CORTLAND — The defensive coach in Rex Ryan had to be thrilled with how his unit dominated the Jets’ offense during Wednesday’s practice at SUNY-Cortland. Creating a half dozen turnovers and causing chaos is what Ryan wants.
But the head coach in Ryan had to be troubled by how his offense caved under pressure and didn’t have the confidence or resilience to fight back.
“As a head coach, it’s always good news, bad news,” Ryan said. “The good news is we got all those turnovers and that’s what we’ve been talking about. We’ve been harping on creating turnovers and we did today. The bad news is we have to protect the ball. It needs to get better.”
This was just one practice early in training camp, and maybe that’s all it was. But the ineptness of the offense on Wednesday, no matter who was at quarterback, was as glaring as the aggressiveness on defense, which turned the practice into what Ryan called “a feeding frenzy.”
Good news, bad news.
It’s not uncommon for the defense to be ahead of the offense this time of the preseason. Three interceptions thrown by Tajh Boyd and repeated drops by tight end Jace Amaro could be excused as a tough day for two rookies. Interceptions by Geno Smith and Michael Vick can be credited to an opportunistic defense, while a lost fumble by running back Daryl Richardson could be just one man’s mistake.
But a long-term concern could be the offense is coming along slower than expected.
Let’s stick with the good news for now. The Jets defense was clearly in an ornery mood after being scolded following a dismal practice Tuesday. They didn’t hold back physically or verbally on the struggling offense Wednesday. When linebacker Demario Davis intercepted a Smith pass and returned it for a touchdown, the defense erupted like it had just won the Super Bowl.
When Amaro, the rookie tight end, dropped an easy pass, a defensive player got in the face of the second-round pick and taunted him saying, “Can’t catch a cold.”
Good news, bad news.
“Our part is to go out there and create turnovers,” Davis said. “Today was a step in the right direction, but we still have a long way to go to be where we really want to be.”
The defense clearly has a goal to be the best. A few players might talk about it. Most of them know they have to work at it.
“To be great, the work precedes the results,” Davis said. “Our goals are way out there and the only way to get there is with discipline and consistency.”
The offense, meanwhile, had its confidence shaken. Smith’s interception on the first play of a two-minute drill isn’t a good sign. A pass into the right flat was easily jumped by Davis. Vick’s interception came off a batted ball that was forced into traffic, while Boyd looked overwhelmed. Meanwhile, the pass protection is getting shredded by the blitzing defense and receivers have had trouble being on the same page as the quarterback.
“The guys over there wearing the green jerseys don’t make it easy for you,” Ryan said, referring to his defense.
The competition between the offense and defense is getting chippy as the Jets head for the Green and White scrimmage on Saturday night. Defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson and center Nick Mangold tussled briefly Tuesday, while linebacker Troy Davis and nose tackle T.J. Barnes were involved in separate skirmishes Wednesday. The defense isn’t ready to have pity on the offense.
“Guys are letting guys know that we’re not pushovers,” Richardson said. “It doesn’t matter how many Pro Bowls you’ve went to, you’ve still got to put in work, too. That’s just us holding each other accountable.”
The offense has no choice but to eventually stand up for itself or get dominated the rest of training camp. Until then, Ryan can expect a few more days of good news, bad news.