Jets Training Camp Update with Peter King (7/27)

two a days. They would practice from nine to eleven in the morning three to five in the afternoon. And I don't know why this sticks out to me, but the majority of practices were in pads, and I just thought to myself, this is really a hard job. And I remember one day because for those who are big fans of this game, the one thing in my career that I truly regret is how many times I thought to myself, I'm standing with Paul Brown, who is the

owner of the Bengals. I'm standing with Paul Brown watching football practice, and I'm not writing anything down. I'm just talking to him. I bet forty times that summer I watched practice, the majority of practice with Paul Brown. And I just consider myself highly, highly, highly fortunate to have begun my career in an environment like that. And look the other one thing I'll tell you about training camps

and how they've changed. My first year. It was either eighty four or eighty five that I went to the Pittsburgh Steelers camp in Latrobe. The PR guy there, Joe Gordon, I said, I want to talk to a couple of players. So he gave me some options. I said, I'd love to talk to Mike Webster, and so he said, Okay, he's in room two fifty four over in the dorm. Just go over there and knock on the door. He'll answer and he'll let you in.

to me. One is I think the Jets are really lucky to have the defense that they do, because it reminds me of the the cliche the iron sharpens iron cliche, because Rogers is so precise with his throws that look in practice he is going This is not the scattershooting Zach Wilson where he's not the most accurate guy, at least at this point in his career. It is one of the most accurate throwers of the football in the one hundred and five year history, one hundred and four

year history of the NFL. And so Sauce Gardner is going to have a good experience here. The whole secondary's gonna have a good experience. It's because during the week they are going to be able to prepare for Josh Allen into a tongue Aloe and Mac Jones and Dak Prescott and whoever else is on their schedule because they will not face a more accurate passer.

have severely hamstrung the Jets. And my feeling about it is it reminds me a lot of what Tom Brady used to do when I forget what year it was, but after one of his Super Bowl years, his compensation that year he was going to be the twenty third highest paid quarterback, and you just say, well, you know, and Brady's whole attitude was, look, if they're spending to the cap, if they're taking this money and going to

spend to the cap, I'm fine with it. And plus, we all know quarterbacks in the NFL, especially ones who win Super Bowls, can walk out of their homes and sign an hour's worth of autographs and make a million dollars or whatever the silly sum is. So it's almost like, I'm sure, and Aaron Rodgers said, this is what makes me happy. I did this because I wanted to do it. Nobody forced me to do anything. I wanted to do this, and so I think it should probably endear him even more.

I would think that the fan base is swooning over him as it is, but that should probably endear him even more to the fan base.

it sounds like now. But Eric, a lot of things can be he said in a honeymoon period, A lot of things can be said in July. You look back in February and you look back and you say, boy, was that sounds naive now? So you don't know. But yeah, I'm like everybody else, I would anticipate Rogers. I'm not saying he was delirious. He's a pensive human being. But

he definitely is is really really enjoying it. And you know, Eric, one of the things he talked a lot about, he said, listen, I've never played for a defensive head coach before, and I really like this Robert saw and he said, I like him because we talk. I might come up with an idea and he might take the idea and do it. And sometimes he might say it's a good idea, We're not going to do that. And Rogers had a big smile on his face, and he goes, I kind of

love that. I just want somebody to listen to me and then let's talk about it and then do what you want to do. I just want to be heard, you know. And I got the distinct impression that Robert Salah and Joe Douglas, he feels are excellent sounding boards for his idea. He also talked very, very admiringly of Joe Douglas. And look, it's clear, all right, the Green

Bay Packers do things one way, okay. Brian Gudakutz, the general manager, I think, by his peers, by people who work there, by almost everybody in the building, is a highly regarded guy. And I think Aaron Rodgers chafed at times with the fact that they didn't have his open line of communications. That's been very clear, widely reported. But I also think that the Packers have a way of doing things, and it's very difficult, isn't it to sit back here and say, well, the Packers' way is my

way or the highway. So that's not the right way to do it. Well, for the last thirty thirty five years, how's that way worked pretty damn good. And so I just think, you know, as Rogers told me, he goes, you know, sometimes it's just time. And I think and he said that pretty much since he signed here, and I think he felt like it was just time. And I think it was smart. He knew it, The Packers knew it, because, make no mistake about it, you know,

he felt it. The Packers wanted Jordan Love to play after a lot of their communication issues with Rogers early in this offseason. Right or wrong, fair, unfair, That's the way they went. And it's eerily, incredibly bizarrely familiar in all ways to fifteen years ago when Brett Favre came here, and it's it's the exact same story all over again. A guy sits on the pines for three years after being drafted low in the first round. Aaron Rodgers did it two thousand and five, six and seven. Now Jordan

Love has done it twenty twenty one, twenty two. Now it's Jordan Love's time. And you know, I think that there is kind of a lot of poetic justice in what happened. And I believe that Aaron Rodgers will give the Jets more time than Brett Farv did.

some nice stuff. They always do. They're gonna get some nice stuff, But I would want hard knocks in my place. If I had something that I wanted to show, I wanted to prove whatever, like to me this year, like wasn't it? It was Detroit last year and Detroit was fantastic. Those were good shows because that was a team that said,

ah the spotlight, let's have it. And let me just say this, I think a fantastic team this year would have been Washington, you know, with you know, the honeymoon of the new owner and the ding Dong Witch, the Witch is Dead stuff with Snyder and some real hope for the first time in forever. And again look, as I said, they will have some moments with Aaron Rodgers.

And of course everybody in the NFL said the only team we wanted was the Jets, and I believe that, but I think they're gonna have a hard time spicing this one up.

For New York customers, all you need to do is wager at least one hundred dollars on win BET's the sports book. The best part you get an entry for every one hundred dollars you wager.

and Joe Montana probably would be number three. And everyone would say, what is Otto Graham doing there? And I say, well, he played professional football for ten seasons. In ten seasons, he played in the championship game, and in seven seasons he won his team won the championship, his Cleveland Browns team.

And people might say, well, geez, he only played ten years. Well, the world was different and football was a lot different seventy years ago, and what football was back in the day was it was a game that you didn't play. Most players didn't play for longer than seven, eight, nine, ten years. And now obviously it's different. But I think if you are looking logically and you want to consider

all of history, history's written by the winners. And I think Aaron Rodgers needs to win more to prove that he should elbow his way into the top three or five of all time.

not at the bottom of the pile. But I think that's a great comparison about Mark Messier, because Messier was on the greatest hockey team of his era. The Edmonton Oilers came to the Rangers, and I don't maybe it's too strong to say he willed them. They they had some great talent, obviously, but I do think I think that's a very good comparison because as with Messier, it'll be much more. It'll be it'll be I shouldn't say

much more. It'll be a lot about Aaron Rodgers, the person and the leader that if the Jets make it to the Promised Land, that's one of the reasons why they'll make it there. I'll just say one other thing. When I talked to Robert Salah here, he made this point because I'm I say to I forget how I worded it, but I said, because I was watching practice. I bet eighteen twenty times in an hour and forty minutes.

He went up and he was talking to guys. He was talking to receivers about a route he'd talked to. He talked to Jeff all Break at one point, I talked to a couple of defensive guys and Zach Wilson he's talking to almost constantly. But and Robert Salas said, I've never been around a player who was as much of a coach as Aaron Rodgers is in this training camp,

and I think eric for this team. It's important for a very simple reason that, if you think about it, this offense is was invented by Matt Lafler, Nathaniel Hackett, and Aaron Rodgers four years ago in Green Bay. And so Matt, Matt Lafleur is not here, but Aaron Rodgers and Nathaniel Hackett are, And the offense maybe isn't a car and not exactly a carbon copy, but it's darn close to that offense they ran in Green Bay that

was so successful. So I think that it is justice and it is correct that Aaron Rodgers will essentially be as close to an assistant coach. Yeah, a player coach as you can have.

a lot of Jets fans will say crap. Like I'm a big Boston Red Sox fan, so I watch a lot of the Red Sox games, and I say, man, that Justin Turner comes over from the Dodgers. He's a lot better than I thought he was. Okay, he's doing more than I thought he would.

He certainly could have done more by being more involved in the off season program, which he wasn't. So that's his fault, but it's also his right. He doesn't have to come in the off season. However, you see how important chemistry is, and that's why I think I have no idea how healthy you know, Randall Cobb is going to be this year. You know, health is a big concern about a lot of guys on that offense. But that's why I think Allen Lazard is going to be

a big factor. But the one other thing I would say is, you know, last year, relatively speaking, okay, the Jets, especially defense, we're able to keep their guys on the field, and you cannot take that for granted because that is not something you can predict, and so I just say, look, you know Sauce Read, you know the guys in that second that is a playoff secondary right there. And I think they've got enough of a pass rush. And you know, on offense, you get Elijah vera Tucker back it was

a huge loss. You get Breeze Hall back maybe by the opener, but at least by some time early in the season. Who knows what happens with Dalvin Cook. Probably there will be some verdict by the time people are listening to this. But I do think that especially on defense, I'll tell you what they would sign right now to have the same health this year that they had last year, because that is a top five defense if they all stay on the field.

thought he was very interesting. He basically said, look, you know, and I'm paraphrasing Afriget his exact words, but basically, we're learning to crawl here. You know, it's silly to start worrying about this these goliaths on the outside. We have to get as good as we can be, which is the right answer, by the way, you know, we got to get as good as we can be. And I think right now, you know, Jets will take baby steps. It's this occurred to me thinking about, you know, where

the Jets are right now. But Eric, the new York Jets will be in training camp for I think twelve days in the month of July. It's something like that. Maybe not practicing every day, but this is a long preseason for the Jets, very long, and I think Robert Salah has to be careful. You want to get your team ready, okay, but you don't want to have these this is this is you know, soft tissue time of year right now with guys trying to make your team

and all that stuff. So you know, you gotta be a little conservative in what you're asking, especially with what is going to be absolutely torrid heat and humidity coming up here.

not really his position. Although I think of all the things that Cleco did in his career, I think he was best at being a four to three end. I mean, I think he would have. You know, it's a weird thing to say, but man, I'll tell you what I could have in his prime. You know, Leonard Marshall on one side, Joe Cleco on the other side. Holy crap, with Lawrence Taylor behind Marshall and Banks behind Joe Cleco. Lord, that's ridiculous. But I'm happy for Cleco because I absolutely

think he deserves it. I was always in his corner, and obviously I was. I voted for him every time it came up revs. Look, I'm very pro reevus. I think he absolutely deserves to be in there. I think that the cornerback position has changed so mightily over the years that he by doing the whole Revis Island thing.

In my time covering the league, I think the two best cover corners were Dion Sanders and Darrell Revis, and to me today, in this game, you could probably come up with ten highlights a year where Revis gets beat, and so I think that to some degree was held against him because he probably got beat more than Dion did. But they threw a huge amount of times more than teams threw in Dion's era, and so look, I think both guys deserve it. It'll be a great time for

the Jets out in Canton. And I always like seeing franchises that didn't maybe win the biggest game or biggest games. I like when they get guys in the Hall of Fame because I think one of the things over the years that I wish, and I'm a longtime Hall of Fame voter, I wish the Tommy Nobis is of the world. Uh and and a lot of guys who were on teams that didn't win Super Bowls, they just get lost in the in the sauce, and so I'm happy for the Jets is very well deserved.