Unseasoned Nuggets from London
Having attended this weekend's game and practice, we thought we'd share some brief behind the scenes nuggets...
- Practice takes place in a completely unique setting on farmland behind the team's hotel in a small town about half an hour north of London:
Practice itself is pretty uneventful because the team essentially just stretches and does a few individual drills, many of which are the same ones they do in pre-game anyway. Then they throw the media out to work on gameplan-based stuff.
If any team was minded to spy on the other team to find out their gameplan, it probably wouldn't be difficult to hide in a hedge. There was even two children bouncing on a trampoline in a farmhouse garden at the top of the hill that overlooked the entire field.
The most interesting thing they did was a go-route drill where each receiver in turn runs, throws up their hand to indicate they're open over the top (some did this more enthusiastically than others) and then catches the pass. Most did a conventional over the shoulder catch but a few of the starters attempted or made circus catches for no apparent reason. Allen Lazard tried to catch it behind his back but failed. Mike Williams drew oohs and aahs by snagging it one handed over his head like he was the Air Jordan logo or something.
Two players were in black jerseys, including wide receiver Brandon Smith. Presumably this is the Jets' current non-contact practice jersey unless those players had some kind of specific role to play on the scout team or special teams drills later on in the practice.
The uniforms are as glorious up close and personal as they are on TV. There was something special about finally fulfilling those childhood dreams of one day seeing these in person.
Breece Hall was catching kickoffs before the game. Not sure if that's a normal part of his warmup routine or if they have plans to get him in the mix at some point.
The press box is about as close to the action as any NFL stadium, but this has its drawbacks. Despite the seats being undercover, rain hits you in the face if the wind is blowing that way, which it was throughout the second half. If Justin Jefferson can't catch a routine pass in these conditions, how can an amateur writer be expected to deliver a good article?
For some reason the press box announcer kept crediting every play that Isaiah Oliver made to Isaiah Davis, so the Jets rookie running back actually unofficially had five tackles and a sack despite only playing on special teams. But then Ty Chandler, (the Vikings #32) made a couple of plays and the press box announcer credited those to Isaiah Davis too. So he also had 39 yards from scrimmage in addition to (for real) 50 kickoff return yards. Every one was like "Isaiah Davis is everywhere!" One media member even called him the Shohei Ohtani of the NFL. Longtime TJB/JetsFix readers will understand though, Davis is the JB Shugarts for a new generation.
Postgame access was limited and the only player who spoke to JetsFix directly was Solomon Thomas, who performed well having moved into a role where he played almost exclusively at defensive end. For what it's worth, his arms are cartoonishly massive.
We'll return to our usual postgame schedule with the AFR and ST review tomorrow before moving onto 3-on-D and 3-on-O on Wednesday and Thursday.