CORTLAND — Eric Decker has to be missing Peyton Manning already.
Decker had just one catch for 7 yards for the Jets in Saturday night’s Green and White Scrimmage. To be fair, Decker saw limited action as he nurses a tweaked hamstring. But Decker has gone from a record-setting offense in Denver to a Jets offense that failed to score a touchdown in Saturday’s scrimmage.
“I thought it was good,” Decker said. “We moved the football. Some guys made some plays. The biggest thing we have to work on is eliminating the penalties that put us behind 10 yards. We had first-and-15, first-and-25, first-and-30 a couple times. You’re not going to win football games if you’re in those positions. Making sure we eliminate those mental mistakes and move the ball forward.”
Decker did not sound overly concerned about his hamstring. He was limited in practice on Friday, too.
“I had a little bit of a hamstring thing,” Decker said. “I just wanted to make sure I was smart and got good reps in. I’m looking forward to Thursday night [when the Jets face the Colts in the preseason].”
Running back Chris Johnson saw his first live action since he underwent knee surgery in January. He rushed the ball five times for 14 yards, and said he felt good to be back out there.
“I got a lot out of it,” Johnson said. “It’s my first time being in contact since last year. You know those butterflies, and just going out there and wanting to test my knee out against full contact and tackled to the ground. I came up feeling good.”
The defense came away thrilled with its performance.
“We’re better off than where we were last year at this point,” defensive lineman Sheldon Richardson said. “Everybody is in the right positions to make plays. We’re either making the play or not. I’d rather have that than just blown coverages or blown assignments in the box 7. That’s something I think is a pretty good job all around from [coach] Rex [Ryan] all the way down to the last guy on the depth chart.”
CB Jeremy Reeves intercepted a pass from Matt Simms. … DT T.J. Barnes recovered a Daryl Richardson fumble. … CB Darrin Walls and S Antonio Allen nearly picked off Geno Smith. … OLB Jason Babin had two sacks.