CORTLAND — It took Bilal Powell until his senior year at Louisville before he excelled for the Cardinals. Now, after getting just 13 carries as a rookie last year, the Jets are hoping he can put together a similar breakout in his second NFL season.
“When you look at his path in college, he kind of burst on the scene his last year,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said after yesterday’s practice. “He kind of had some struggles or whatever and then burst on the scene.
“I’m hoping that happens now. It takes a little growing pains, he makes the adjustment necessary and maybe it’s confidence or whatever but right now he seems to be playing with a great deal of confidence.”
Powell has been impressive through the first week of camp, to the point where he is getting some reps with the first team offense, and seems to have a shot at supplanting Joe McKnight as the team’s third-down back and primary backup to Shonn Greene.
“I’m pretty confident,” he said. “A lot more confident than last year … I know what I’m doing out there.”
That has shown through early in camp, as Powell has stood out both for his ability to take a hit, as well as being used as a pass-catcher — both out of the backfield and split out as a receiver.
“I caught a couple balls [at Louisville],” Powell said. “Whatever Coach wants me to do … catch balls, block, that’s what I’m going to do.”
Last season, Powell spent much of the year watching Greene, McKnight and future Hall of Famer LaDainian Tomlinson. As a rookie running back, Powell knew plenty about Tomlinson, who was in the final year of what undoubtedly was a first-ballot Hall of Fame career.
But Powell said even after everything Tomlinson had accomplished in the sport, he was still willing to share some tips with the youngster.
“He’s one of the greatest people I’ve been around,” Powell said. “Modest, down to earth and ready to teach.”
But even in his limited opportunities last year, Powell was able to impress Ryan with his ability to be where he was supposed to be, when he was supposed to be there.
“What’s unique about it is when we had to play him in a game he had no mental mistakes,” Ryan said. “He made absolutely zero mental mistakes. That tells you a lot about him. Mentally, he was on top of it.
“From a physical standpoint, he wasn’t. He had a lot of injuries, little thing here, little thing there that set him back. We really never got to see his capabilities. Now, he’s healthy. He’s in great shape. It seems like every day he does something where you’re like, ‘Oh, that was a nice run,’ or he does a good job in protection.”
Now, after Powell got a chance to learn under Tomlinson last year, he’s ready to show he can be a bigger contributor to the Jets’ offense than was initially expected this season.
“Sitting out last year, especially learning from LaDainian, it was a pretty big experience,” Powell said. “Year two, you’re a little more comfortable with everything and the people around you and everything.”