Jeremy Kerley added a few pounds this offseason and he hopes some confidence, too.
Kerley said this week his confidence as a punt returner dipped last year when he broke the NFL single-season record with 36 fair catches. This year, he’s trying to get back to what made him successful at TCU.
“I’m just trying to get a better feel. I had the most confidence in college,” Kerley said. “I’m just trying to get back to that.”
Kerley opened last season, his second in the league, with a punt return for a touchdown against the Bills. But he fumbled a week later against the Steelers and had another fumble against the Seahawks. Those drops weighed on his mind.
“It messes with you a little bit,” Kerley said. “You’re supposed to forget about it. But to me, I was hurting my team so that messed with me a little bit.”
This preseason, he has four punt returns and five fair catches.
The Jets are counting on Kerley to be their punt returner, and also one of their best wide receivers. He led the team with 56 catches for 827 yards last season. He had to work on the outside a lot last year when the wide-receiving corps got banged up. He is at his best coming out of the slot.
Kerley added 11 pounds at the coaches’ request and is now 196 pounds. He said his goal is to get 60 catches this season. And the special teams goal is simple.
“This year no drops is the goal,” Kerley said. “So far, everything has been good.”
* QB Mark Sanchez has yet to test his shoulder as he tries to recover from his injury, but those who know him are positive he will do everything he can to be ready for Week 1.
“First off, you look at Mark’s history,” Jets coach Rex Ryan said. “One thing we know for sure, Mark is durable and he is going to work his tail off to be ready to go. I think we all know that about Mark. If the trainers say they want him to be in there six different times, he’ll be in there six different times.”
* The Jets held their 13th annual kickoff luncheon yesterday at Cipriani Wall Street. They raised $800,000 for the New York Jets Foundation and the Alliance for Lupus Research. … The Jets waived center Dalton Freeman.