Vernon Gholston has not had the impact you would expect a top-10 draft pick to have, but the Jets rookie drew some extended playing time against Tennessee, and the praise of his head coach.
“I think this is probably his best game defensively,” Eric Mangini said. “He didn’t get an overwhelming amount of opportunities, but the opportunities he did get, I thought he did a good job with.”
Gholston, who had one tackle Sunday, has played consistently on special teams but has not broken through at outside linebacker. Mangini said Gholston’s development maybe slowed by moving from
defensive end, where he played in college, to linebacker.
“There is a lot from going with your hand in the dirt to standing up, and then standing up and having a different approach each week,” Mangini said. “That really takes some getting used to.”
Even so, Gholston, the sixth pick in the draft, must be considered a disappointment so far. The two other linebackers i 1/2
taken in the first round after him have outplayed him. Keith Rivers was starting for Cincinnati before breaking his jaw.
Jerod Mayo has been unreal for New England, as the Jets saw firsthand when he had 20 tackles two weeks ago against them.
OT D’Brickashaw Ferguson always seems like a quiet guy, but QB Brett Favre revealed yesterday the left tackle has shown
some fire.
“Having a little spunk about you is not a bad thing – [Ferguson] got in a little scrap one day with [defensive end] Shaun Ellis,” Favre said. “Everybody laughed, stuff like that. Most people were like, man we haven’t seen that side of Brick. Maybe Alan [Faneca] is rubbing off on him a little bit.”
LB David Harris (groin) and S Eric Smith (concussion) returned to practice yesterday. Both players have missed the last four
games…. RB Leon Washington was named the team’s offensive player of the week, S Abram Elam won the defensive player of the week and Marques Murrell received the special teams award.