Over six thousand fans came out to Hofstra University this evening to see the Jets' training camp practice session at their former facility. I am sure it would have been even more if not for the rain earlier and the overcast sky. Luckily, the weather did not spoil the Gang Green's one and only visit to Long Island this year.
The Jets were missing quite a few starters. As we had known beforehand, NT Kris Jenkins (calf), C NIck Mangold (knee), CB Darrelle Revis (hamstring) and OT Damien Woody (head) were injured, Woody didn't even appear to be present. OG Alan Faneca was also on the sideline, and as we learned later, he would miss the Rams' game as well due to a broken finger.
Now, onto the practice session that was preceded by the first ever performance of the 2009 Jets Flight Crew. QB Mark Sanchez and RB Leon Washington were the two players who received the most applause from the fans when they came out. It wasn't also hard to notice the striking difference between the crowd at Hofstra and what I had seen earlier this month in Cortland. The Long Island fans were much more lively and into what was happening on the field. Rex Ryan's autograph session before the practice even started surely helped the matter.
QB Kellen Clemens took all of his reps with the first team and failed to impress. Clemens did not complete a single pass for over 10 yards, got sacked twice by S Kerry Rhodes and LB Bart Scott, and would have been sacked at least one more time if this was a real game. QB Mark Sanchez fared much better tonight, but keep in mind that he was facing backups. In his first outing the rookie quarterback connected with his favorite target, WR Wallace Wright, who caught a short pass and turned it into a first down. The best play was probably a few minutes later when Sanchez avoided a sure sack, threw a short completion to WR David Clowney who just flew past everyone to the end zone. Clowney also showed very good hands on quite a few occasions tonight.
Backup quarterbacks Erik Ainge and Chris Pizzotti took all the snaps in the second half of the session, including some against the first team defense. Pizzotti threw two interceptions, while Ainge once again looked pretty decent and connected a couple of times with WR Marcus Henry.