The Jets get to reacquaint with a familiar face Saturday, but this will be anything but a grudge match.
Defensive tackle Damon “Snacks” Harrison is gone but not forgotten by Gang Green, and neither his former coach nor ex-teammates are holding the fact that the former undrafted free agent signed a big-bucks deal with their crosstown rivals against him.
That’s why the Jets sound more like proud parents watching their kid go off to college as they prepare to square off against Harrison and the Giants in their annual preseason matchup at MetLife Stadium.
“I know the person, not just the football player,” Jets coach Todd Bowles said Thursday when asked about Harrison. “I know what he stands for and what he is. From that standpoint, I’m proud of him.”
The Jets didn’t want to lose Harrison, 27, but couldn’t come close to matching the five-year, $46 million deal he landed from the Giants last spring that included an $8 million signing bonus and $24 million guaranteed.
It hurt to watch Harrison depart because the 6-foot-4, 350-pound plugger was a key reason for the Jets’ dominance against the run last season. Bowles’ team ranked first in the league in run-scoring defense and allowed the second-fewest rushing yards in 2015 with Harrison starting all 16 games.
The Jets signed former Steelers backup tackle Steve McLendon — who at 280 pounds is 70 pounds lighter than Harrison’s listed weight — to plug the hole created by Harrison’s departure, but it remains to be seen if that will be enough.
“I can tell you at the end of the season [if the Jets have made up for Harrison’s exit], but it’s definitely a big hole to fill,” Bowles said Thursday. “But we’ve got guys who know how to play, and we’ll play certain ways to try to get better numbers.”
Bowles’ reference to “certain ways” also explains why the Jets are in a forgiving mood with Harrison. Gang Green is still loaded with defensive-line talent, and this could allow Bowles to have his three best linemen — Sheldon Richardson, Muhammad Wilkerson and Leonard Williams — on the field at the same time more often.
Richardson, who is still one of Harrison’s close friends, said the Jets might actually be better off with McLendon because McLendon is a better pass rusher.
“We’ll be all right,” Richardson said Thursday. “We’ve got a guy here who’s going to do the same thing [as Harrison] in Steve McClendon, and he’s a little more versatile. He’ll be more effective in the pass rush and stout in the run game.”
Bowles grew so tight with Harrison that Harrison even relied on Bowles as a sounding board in free agency — an unusual arrangement between player and coach in today’s NFL, to say the least, especially considering Harrison ended up signing with another team.
But Harrison was so popular in the Jets’ locker room that Bowles and his former teammates say they couldn’t help but get close to him.
“It’ll be great to see him,” Bowles said. “I wish him success against everybody but us. He’s a real good friend of mine, and I kept in touch throughout the whole process he was going through. It’ll be good to see him. I just don’t want to see him too much [in the Jets’ backfield].”
Richardson, though, wasn’t about to let Harrison sign with the Giants without at least one dig, especially after Harrison announced to his former teammates last week he was ceasing their regular Madden video games and was “cutting off all communication” until after Saturday’s game.
“It’s definitely going to be a little different seeing him in Big Blue,” Richardson said. “He’s going to look weird in that uniform. Like a big blueberry.”