by Stop Mike Lupica on August 11 at 1:26AM
The Jets played the Falcons yesterday at 7:00 on CBS. Some quick notes and recap:
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- Mike Nugent's leg as been making news around the Jets media. The Daily News reported that he worked out hard this summer, and add about 10 pounds of muscle. Tonight Nugent's opening kickoff was a touchback. To be fair, it didn't go straight into the end zone; it bounced at the two yard line untouched by the receiving team. Still, kicking it to the 1-yard line is a step up from last season, where Nugent had less than 5 touchbacks all year.
- The Jets weren't passing at all while Chad Pennington was out there. In fact, Chad did not try a single pass attempt. Thomas Jones, the 29-year old RB the Jets acquired from the Bears got most of the carries. He finished with 27 yards on 8 carries.
- The Jets worked on the trick plays involving Brad Smith, as he lined up at QB on a third down play. He just handed the ball off to third down change of pace RB Leon Washington.
- Joey Harrington looked okay for the Falcons, but keep in mind it's preseason. And it's Joey Harrington. Can't say this enough, but the Falcons' owner, Arthur Blank... instead of allowing Roger Goodell and the NFL to suspend Michael Vick, he should have stepped up and protested more. Only in the NFL, with its revenue sharing, could a team allow the league to singlehandedly take away at least 3-5 wins without that team's owner objecting. The Falcons may not be a great team with Vick, but they would have been good for 8-10 wins; this team with Harrington is looking at around 6 wins.
- Leon Washington continues to be the big play maker. He busted a punt return for 86 yards, setting up the Jets first touchdown. TJ ran it in from the 1 for the Jet's first TD.
- Kellen Clemens was on fire throughout the game. He went 16-22 for 174 yards and 3 TDs. He also hit 9 straight passes during one stretch. His long completion to Justin McCareins (42 yards) with 4:58 in the 2nd quarter was the Jets' first completed pass.
- Special teams is usually the only thing you can really get excited about during the first preseason game, because that's usually where all the starters all playing the entire game. The Jets' special teams look very good tonight. Ben Graham was great on the punting - last year's surprise rookie sensation, who won the battle for Jets' punter during camp, had three punts for a 44.0 yard average. The kickoff returns were great - Leon Washington had two, one for 86 yards, the other for 28. Brad Smith grabbed one for 46 yards, and even some dude named "Banks" did well, going 24 yards on his one return. Mike Nugent was 1-2 on FGs, hitting from 29 yards, but missing a long (53 yds?) attempt in the third quarter. The kickoffs were okay - aside from his one "touchback" he also had five other kicks, all but one within the 5. 2 landed at the 1-yard line, not bad.
- Brad Smith continues to do the "Slash" routine on the Jets - he played a bit at QB, but didn't attempt any passes (that I saw). He took off a bit on scrambles, running twice for 17 yards. He also had a legit carry for 9 more yards. And he lined up at WR. He did attempt a pass on a fake punt, but was incomplete. So yeah, Brad Smith wins the "most Jamaican" guy award on the Jets - he's the KR, the QB, the RB, the WR, the Punter....
- Clemens' line equals a 135.2 passer rating. I think its safe to say he's the Jets backup QB this season, and if he keeps this up, people will start referring to him as "the QB of the future"; and when Chad inevitably gets hurt, he'll be the QB. Plus I'm pretty sure he's one of Roger's kids.
- In all seriousness, though - it might have been against the second team, but Clemens looks a lot like Chad Pennington, but with a little more arm strength. Not enough arm strength, though... but more than Chad. With Chad's cerebral quarterbacking skills. Interesting.
- No notes on the defense - the starters were only out there for a few plays, and gave up a touchdown drive to Joey Harrington. But I didn't take notes when the Jets were on defense.
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"Kellen Clemens was on fire"
you say QB of the future, but what about QB controversy now?