1. New long snapper James Dearth had an unbelievably tough year in 2009, even as the Jets rolled to the playoffs. Dearth’s grandfather died before the season, then his dad was diagnosed with kidney cancer (and was given a year or two to live). Finally, his mom died from heart failure in November.
“It was tough because you’re really thinking about your family quite a bit,” said Dearth, in his 11th season. “But you tell yourself, my mom, she didn’t want anybody worrying about her. She was a very unselfish lady. She wanted me to focus on my job and doing what I’m supposed to do.”
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Meanwhile, the Jets felt they could get younger and cheaper at long snapper (sound familiar). That’s why he was still available
“I feel like it’s a fresh start [here],” he said.
2. Malcolm Kelly did a little more running on the sidelines today; wasn’t going full speed, but it was an improvement. Mike Shanahan said Kelly might return Tuesday or Wednesday. It’s hard to imagine Kelly making the roster if he doesn’t play this week; a guy with an injury history can’t afford to miss the first two preseason games.
3. Fred Davis had an interesting practice. Dropped three balls, but also made a few nice grabs. One play I’m anxious to see this season involves a bootleg and a throwback to a receiver (or tight end) running a deep cross the other way. Davis runs this play well; has looked good doing it a couple times in camp. His athleticism makes him a good fit on this play (the Redskins have run it with Chris Cooley in the past, too).
4. Jammal Brown returned and was inconsistent as you would expect. We had a tough time seeing the action from where we had to stand (they were on a far field), but I did see him swallow up Andre Carter a couple times. Typically, linemen can’t afford to let defenders get into their body. But Brown is a big man and sometimes those linemen can afford to let this happen (guys like Leonard Davis do this a lot). However, Brown really doesn’t want to do that too often. Sure enough, he got beat by Carter on another rush and would have been called for holding.
5. Noticed something with Donovan McNabb today. When he’s in the pocket and is trying to throw a short cross, he sometimes gets a little too upright and rather than change his arm angle to slide in a pass on target, he’ll make a high delivery and aim down. He misses low a lot.
6. But McNabb was largely on today. Threw a real nice out pattern to Santana Moss in which the ball was delivered before he broke. A trust seems to be developing, which is huge.
7. Meanwhile, John Beck changes his arm delivery and the ball gets batted down at the line a bit much. Of course, he’ll sneak one around guys once in a while.
8. Albert Haynesworth worked a couple plays with the first defense at nose tackle. But Maake Kemoeatu was with the first defense the rest of the day.
9. Mike Sellers nearly made a terrific catch on a wheel route. Rex Grossman lofted a near-perfect pass as Sellers got a quarter step on Lorenzo Alexander. Sellers dove, but the ball bounced off his fingertips. Sellers does look a little faster – says his body fat is down to 6 percent. He wanted to be able to run faster routes.
10. Will he get the ball more? Sellers can be a weapon, but in a limited way. Wouldn’t want him to get more than a few touches a game. He’s best if the defense isn’t expecting him to get the ball.
11. Devin Thomas also had an inconsistent day. Had a couple grabs, then dropped a deep post. The knock on him by Shanahan? Inconsistency.
