 under the “solid” category. There is a lot of unknown with this group, but with Lawson returning, Johnson being added, and Quinnen Williams anchoring…it has huge potential.

They also had a run-down of interesting camp battles with the Jets’ 2nd cornerback position being the battle to watch. Interestingly they have Sauce penciled in for CB1 with Reed, Hall, and Echols battling it out for the CB2 position. I think it’s almost certain that the starting outside corners will be Reed and Sauce come opening day against Baltimore, but as Saleh said, Sauce needs to earn that spot.

ESPN surveyed “a handful of NFL execs, scouts and coaches on which of the Year 2 quarterbacks are poised for a big year”. They put those rankings into a composite score and listed the QB’s from 1 to 6. Zach Wilson came in at #3, behind Trevor Lawrence (#1) and Mac Jones (#2). "He dug himself out of a big hole mentally and physically," an NFC offensive coach said. "That was impressive. And he has special arm talent."

Yesterday we had both coordinators meet the media, along with a number of players. For today’s newsletter, we’re going to quickly cover what they said, anything we can learn from it, and any good quotes. Today we’ll focus on the coordinators, and then tomorrow we’ll focus on the player interviews.

Mike LaFleur - Offensive Coordinator

‘Just improvement…his daily focus, what he’s trying to get done. Not having a laundry list of things he wants to get done every day, just focusing on one thing, two things…and staying dialed into that. Rob Calabrese has done awesome in setting the standard and goals we want to accomplish each and every day…and Zach has bought into that’

This plugs into what we’ve been hearing recently around fewer people in Zach’s ear, only having one guy who’s plugged into the offense like Calabrese will avoid mixed messaging and will enable Zach to stay focused. LaFleur did go on to say that this year is obviously very different in that Zach now knows the offense, knows the terminology, and knows the NFL, so he can focus on certain areas.

‘He’s a talented football player and that’s what excited me about him. You saw he’s a special talent, a fluid mover, he sneaks up on defenders, it’s a different movement style. He’s done a great job since he’s been here, he’s been on top of it…He’s 220lbs and he covers a lot of yardage when it doesn’t look like he’s covering a lot. He’s got a big catch radius, his hands are really good. Everything we saw from the film held true’ on Breece Hall

I’m really excited about Hall and I said yesterday on the Jake Asman show (check it out here) that I wouldn’t be surprised if Hall makes the biggest impact, and I also wouldn’t be surprised if he ends up as offensive rookie of the year. I love his fluidity for a man his size and in the college game he did look fast…so it’s good to know that’s still holding true as we work through the off-season. Hall splitting time with Michael Carter is one of the best 1-2 punches we’ve had in a long time, a very long time.

‘He’s a versatile good football player, he understands the game. You don’t really know how much someone totally loves it from the draft process…since he’s been here he’s been full throttle, learn the system, learn the ins and outs of the league. He can play outside, play inside, lower half to separate, got the hands. He’ll have to continue to learn how much more physical this level is’ on Garrett Wilson

I think that last bit is a key point around some of the narrative that surrounded the Jets’ search for a wide receiver this off-season. A lot of people wanted a big body, someone who can handle the physical aspect of the NFL, at 6’0 and 183lbs, Wilson probably wasn’t what most were expecting. But, he does play with physicality and I’ll take easy separators over big bodies every day of the week. The Jets also happen to have a lot of big bodies in Uzomah, Conklin, Ruckert, Davis, and Mims, Wilson’s ability to separate will help that Wilson to Wilson connection.

‘Everyone wants to contribute, everyone wants to have the ball in their hand. It’ll work itself out organically, some games and some days in training camp, guys are going to have better days than others. It’s a very good problem (to have that much talent) but it’ll work itself out’ On offensive weapons

What a great problem to have. We have a ton of young assets on this football team and trying to get them all the ball will be a key factor in LaFleur’s success this year. The Jets don’t have any egos in that locker room, at least none we know about, so riding the hot hand will absolutely play a part, but having the competition for touches will only improve the overall performance of everyone. It’s going to be interesting to see how the Jets handle their wide receivers in general, will there be a full-time slot? Or will we rotate guys in and out of that position to keep defenses off-balance?

‘He looks good, it was good to see him yesterday. Saw him briefly..was able to ask him about his child and how the baby was sleeping. That stuff always plays itself out, George has earned the right to go to left and compete there, and I’m not worried about that. The best two will be slotted where they may be. The faster you can stamp what you feel will be your best going into week one vs Baltimore, the better’ On Becton and LT competition.

We can break this down into several parts. First, the fact that Becton is there and looks good is a positive, I know there were a few images doing the rounds, but Mekhi is a big man, he’s built differently, and he’s not going to look like most tackles. Last year the coaches didn’t hesitate to question his conditioning, so I’m gonna leave that one there. Secondly LaFleur is spot on here, you don’t want this competition running into the final week of pre-season, you get them in and you get the pads on and you make that decision early so everyone can bed into their positions before the start of the season.

‘He’s in the best shape that I’ve ever seen him. He went to work this off-season and he got his body right. We know the situation he had last year at OTA’s with the food poisoning. I love the energy he’s approached with every single day in the meeting rooms. He’s much more confident in the offense to the point where he’s going to speak up and give his answers. He’s putting himself in the best situation for himself to be as successful as he can’ on Denzel Mims

I mean if there is a Jets fan out there that doesn’t love hearing that, I’m not sure what to say. Yes, there is an element of believing it when I see it, but the fact is this is the first off-season where Mims has been fully healthy. He looks great physically but hearing that he’s speaking up in meetings and showing more confidence in the offense gives me a great deal of confidence that Mims is about to turn the corner. This isn’t lip service now, this is a coaching staff recognizing and appreciating someone going to work and I’m excited to see Mims in year three.

Jeff Ulbrich - Defensive Coordinator

‘I’m just getting to know him as a person. You see a big, long athlete who can move. He’s got explosion, he’s got speed, he’s got bend, he’s got all the stuff from a physical standpoint that rushers need to have. Now it’s about learning the intricacies of the position, learning the grit that’s necessary’ - on Jermaine Johnson

I just wanted to include this one as it’s a great quote on what we’ve got with Jermaine Johnson. His physical profile is elite, which is why I had him so high on my big board going back to the draft cycle, every new player in the NFL needs to learn the intricacies but if you know Johnson’s journey you’ll know that he’s not afraid of hard work.

‘We do, whether it’s Jordan Whitehead, LaMarcus Joyner from the safety standpoint stand out because they are so vocal and their guys who like to bring people along with them and have some natural leadership to them. CJ is that guy every day, Quincy is a guy who’s emerged as a guy in that way, whereas last year I wouldn’t have told you that. From a D-line perspective, it feels as though every day a guy takes that place and that role. We got a lot of really good human beings. I’ve never been around a locker room with the character of this group. It’s hard to be an asshole on this team’

When is the last time we can honestly say the Jets were built in the way described above? With leaders at every single level and characters who hold each other to the highest standard. We don’t have a locker room of mercenaries like we have previously with guys like Johnson, we’ve got a lot of good people who love football and want to build something special. Of all the quotes we’ve heard this off-season, that one may be my absolute favorite.

‘He doesn’t repeat errors, he’s a guy that’s so hungry to learn. If he gets beat, most of the time he figures it out on his own because he has such a good football brain…but if he doesn’t he’ll go to TO (Tony Oden - Senior defensive assistant/cornerbacks), Marquand (Defensive backs/Safeties coach) or Myself, and figure it out and it doesn’t show up again’

I mean I love to hear that. A lot of people expect too much of rookies, every single rookie this year will make a mistake. The difference between the rookies who become stars and the rookies who fizzle out of the league is learning from those mistakes. If Sauce only makes mistakes once, then by mid-season we’re in for some fireworks. I love to hear that.

‘He checks all the physical boxes, now for him, it’s learning the position. He’s a longtime corner, corners aren’t typically the greatest communicators. They haven’t had to learn the whole game, they’ve learned their side of the field, their techniques. He’s a guy that’s getting better and getting more comfortable at the position but there’s still a way to go.’ On Pinnock

Ulbrich elaborated on this answer in terms of moving Pinnock by saying they’re looking for that Jimmy Ward type player who can play man coverage on wide receivers and corners tend to know how to do that. He did continue to stress that Pinnock has a long way to go, but that they were excited about who he could become on this kind of defense.

‘I got very high expectations. He’s a guy at this time last year he was injured, he broke his foot. He was in a little bit of catchup mode last year. He’s finding new levels of strain, he’s going to places he hasn’t gone to in the past. The sky is the absolute limit for this man, I can’t wait to see what he does this year’

Just wanted to add this one here because I’m on record saying I think 2022 is the year of Quinnen.

‘We are so fortunate to have gotten him. He’s an amazing human being, every day he does something that lights me up again. He’s assumed that role here (leader) with the fellas and they gravitate towards him. It’s rare that you get a guy like that in free agency. Because usually if you tick all the boxes physically, and tick all the boxes from a character standpoint teams don’t let you go’ on Whitehead

Jordan Whitehead may be one of my favorite signings of the off-season and that’s before we heard how he’d assumed a leadership role. Ulbrich continued that for whatever reason Whitehead has been labelled as a box safety, probably because he’s so good against the run and he hits like a truck. He also confirmed that Whitehead is a problem solver and a communicator and his ability to defend the pass is so underrated.

Ulbrich spoke about Sherwood a lot, and how excited he is to get him back. He confirmed he’s still rehabbing from his injury but because he’s a tireless worker he’ll be ready whenever he’s good to go. He commented that Marcell Harris brings some toughness, Del’Shawn is a guy you love because you always get quality reps when he’s running it.