New York Jets NFL 2012 Live Stream.Catching the Patriots is this year’s goal for coach Eric Mangini’s Jets. Chasing them was last year’s accomplishment and won’t be enough.
The Jets must find a way to make up a two-game gap in the AFC East and get the Patriots at home in the playoffs, if necessary. Last year, Mangini was praised for his 10-6 record in his inaugural season and forgiven for the 37-16 playoff loss in New England.
The next step will be much harder, but the Jets are eager to see how offseason improvements play out in training camp — all but one Jet, that is. Guard Pete Kendall, the team’s union player rep, is disgruntled and demanding a trade. He is believed to be the source of a union gripe against Mangini for unauthorized contact drills in voluntary offseason workouts.
Dumping Kendall won’t help because the Jets are already patching together an offensive line around last year’s top rookies, D’Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold, and need all the veteran help they can get. Recycled right tackle Anthony Clement and Kendall were castoffs from the lowly Arizona Cardinals, so the Jets are desperate. Adrien Clarke, bigger than Kendall, would be the likely replacement.
The offensive line is especially important because quarterback Chad Pennington looks healthier than he’s been in years after gutting out last season and winning comeback player of the year honors following rotator cuff surgery in 2005. The Jets can’t afford to lose him unless second-year prospect Kellen Clemens gets enough camp reps to convince Mangini he’s ready for action.
The Jets also added Chicago running back Thomas Jones in a pre-draft trade, hoping he can continue his two-year string of 1,300-yard seasons. Jones was a stalwart during the Bears’ NFC Super Bowl run, but was deemed expendable because of Chicago’s expensive investment in Cedric Benson.
If Jones can make Jets’ fans forget about the great Curtis Martin for even a brief time, he will be accomplishing something. With Jones and Leon Washington sharing carries, the Jets hope they add up to one Martin.
Mangini starts year two of his gravitation to the 3-4 defense and added end Kenyon Coleman from Dallas to try to replace Kimo von Oelhoffen even though Coleman is not the stereotypical 3-4 end. In one of the most intriguing NFL training camps experiments, former Cardinals’ No. 1 draft choice Andre Wadsworth will try to make an unlikely comeback after 13 knee surgeries and two Achilles’ tendon surgeries. He hasn’t played since 2000.
Ex-Bears’ No. 1 draft choice Michael Haynes is another reclamation project at defensive end for a team that needs help for Shaun Ellis. Ex-Dolphin David Bowens and ex-Chief Eric Hicks are other additions to the mix at end, an obvious area of concern.
DeWayne Robertson continues to adapt to nose tackle, which would help inside linebacker Jonathan Vilma, also more suited to the 4-3. The Jets are hoping second-round draft pick David Harris can offer immediate help inside for Vilma.
The Jets finished a below-average 20th in defense last year, but note it was a notch ahead of Indianapolis. Top draft pick Darrelle Revis should step in immediately at cornerback in a secondary that got an impressive year out of second-year safety Kerry Rhodes last season.
Hotseat
Mangini was such a hit as a rookie he appeared in a cameo on The Sopranos. But can Mangenius pull off a sequel worthy of his first act? Nobody could have imagined 10-6, but the trouble now is nobody can imagine anything less. It is possible that the Jets could field a better team and post a worse record, but it would be difficult for Mangini to sell that as improvement. Mangini also has to find a way to either placate Kendall or replace him and keep convincing players better suited to the 4-3 to plug away at the 3-4. He’s going to find out he’s a tough act to follow.
Overheard
Jerricho Cotchery emerged from obscurity with 82 catches and six touchdowns last season to give Pennington a legitimate alternative to Laveranues Coles, the team’s go-to guy. But in offseason workouts, forgotten man Justin McCareins shows signs of making a comeback after three seasons of declining numbers and only 23 receptions. Also, they like what they see so far of seventh-rounder Chansi Stuckey.
Outlook
Staying within two games of the Patriots will be a stiff challenge, but at least Mangini gets to open at home against old buddy Bill Belichick and has a chance to make up for the playoff loss and get a head start. With Baltimore, Miami and Buffalo also in the first quarter of the season, Jets’ fans will have a fair idea of where they stand by October.
