Simple Mistakes
Edition #654
Good morning!
We’re another week closer people. Another week closer to watching training camp unfold desperately hoping we avoid any major injuries. I can’t wait to see the players back on the field and with so much UDFA talent, those pre-season games can’t come soon enough.
Not a lot is happening in the world of the NFL. Mike Florio released some BS attention seeking ranking that had the Jets 25th. Even the biggest hater of those New York Football Jets would not put them that low, but there you go.
Unfortunately, this is the world we live in. Those rankings were produced purely for outrage and it worked a treat. The Twitter post alone has over 1.4 million views in the last 24 hours. It shows you don’t have to be intelligent, reasonable or insightful to have a huge platform behind you, you just need to know how to create outrage, because the human species loves nothing more than being outraged, and letting you know about it.
Anyway, just a couple of quick hitters today as we patiently wait for some real news.
Jets Release Tae Hayes
When you’re at the bottom of an NFL roster you’re walking a tightrope every single day. At any moment you can receive that call to tell you to pack your bags, that your ID card has been deactivated and that you’re officially jobless. So you do everything you can to not give them a reason to make that call.
Unfortunately, Tae Hayes did not get that memo.
Hayes was arrested on Sunday morning in Alabama on a second-degree misdemeanour of cannabis possession. Less than 24 hours later the Jets announced they’d cut him.
Whether it should or shouldn’t be a criminal offence is up for debate, but that misses the point. In Alabama it is, and by taking that chance Hayes won’t be in Jets camp next month.
If we’re being completely honest, the chances of him making the team were pretty slim. Based on the play and hype behind Qwan’tez Stiggers, I had Hayes as CB7 on this roster. Sauce, DJ, MC2, Echols, Stiggers and Oliver were all ahead of him. So for the Jets it’s no great loss, but for Hayes…well I hope he enjoyed it.
MetLife Turf Under Pressure
If you’re a football (soccer) fan then this summer is an absolute treat. Over here it’s all about the Euro’s in Germany, but I’ve been keeping up with the Copa America in the USA as well.
As a Norwich fan we have a few players representing their country, Marcelino Nunez for Chile, Jose Cordoba for Panama and of course Josh Sargent for the USA.
I was taking a look at the preview for the Argentina game as they’ll be facing off against Chile tonight and before I saw the stadium I saw a number of complaints stemming from the Argentina camp on the quality of the surface.
Instead of replacing the turf with grass, the decision has been made to just lay the grass on top of the turf. According to reports the Argentina team are very unhappy with that decision and have stated the pitch is in a “terrible” condition.
There was hope that after the World Cup in 2026, the Jets/Giants would just leave the grass down to try and help prevent the injuries, but that has previously been thrown into doubt with the management worried that grass won’t stand up to the multi-purpose venue requirements.
We hate the turf, NFL players hate the turf…you can now add football players hate the turf as well.
Braelon Allen has been highlighted as the surprise standout player from Jets OTA’s by ESPN. I’m a little surprised that wasn’t Stiggers, but Allen was apparently extremely impressive. “Allen, a 2024 fourth-round pick, wasn't known for his receiving in college -- only 49 catches in three seasons at Wisconsin -- but he demonstrated plenty of ability in OTAs and minicamp. He showed excellent ball skills and terrific body control. He's 235 pounds, yet he was able to split out and play like a smaller back. "If you go back and watch his tape at Wisconsin, he caught the ball well," Jets running backs coach Tony Dews said. Allen has a chance to be Breece Hall's primary backup.”
I don’t want to trigger any PTSD here but I had to share this tweet from Le’Veon Bell over the weekend, talking about some of Gases' play calls.
Former Patriot Julian Edelman has been talking about Aaron Rodgers missing minicamp, because this story just seems to not want to go away. "I think it's a bad look for your leader, for whatever reason, to go and miss [a mandatory minicamp]. I was with Tom Brady in his 25th year or 23rd year, and he started missing OTAs here and there, but he never missed a mandatory minicamp. I just thought it was a bad look. "I'm a big Aaron Rodgers fan, but if I was in that locker room, and Aaron Rodgers wasn't there for three days on the mandatory minicamp, having played four snaps off of an injury when we have two new receivers, a bunch of new linemen that we added to the team, with a CBA that doesn't allow us to practice a lot, I guarantee there's four or five guys - six, seven, eight, nine guys in that locker room - sitting there like, 'Where's he at?'".
This is a long shot. But I'm also doing a weekly Norwich City FC themed substack. If you're interesting in learning about my home team or looking for a football team this side of the pond. Give it a look :-)
https://canarycorner.substack.com/
Between rosters and taxi squad members, there are approximately 2,240 spots combined for all 32 NFL teams. A fringe player like Hayes needs many things to happen in his favor to make a team. Being out 4 am in the morning, getting caught with an illegal substance doesn’t exactly help your chances in making an NFL roster. Some players just don’t get it and sadly some never do. Not the dumbest infraction but certainly not a gold star for his resume.
The dumbest of all time, training camp during the height of COVID ( a time when play callers on the sideline were wearing mask and still covered their mouths when calling in plays), a rookie, supposedly #90 on the depth chart, for I think the Bengals, tried to sneak his girlfriend into the dorms wearing Bengals gear, they got caught in the lobby going in, he got cut on the spot. NOW THATS DUMB
As far as Florio goes, usually a chalk guy not known for wild statements. Remember one thing, at one time, not sure if it is still happening, he was partnered up with Chris Simms. Another guy, who got a job because of his father’s accomplishments.
When Chris Simms little brother Matt was on the Jets as the third string quarterback, Chris ripped the Jets for not playing Matt. In Chris’s professional estimation, his brother Matt was the best quarterback on the Jets. Geno Smith and Michael Vick were on the team then. By the way, Chris is another victim of 4 am stupidity. Maybe Florio likes sticking up for his friend.
As far as the turf, in the Meadowlands, that has always been ripped by players. The fact that two NFL teams own that ugly monstrosity with a combined franchise worth of something like 9-10 brazillion dollars.
It is a disgrace that they don’t try to rectify the situation. They have no problem putting billion of Springsteen and Taylor Swift fans on that turf for summer concerts.
They let their greed contribute to amnesia about what business they are in, it’s football not concerts.
Race horse owners treat their horses better than the Maras and Johnsons treat their players in this situation.
Remember when Rodgers went down, first culprit named was the turf. Whether it was the cause or not is not the point. Fingers pointed to the turf immediately.
You can’t just make a bad situation disappear, you need to fix it.