CORTLAND — On Saturday, Jets coach Rex Ryan said his team had dedicated a session to the wildcat, and as of Sunday he still hadn’t completely thrown cold water on the idea of using Michael Vick as a change-of-pace quarterback.
Vick has expressed trepidation that the offense could be disrupted by inserting a change of pace quarterback or the wildcat. But the Jets used it last year with no ill effects, according to Geno Smith.
“I don’t think so. I never even thought about it, to tell you the truth. I think it helped. It kept us on schedule many times, and it’s something that we used quite frequently, and I think it was pretty successful,’’ said Smith, who seems more enthused about the prospect of Vick getting on the field in a change-of-pace role than Vick himself.
“It’s definitely something to look into. I don’t know how much we’ll do it or if we’ll do it at all, but every time he’s on the field he brings that run-pass option.’’
So, what does Vick remember about how that went in Philadelphia a few years ago, when he was used that well to spell starter Donovan McNabb?
“It didn’t last long. That’s when we learned there is a time and place for it,’’ Vick said, seeming underwhelmed with the idea of a reprisal.
Sunday’s practice was the third time in camp Vick didn’t get a single first-team rep.
The injuries to CBs Dee Milliner and Dexter McDougle cast a pall over practice, but it actually started in upbeat fashion with Ryan putting the rookies through a “Dizzy Bats” relay race between the offense and defense.
“I think to just start things off, have a few of the rookies have at it,’’ Ryan said. “Just trying to get the energy level boosted up, get guys smiling, laughing and feeling good, now you’re ready to work.’’
The players had to run to a bat, bend over and put one end to their head and keep the other on the ground, spin around 10 times and run back to tag the next member of the relay. Several got disoriented, with QB Tajh Boyd stumbling into laughing teammates. Safety Calvin Pryor, recently recovered from a concussion, anchored the defense to victory.
“I never want to do it again,’’ Pryor said. “It was to get everybody pumped up to see the young guys make a fool of themselves, everybody get a laugh out of it. … Some of the guys were telling me “C.P., we don’t think you need to go; you just got back off a concussion.” They picked me to go, so I had to. I was the anchor man, so I had to bring them home.’’
Ryan added first-year pro T.J. Barnes, a 6-foot-7, 364-pound nose tackle, likely for comic relief.
But he praised Barnes, saying, “He dropped like 20-something pounds. I know you’re thinking ‘deck chair off the Titanic,’ but this is a huge man, a big guy that’s healthy and plays hard: Give that a little time.’’
He added Barnes would have gotten a game ball Thursday along with Andrew Furney and Brian Winters.
Everyone will remember WR Quincy Enunwa’s 45-yard catch as the play on which Milliner got hurt, but it was a stellar, one-handed diving grab by the sixth-round pick, whose hands have to catch up to his 6-foot-5, 225 -pound frame.