Could the Jets’ “ground and pound” philosophy be ready to become “air and dare?”
When the NFL lockout ended last week, Jets coach Rex Ryan left a voicemail for fans and said the team would “air it out” this year. Yesterday, Ryan sounded ready to throw.
“I would say when it’s all said and done, we’ll pass the ball more than the first two years I’ve been here,” Ryan said.
He did say they would remain committed to their rushing attack, but with quarterback Mark Sanchez entering his third year, it is time to let it fly.
“I think it’s just the natural progression where Mark is that we’ll be able to throw the ball more effectively than we’ve done the last two years,” Ryan said.
Under Ryan, the Jets led the league in rushing attempts in 2009 and were second last year. They were last in passing attempts in 2009 and 18th last season. The Jets’ passing attack ranked 22nd in the NFL last year. With Santonio Holmes back and with the addition of Plaxico Burress, Sanchez has the targets.
“I think we made some strides in the passing game last year,” offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said. “The thing we need to do is be more consistent. I think absolutely, to air it out, we’re ready for that, we’re comfortable with that, but it’s going to be a week-to-week, game-plan decision.”
In a weird way the lockout may have benefited Sanchez. He raised his profile as the leader of the Jets, organizing camps in California and New Jersey. He also spent a ton of time breaking down game film on his own.
When Sanchez returned to the Jets’ headquarters last week, Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Matt Cavanaugh sat down to watch film with him. Sanchez was calling out what happened on plays before they happened.
“It was like, ‘Wow, he not only looked at the film but truly studied the film,’ ” Schottenheimer said. “Because to be able to just see the scoreboard and to say, here’s what happened, you knew he spent time analyzing and studying the film.”
The biggest thing Sanchez has talked about is raising his completion percentage from 54.8 last year. Schottenheimer and Sanchez spent a day last week watching every incompletion he threw last year. Schottenheimer said it’s not a matter of Sanchez getting more accurate, just making better decisions.
“That’s a huge thing we want to work on,” Schottenheimer said. “With his ability and his arm talent and his accuracy, there’s no reason in the world that he should be a 54-percent passer. A lot of it is the youth of the first two years, him feeling windows or I can make that throw and realizing that NFL football is different than college football. He should have huge jumps this year. That’s what we hope and expect.”
Sanchez looks more comfortable with his teammates already. He is instructing players where to go on certain plays and has spent the first two days of training camp talking to Burress, who cannot practice yet. He admitted that earlier in his career he was sometimes intimidated by the veterans. Ryan named him captain, and Sanchez seems ready to lead the team.
“It’s not my job to keep everybody happy,” he said. “It’s my job to command respect and get their best. Basically, I think when we get into those heated moments we’ve got to understand it’s not personal and we’re trying to win a game. That’s the bottom line.”
The rest of the Jets are ready to see what he can do this year.
“We should be able to do a little bit more,” guard Brandon Moore said. “This will be his third year under the system. He should be going into games a little more confident, and the coaches should understand what he does well and put things in place where it shows up on Sundays.”