Jets sign Mauga to roster, waive Green

The New York Jets have signed linebacker Josh Mauga from the practice squad and waived defensive tackle Howard Green.

[QUOTE]The Jets also signed linebacker Kenwin Cummings to the practice squad Tuesday, four days after they waived him.

Mauga was signed to the practice squad Sept. 6 after being waived two days earlier. He originally signed with the Jets as an undrafted free agent in August 2009.

Green had a forced fumble in two games with the Jets this season. He also spent last season with New York, but has previously played with Houston, Baltimore, New Orleans and Seattle.

Cummings, signed as an undrafted free agent in 2008, played on special teams in three games this season before being waived Friday.[/QUOTE]

Top Dogs on the Block Enter Bye Weekend

It was an intense and often ugly game, but the mark of a great team is to win those types of games. Getting outgained and losing the turnover battle to the Denver Broncos wasn’t enough to faze these New York Jets as they pulled off a fourth-quarter comeback to win 24-20. The next day, many of the offensive players reacted to the game in which the Jets were held down in the running game until late 20- and 2-yard touchdown runs from LaDainian Tomlinson put them on top.

“We’ve had a lot of games like that even last year,” guard Brandon Moore said, “people stacking eight or nine guys in the box, which is a little bit of what they were doing. They were definitely in some goal-line defenses early, geared to stop our run. That’s why we’re a true group up front and you know that if you stick with it — and the coaching staff stuck with it — those runs kind of break open in the fourth quarter.”

Tomlinson's 20-yard scamper on a stretch-play handoff from Mark Sanchez were made possible in part from the blocking of second-year guard Matt Slauson.

“He’s doing well,” Moore said of his colleague on the opposite side of the line. “That’s what you’re asking from him, to improve each game. That’s definitely what he’s doing. He got called out from Rex for having a great game, and it definitely showed up on film. It’s definitely encouraging.”

Many fans wondered about how Slauson would fare as he stepped in to replace Pro Bowler Alan Faneca, and since the opening weeks of the season, the Nebraska product has shouldered the load and helped the Green & White’s line allow the Jets backs, entering today's games, to rush for the NFL's second-most yards per game and third-most yards per run, not to mention to their 5-1 record.

That final stat is the one that makes tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson proudest.

“It’s a good feeling,” Ferguson said. “But we know it’s a long season so we know in order to maintain that best record we need to continue to push on. Luckily we've get a week to unload and relax a little bit before we go for our long haul.”

Wide receiver Braylon Edwards isn't as intricately involved in the running attack as the aforementioned linemen, but the Michigan standout stands at an imposing 6’3” and 214 pounds and has the penchant for making big blocks on cornerbacks and safeties on run plays. More than just being able to make his imprint on the running game and watching how it has developed this year, Edwards is impressed by the Jets’ ability to stay focused under pressure and work together.

“We’ve shown the world what we know,” Edwards said, “which is that we’re very resilient and we’ll stick together. It’s not over until there’s 0:00 on the clock and we feel as though if we do the things that we’re coached to do Monday through Saturday, we’ll win games.”

That last quote has to make head coach Rex Ryan and his staff happy, knowing that one of their key offensive weapons is as locked into understanding the game plan and getting better as they are. Earlier this week Ryan invoked a Bill Parcells-type philosophy by saying that “You are what your record says.” Heading into Week 7, the Jets enjoy the best record in the NFL. Are they they best team in the league?

“That’s still to be determined,” Edwards said. “I feel that we still can get better. Just going by us versus us, I think that there are some things that we need to do to get better. Once we do these things and play more consistently in all phases, then we’ll become the best team in our conference and eventually football. Right now we have the best record but I don’t feel as though we’re already there yet.”

He’s Still Super in the Clutch

When it was winning time, the Jets turned to Santonio Holmes. And Holmes, who lost a fumble late in the third quarter, made a couple of key fourth-quarter efforts as the Green & White moved to 5-1 with a heart-stopping 24-20 comeback win over the Broncos in Denver.

The play of the game wasn’t a Holmes reception but instead a 46-yard pass interference infraction on veteran corner Renaldo Hill. It was do or die when the Jets faced a fourth-and-6 from the Broncos’ 48 and the outlook didn’t look promising initially. Quarterback Mark Sanchez couldn’t find anyone open close to the sticks, bought a little time and then heaved it downfield in Holmes’ direction. Both the WR and Hill tried to get in position to make a play, but Hill was called for interference because he slapped No. 10’s facemask. That set up the winner — LaDainian Tomlinson’s second rush TD of the day — as the Jets won their fifth consecutive contest.

“He is an alert,” Sanchez said of Holmes. “The progression is to the front side and then you alert to the backside if you love it, if you get the right look, if you get rotation right, if you get single coverage, man-to-man. He was doubled at the beginning. I looked to field, scrambled, look back to the field and the safety went running back that way thinking I was going to just lob it up the other way.”

Dustin Keller was actually the first read, but he was taken away. Sanchez used the solid protection, looked off right and then made the gutsy decision to air it out left to Holmes.

“I wasn’t going to run for it. You have to get the ball pushed,” said an almost defiant Sanchez, who added that he “guaranteed” Holmes would have made the reception had he not been interfered with. “The defender’s not looking — you can’t play defense not looking. I threw it at the back of his head and Santonio made a heads-up play to try and come back for it.”

“The guy interfered with him and you have to make that call,” said Jets head coach Rex Ryan. “I don’t believe ‘Ton had an opportunity to catch it, so when you foul him, then that [call] should be made.”

Trailing by a field goal with 2:09 left in regulation, Sanchez and company faced a third-and-7 from their 35. The second-year passer, who was intercepted twice, calmly looked over the defense to the right and then came back to the left with a bullet to Holmes. Broncos rookie cornerPerrish Cox wasn’t too far away but Holmes had enough separation to secure the grab.

Holmes, a prime-time performer in the clutch who was named MVP of Super Bowl XLIII, looked to be on his way to a huge gain on an end-around at the end of the third quarter. Taking the handoff, Holmes bolted around left end, up the sideline and eventually ran right into Braylon Edwards’ backside. After a 14-yard gain, Holmes fumbled at the Broncos’ 21, Hill recovered to thwart a scoring threat and the home club held a 17-10 advantage entering the fourth stanza.

In just his second game with the Jets, Holmes’ four receptions tied Edwards for the team high. His first grab came on third down — a 7-yard gain and a first down on the Jets’ first scoring drive. His offensive pass interference penalty nullified a sizable 31-yard gainer later in the second, but a short 5-yarder in the third got the visitors close enough to attempt Nick Folk’s franchise-long 56-yarder to tie things up at 10.

“Oh, man, this was one those games that definitely measures your team’s heart,” Holmes said. “How bad do you want this game? Our coach kept talking all week about ‘We’re coming home with a victory. It’s going to be a tough place to play and we have to execute a lot of things.’ We didn’t do everything correctly, but we did what we needed to do to win the game.”

Holmes was targeted five times and he finished with the four catches for 47 yards. And when he was needed most, he was the difference.

STS*: Brad Smith’s Skill, Consistency, Confidence

Wildcat, Seminole, TigerCat. All of those terms are different monikers for the offensive formation that former Missouri Tigers quarterback Brad Smith plays for the Jets. While his impact on offense has often been exhilarating and dramatic, his play on special teams has been equally exciting.

“Brad Smith is such a good player,” special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff said. “You know how I feel about Brad. He’s one of my favorite guys. Brad has confidence. He sees things well, he has good vision, he’s faster than what you think. Our guys say that in practice, our defenders, they don’t realize it and then all the sudden he bursts by you. He’s done an outstanding job.”

Smith has come up huge in tight situations this season, including converting a late third-and-15 against the Dolphins on an end-around, then returning a third-quarter kickoff 86 yards against the Vikings. At that point in the game on Monday night, the Vikes had closed the Jets’ lead from 12-0 to 12-7.

“He took it almost six deep and exploded out,” said Westhoff of the play that set up Nick Folk’s fifth field goal.

“It’s the same mindset,” Smith said, comparing offense to kickoff-returning. “Everything happens a little deeper, with the whole unit. You usually catch the ball at about the 4- or 5-yard line. There’s a certain timing that you have to have. Everybody backs it up and then you have to run the same thing.”

The fifth-year man, one of the most modest players on the Green & White roster, approaches each play with the same concentration and executes it to the best of his ability. Throughout his career, he’s made that happen, including last year’s 106-yard kickoff-return touchdown against the then 14-0 Colts.

This year he’s already racked up 419 yards on 13 returns, with his 32.2-yard average making him third among NFL kickoff returners.

“I think in every phase everybody is looking for consistency,” Smith said. “Week in and week out you try to do the little things well and that’s my goal, just consistency as far as approaching things the same way. Be it the beginning of the year, or every day in practice, nothing changes. It’s about just trying to keep an even keel and do what I expect to do and what my job is.”

One place in which steadiness and solid decision-making is crucial is in punt formation. On those plays, Smith is charged with the duty of deciding whether to check out of a fake punt. In fact, Westhoff revealed that Smith checked out of two early-season fakes.

“He knows the exact look, if they’re not in the exact look,” said the coach. “And the other thing is that you can never be wrong by getting out. If there’s any doubt, we’re going to kick the football.”

“There are just certain looks per week you look for to run a fake against,” Smith said. “If it’s not there, you just call it off and punt it, and that’s basically what it comes down to. If there’s too many guys to one side or it’s not the look we’re looking for, we get out of it.”

With his heady play and physical attributes, the 2006 fourth-round pick has made an impression on rookie cornerback Kyle Wilson, who has been one of the two players returning punts for the Jets this season. Smith and Wilson traveled together to a local elementary school to assist in a Play 60 event earlier this season and throughout the year Wilson has been able to watch Smith’s decision-making, returning skills and penchant for making big plays in pressure moments.

“You could call him that,” Wilson said when asked if Smith was a “clutch” player. “I think he does a good job of reading his blocks. Once he gets the ball, he times it up and runs full speed with the guys blocking. As soon as they hit their blocks and once he gets rolling, he’s hard to take down.”

Folk: "I Had Trust in My Leg"

Nick Folk was still hanging around North Jersey today before heading out to Arizona to watch “little brother” Erik Folk kick for Washington at AU this weekend, and we wanted to catch up to the Jets’ unassuming foot man for a little more insight on his franchise-record-setting 56-yard boomer at Denver on Sunday.

Insight No. 1 was that Folk didn’t know it was a record-breaker until he and holder Steve Weatherford were trotting off the Invesco Field at Mile High pitch.

“I try not to go out and look at the yard line, really,” Folk said late this morning. “You know when you’re standing on top of the other team’s logo that you’re pretty far back there. But I kind of get the spot based on the ball, wherever it is, and then I give it to Steve and I’m not worried about anything but that kick.

Then afterwards, Steve said, ‘Wow, that was 56, man.’ I said, ‘Really, that was 56?’ You’re back on the logo, you could be 54, 56, 57.”

Folk put that moment aside because he had another kickoff to focus on pinning the Broncos back at their 20. But after notching the third of his five touchbacks in the air up there, he and Weatherford mused some more.

“Steve said, ‘Yeah, I think that’s the record because they have all those records up down by the meeting rooms,’ ” he said. “So I obviously had seen those but I had no idea who owned the records at all.”

That’s Insight No. 2. Head coach Rex Ryan and his staff have been proactive about putting the history of the Jets on the first-floor walls of the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center where the players can see them and linger over them if they so desire. The wall to the players’ dining area has the all-time team photos, another wall has all players listed by uniform number. There is a Pro Bowl wall and also a record-book wall.

Folk knows Jay Feely, whom he replaced this offseason. He could have run into John Hall, who was at the celebration of the Jets’ Monday Night Miracle win over Miami 10 years ago. Certainly he’s heard of Pat Leahy. Those three Jets kickers had accounted for the four 55-yard field goals in franchise history (Feely had two).

When told that Hall hit his 55-yarder on his very first regular-season kick as a pro in Seattle’s old Kingdome in the ’97 opener, Folk replied, “That’s awesome,” which is something Hall could easily say about Folk’s kick a decade later.

As for the difficulty of the kick, Folk supplied Insight No. 3 when he said he treated the kick just as he treated the PAT he kicked after the Jets’ second-quarter touchdown, kind of.

“I know it sounds kind of weird that you’re going to make an extra point or a short field goal look like a 56-yard field goal,” he said. “But you don’t want to be really changing your swing. You want it to be the same smooth swing the entire time.

“I knew I could make it going in that direction — in pregame we hit one from 64 or something like that. So we wanted to just make sure that I was smooth and that we had a good operation time and just got the ball up in the air. And I had trust in my leg that I could get it there and it went right through.”

As simple as that. The altitude also didn’t hurt, since it produced the most prodigious game of kickoffs in Folk’s four-year NFL career and possibly in Jets history. We’ll talk about that in part two of my conversation with Nick when Special Teams Saturday rolls around in three days.

Training Camp; Time to get to work!

New York Jets @ Cortland, NY August 2, 2010

As training camp begins, Darrelle Revis hold out continues. Is this a Hard Knocks ploy or the Real Deal situation. Fans love the scrutiny of their top players or do they? Controversy always sells; but not in New York...

But one thing is for certain; football is back for now...Time to get to work!

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