CORTLAND – Newly-signed Braylon Edwards – back for his third stint with the Jets – opened camp at SUNY-Cortland today by vowing Gang Green are “definitely” a playoff team. But he said it’s not their ability that’s improved but their attitude, better chemistry top-to-bottom that will get them into the postseason.
“I definitely feel this team has some pieces and could definitely be much better than people see them to be. Listening to how everybody is playing their roles – which is a key word for this organization: roles – we have a shot to be much better than we were the last year,’’ said Edwards, adamant the Jets are a playoff team. “Definitely. (But) a lot goes into that.
“A lot of times people fall out of their role and try to get involved in other things that don’t concern them. That’s not just the players. That’s when organizations fall apart. Administration plays a big role in that. People need to stay in their lane. You can’t crash if everybody’s going straight and staying in their lane. But if you’re weaving in different lanes, now you have pile-ups. If we got everybody going straight then the sky is the limit.’’
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It’s easy to see how that could happen on the Jets, a team that has spawned drama over the past few years. And after playing here during successful 2009 and 2010 campaigns, but also came back for the tail end of last year’s dysfunction, Edwards has seen it all. But what he doesn’t see is that kind of discord in 2013.
“Players get to focusing about other things, focusing about what this guy has going on, what this guy is doing, or isn’t doing, they get to worrying about how this guy is coaching, who’s getting favoritism,’’ Edwards said. “Worry about yourself. Are you doing everything you can do to help this organization, doing everything you need to be doing and can anybody tell you you’re not doing something right?
“So far I don’t sense that. Everybody’s spirit seems lifted, obviously when I came here it could easily have been a situation where everybody was down in the dumps. But just listening to people, there has been a consistent theme in talking to people. People are happy. That’s what I mean when I say we can be a playoff team.’’
Edwards didn’t expect to sign his one-year deal so quickly, anticipating the Jets would wait until further along in camp before having need for him. But the fact is Gang Green needs this 30-year-old receiver with just 33 catches the past two seasons as much as he needs them. He was their most productive wideout over 2012s final three tilts, and he has always had a great rapport with Mark Sanchez.
“It was great. I saw his little video to the fans on Instagram, which was pretty funny. It’s great to have Braylon,’’ said Sanchez. “He’s always smiling, always having a good time, a great personality for any team. Selfishly, I’m glad he’s back.’’
It’s no coincidence that Sanchez had his best season in 2010 throwing to Edwards, while the 6-foot-3 receiver averaged a career-best 17.1 yards-per-catch that season. The Jets’ much-maligned receiver corps would get a huge boost if Edwards and Sanchez could recapture even a modicum of that former chemistry.
“Mark is definitely a friend of mine off the field as well as away from the Jets. I wish him well and hope he can be the guy,’’ said Edwards. “But at the same time I’m a Jet first so I hope the guy that wins this job is going to help us to the next level, get us to the playoffs back where we belong and hopefully even further.’’
The fact that GM John Idzik called to bring Edwards back even quicker than the veteran receiver himself had expected could well signal the Jets’ concern over receiver Santonio Holmes’s surgically-repaired foot. But when asked when Holmes might be back, Edwards stayed in his lane.
“Haven’t asked, haven’t had time and don’t care,’’ said Edwards. “Santonio will be back out here when he can get back out here. My job is to go out there and do what they need me to do, practice to start. That’s why I came here.’’
He should have a more than fair chance to play, between Holmes’ status being very much in question, Stephen Hill having had knee surgery in December, and Rex Ryan being a huge fan of Edwards, to the point of limiting his reps in practice to keep him healthy enough for games.
“Obviously you guys know how I feel about Braylon, his competitiveness, the toughness that he brings to your team,’’ Ryan said. “We’ll make sure we’re doing right by him as well. LaRon Landry, we had a pitch-count on him at practice to make sure he’s there on Sundays; I think we’ll have to look at (Edwards), some other veteran players. I’ll lean on my medical staff.
“But Braylon’s in phenomenal shape. I think he weighed in at 214 or 215 pounds. That’s quite a ways down from where we last saw Braylon. Just that toughness, you talk about a guy that represents the Jets way of doing things, certainly represents me on the field, the way I want my guys to play, playing like a Jet, that’s Braylon Edwards. I’m proud that he’s back on this football team.’’
A surprisingly-lithe Edwards arrived at Cortland 14 lbs. lighter than last year, and his lightest since 2010 – coincidently, his last productive season with 53 catches for 904 yards and seven TDs.
“I’m not dealing with an injury: If I had an injury I don’t think I’d be here right now. I think that’s just a decision Rex wants to make. Maybe it’s because I’m getting older. I’m the big 3-0 now. But I’m 100 percent healthy for the first time in awhile,’’ Edwards said. “I’m not going to go against what Rex said. What Rex wants, Rex gets.
“(But) this is definitely the best shape I’ve been in. When I came in last year I was 228. It was all muscle, but Mike Tannenbaum, who is no longer with us, he didn’t like the 228. He made a couple comments about it, so I chose this offseason to focus on running a lot more, not lifting. I’d been doing a lot of lifting, worrying about blocking as opposed to catching passes and running by guys. So I did a lot more cardio this offseason.’’