NFL

Calvin Pryor ‘knocked some dudes out’ in smash debut

It has been a quiet preseason for the Jets’ rookie class, but a few of them made some noise in Saturday’s game with the Bengals.

Safety Calvin Pryor led the way. The first-round pick made his debut after dealing with a concussion early in camp, and he made sure people realized he was on the field. Pryor had six tackles, one for a loss, recovered a fumble and defended two passes.

Pryor looked comfortable in his first NFL game and probably will move into the starting lineup this week. He showed his bone-crushing style when he knocked Bengals running back Rex Burkhead out of the game by drilling him behind the line of scrimmage. He also nailed wide receiver Cobi Hamilton, forcing him to drop the ball.

“How would you evaluate Calvin Pryor?” a defiant Rex Ryan said after fielding questions about the rest of his shaky secondary. “Do you give him a plus? I don’t know. He forced like two fumbles, knocked some dudes out. I guess we were right on that one.”

Pryor played a team-high 65 percent of the defensive snaps.

“They brought me here to be an enforcer, and try to make plays and create turnovers, and tonight I did that,” Pryor said. “I feel like that was only the beginning, so I can only get better from here on out, and I’m going to keep trusting and believing in my teammates, and they will do the same.”

Pryor was the headliner, but he was not the only member of general manager John Idzik’s 12-man draft class to have a good night. Second-round pick Jace Amaro had two catches for 24 yards. He made one mistake when he was on the field when he was not supposed to, leading to a 12-men on the field penalty, but overall he played well.

“The one kid reminded me of [Mike] Ditka,” Ryan cracked, referring to his comment last week that Amaro needs to study tapes of the Hall of Fame tight end.

Even some of the late-round picks had an impact. Linebacker IK Enemkpali blocked a punt for a safety and forced a fumble. The sixth-round pick is making a case to land a roster spot when the team cuts the roster to 53 in two weeks.

Seventh-round pick Trevor Reilly had a big night on special teams and forced a fumble.

It’s not all good news for the rookie class. Cornerback Dexter McDougle is done for the season with an ACL tear. Wide receiver Shaq Evans may miss the season with a shoulder injury. Wide receiver Jalen Saunders remained in the hospital Saturday night after what the Jets called a one-car accident on Friday. The team has offered no further information.

Quarterback Tajh Boyd continues to struggle. The sixth-round pick from Clemson has looked terrible in camp and he kept it going against the Bengals. He went 1-for-5 for 6 yards in his first game action. He missed an easy throw to a wide-open Chris Pantale. Even Ryan, Boyd’s biggest advocate, admitted it was a poor performance.

“Dang, Tajh you’re a better player than that,” Ryan said. “We just have to get him going. Come on kid, I’ve seen you play way better than that.”

The Jets can live with the late-rounders struggling if Pryor keeps playing the way he did. He came as advertised, delivering big hits and getting a turnover.

“I just wanted to try to get a little action,” Pryor said. “I was happy, man. I was really happy for my dad ‘cause it’s his birthday, I told him I was gonna try to create a turnover or something for him. I feel like I did that tonight.”