Losing Jenkins

Sad, but expected, news came out of Jets camp last night as we learned that the Jets have lost DT Kris Jenkins to a torn ACL in his left knee.  This news is devastating to Jenkins future and my guess is that he will probably retire rather than undergo another round of surgery and intense recovery.  Jenkins is an unbelievable player when healthy and fought back hard to get back to the point where he was healthy enough to play.  It is sad that his career ends with this result but he should be regarded as one of the best defensive lineman of this generation.  Although he wasn't healthy with the Jets for very long, he was a great team player and leader.

To replace Jenkins the Jets have signed DT Howard Green.  Green played 12 games for the Jets last year and will step into the backup role behind Sione Pouha.  The Jets were thin at defensive line after losing Jenkins so this was a necessary signing before facing the Patriots.  There were a few other moves yesterday as the Jets released fan favorite Danny Woodhead and picked up WR David Clowney.  Clowney gives the Jets another receiver option (we were down to 3).  Actually throwing the ball downfield would seem to be the logical step before signing more WR but the Jets don't seem to realize that.  They probably felt that Woodhead was not going to see the field and he was simply not the same caliber receiver as Clowney.  My guess is that we will see Woodhead around here some more sometime in the future.  

An unsung hero of Monday night was OLB Bryan Thomas. Thomas recorded 9 tackles and 1.5 sacks and has really come into his own in this defense.  Thomas was a first round draft pick a number of years ago and has widely been viewed as a disappointment.  However, over the last few years Thomas has grown into a very good run stopping linebacker and is a pretty good pass rusher.  With the continuing saga of Vernon Gholston playing out around the Jets linebacker unit it is nice to see a former "bust" succeed.

Until tomorrow...