Adapting to New Coach?s Rules Seems to Bog Down the Jets By DAVE CALDWELL Published: August 29, 2006 HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Aug. 28 ?* The rookie tackle D?Brickashaw Ferguson set 312 pounds in motion by lurching from his stance. But no one else on the Jets? offensive line lurched with him, and Ferguson was whistled for his second false-start penalty in Friday?s loss to the Giants. Eric Mangini, the Jets? first-year coach, summoned Ferguson after he turned a fourth-and-1 into a fourth-and-6 and a punt. Mangini reminded Ferguson about his five-second rule. There is to be no moping, or gloating, five seconds after a play. ?It?s all about transferring to the next play or step,? Ferguson said Monday before the Jets practiced. ?He was just reminding me about it to aid me. That?s all.? Ferguson, a first-round draft choice from Virginia, did not kill any more drives Friday. But the Jets? first-team offense got no closer to the goal line, either. The season opener is Sept. 10, and the Jets do not seem to be gaining much traction. Linebacker Jonathan Vilma was speaking for only the Jets? defense Monday when he said, ?We didn?t have a planned schedule to where we thought we would be.? But he may as well as have been talking about the whole team. Adapting to Mangini?s many rules, not to mention his new systems, appears to have the Jets bogged down. Lately, the Jets sometimes forget about their ?core values,? as Mangini has called them. Tight end Doug Jolley received an unnecessary-roughness penalty for head-butting Giants defensive back Sam Madison after Madison drove him out of bounds a yard short of a first down. ?If you want to make a statement, you make a statement when the ball?s in play,? Mangini said of Jolley. Wide receiver Laveranues Coles, a veteran of six N.F.L. seasons, said Monday that the Jets? recently concluded training camp was ?more brutal than other years.? He said he did not mean that workouts were more punishing. Coles said there were more mandatory team dinners, meetings and weigh-ins than other years. These, he said, were the small things that players usually took for granted. Mangini has put a lot of emphasis on the small things, he added. ?Trust me: I weigh in when I ain?t got to weigh in,? Coles said, smiling. ?That?s the best thing I can do, is to be careful.? Mangini said again Monday that he believed there would be a payoff. He said of Ferguson: ?He?s a resilient guy. He understands the mistakes he made, and he knows that those mistakes are in the past.? Mangini singled out receiver Justin McCareins for a good game in an otherwise lackluster 13-7 loss, and also for an impressive week of practice leading up to the game. McCareins, who was placed on the physically unable to perform list early in training camp after he failed a running test, seemed amused when told of Mangini?s comments. He said he had not become a different player in the span of a week. During the course of training camp, he said, he eliminated many of the mental mistakes he had made earlier. But he said he was no more sure of his role on the team than he was before. ?I?ll take his compliment, and I appreciate his compliment,? McCareins said. ?But it doesn?t mean that much.? Mangini also complimented a marginal player who had impressed him recently by saying, ?Suddenly, the light looks like it?s going on for him.? But Mangini did not want to name the player. He said he wanted to see how bright that light burned. On Sunday, Mangini said he would not name a starting quarterback until after the Jets? final preseason game, Friday against Philadelphia. >>>>And during his news conference Monday, Mangini did not rule out the possibility that running back Curtis Martin, who missed training camp because he had not recovered from knee surgery, would be able to play against Tennessee in the opener. Martin and tackle Trey Teague are on the physically unable to perform list. ?The status could change between now and opening day for either guy,? Mangini said. <<<< The Jets have played three preseason games, and Mangini sounds as if he is no closer to clearing up any of the confusion that hovers over his team like a rain cloud. At one point Monday, Mangini said, ?If you?re wrong, it?s a lot better to all be wrong together.? Asked if he was pleased with the way he was playing, Ferguson said he thought it was still too early in the season. The preseason games have been important, he said, because he is blocking players in different uniforms. ?I?m happy when I make progress,? Ferguson said. ?I?m looking to continue to make progress.?
Interesting article. Mangini is all about culture change, and players who don't like discipline and change, will not be here in the future. He will build this team with HIS players, and naturally there will be malcontents who reject discipline and direction, and feel there is nothing anyone can teach them. He's inherited alot of these players, and the ones who become problems will be gone next year. I have no problem with this method. In the long run, it will pay dividends. Its the old adage about not listening to the tone, but to the message. If J-Mac and Coles think there's nothing they can learn, and they can't be taught anything else, then don't let the door hit you on the way out pal. See ya!
Dont get me wrong, because for me the jury is definately still out on Mangini and will be for a while and i really dont care how he gets the job done, but because of his incredible secrecy, these articles are really getting boring. None of them really have any relevance at all. This one basically says who played well in the Giants game. They dont say anything we all didnt already know.
And in a positive way. Mangini may be a bit over the top in his first coaching gig, but that beats Club Herm by miles as the Jets rebuild. Watch KC collapse this season.
The players better suck it up and do things his way and respect him. He's the coach, and if they don't recognize that they will be out of a job soon. I support what Mangini is doing here, it is the complete opposite of what Herm was doing and to me that is what MUST be done. The players better stop being pussies and shut their yaps.
Another hatchet job by a po'd reporter: "Adapting to New Coach?s Rules Seems to Bog Down the Jets" ....Should be headlined ""Adapting to New Coach?s Rules Seems to piss off reporters." The NY Sports "Press" is sounding shriller and shriller it looks like a pool of them are taking turns with the weekly yellow journalism piece on Mangini....I've got no use for them....
I agree about KC. However, this may not be a positive thing for the Jets. I like it, but if it gets so bad that it prevents top notch Free Agents from considering the Jets, and our good players leave, then it's not necessarily good.
This two statements really stick out... more weigh -ins, anyone else think the lack of managing players weight contributed to the lackluster start to the season? Also, emphasis on the small things... how many times did Herm talk about 'the details'....
