NFL

Slauson, Ducasse battling for Jets left guard job

CORTLAND — The Jets created a large hole at left guard when they released nine-time Pro Bowler Alan Faneca this spring. Now they’re counting on second-year pro Matt Slauson or rookie Vladimir Ducasse to fill it.

“I don’t know if you ever replace experience,” offensive line coach Bill Callahan said after yesterday’s practice at SUNY Cortland. “But you do have some emerging young players that have a lot of enthusiasm, that play with a lot of effort.

“They’re going through the learning process. They don’t maybe have the 10, 11, 12 years that some of our veteran players have, but we’ve got a lot of faith and confidence in their ability to be surrounded by veteran players like D’Brickashaw [Ferguson] and [Nick] Mangold.”

The battle between Slauson and Ducasse, the Jets’ second-round pick from UMass, is one of the few pressing position battles on the roster. After getting a chance to practice next to both players, Ferguson — the left tackle — has gotten a close look at each of their strengths.

“Vlad is a very strong young athlete, and his presence physically is more than people can handle,” Ferguson said. “For Matt Slauson, he’s been around a little bit longer, and he’s had an opportunity to really adapt to the system here well, so he’s a piece that fits. He’s a guy that knows how to play the game.”

Part of Slauson’s ability to adapt to the system comes from his time at Nebraska under Callahan. The former Raiders head coach recruited Slauson to Nebraska and coached him for three seasons there before he was fired in 2007.

“He knows exactly what I bring, and that built a lot of confidence in me, that he stuck his neck out to bring me in here because he knew that I could get it done,” Slauson said. “That was really big.”

Callahan said both players will get an equal amount of snaps in practice with the first team and that Slauson, who played center last year against the Buccaneers when Mangold was injured, also will see time at right guard.

“We’ve only had two full practices with padded work, and there’s a lot of installation, there’s a lot of things going through their minds,” Callahan said. “They’re both talented players, and they both will have a chance to play a lot this year.”