With the question of when All-World cornerback Darrelle Revis would return answered, the countdown to the season now comes into focus.
After waiting 36 days for Revis to end his holdout, the New York Jets now have just five days until the season kicks off against Baltimore on Monday night.
The star cornerback is just happy to be back with his team and getting ready for the season.
“It feels good. This is like my second home. I feel at home. It’s good to see everybody,” Revis told reporters after practice on Monday. “It’s a good feeling to be around these guys and see their personalities again and just be around them.”
While Revis is just glad to be home, Jets fans can be at ease. And there is even a silver lining to Revis’s absence. New York found out first-round pick Kyle Wilson can play now.
The Boise State product showed he could be a starting cornerback on most teams in the league. If it weren’t for the acquisition of Antonio Cromartie and the return of Revis, he’d be starting for the Jets.
With starters reps for the entire camp, Wilson is ready to contribute Week 1, and will. In a pass-driven league, an extra guy in the secondary is becoming more and more common and could soon become a base defense.
Wilson will be key as the nickel back. It also allows cornerback Dwight Lowery to shift to the dime, which suits him better.
The secondary is poised to be one of the best in the league.
“That’s one of our goals,” Revis said. “To be the best.”
Having three cornerbacks that can start also opens up what head coach Rex Ryan likes to do best—blitz.
Ryan likes to bring the blitz from anywhere and everywhere, and blitzes from the secondary are common. Expect Wilson to blitz from the nickel a lot, especially with linebacker Calvin Pace out for the first few weeks of the season due to a foot injury.
Most importantly, Revis just makes a great defense that much better.
“Revis Island” takes away the opposing team’s No. 1 wide receiver without a double team or safeties rolling coverage to his side.
Cromartie is also one of the best in the league—when he wants to be—which will equate to more blitzes from the secondary (i.e., Wilson from the nickel).
Add into the mix Kris Jenkins back at nose tackle and the league’s best defense from that season gets better. Jenkins demands a center and a guard to block him on every play, opening up for more exotic blitzes from the Ryan.
So with Revis back, the real question that remains is the one that the Jets really need to worry about—Mark Sanchez taking the leap forward in his second year.
After waiting 36 days for Revis to end his holdout, the New York Jets now have just five days until the season kicks off against Baltimore on Monday night.
The star cornerback is just happy to be back with his team and getting ready for the season.
“It feels good. This is like my second home. I feel at home. It’s good to see everybody,” Revis told reporters after practice on Monday. “It’s a good feeling to be around these guys and see their personalities again and just be around them.”
While Revis is just glad to be home, Jets fans can be at ease. And there is even a silver lining to Revis’s absence. New York found out first-round pick Kyle Wilson can play now.
The Boise State product showed he could be a starting cornerback on most teams in the league. If it weren’t for the acquisition of Antonio Cromartie and the return of Revis, he’d be starting for the Jets.
With starters reps for the entire camp, Wilson is ready to contribute Week 1, and will. In a pass-driven league, an extra guy in the secondary is becoming more and more common and could soon become a base defense.
Wilson will be key as the nickel back. It also allows cornerback Dwight Lowery to shift to the dime, which suits him better.
The secondary is poised to be one of the best in the league.
“That’s one of our goals,” Revis said. “To be the best.”
Having three cornerbacks that can start also opens up what head coach Rex Ryan likes to do best—blitz.
Ryan likes to bring the blitz from anywhere and everywhere, and blitzes from the secondary are common. Expect Wilson to blitz from the nickel a lot, especially with linebacker Calvin Pace out for the first few weeks of the season due to a foot injury.
Most importantly, Revis just makes a great defense that much better.
“Revis Island” takes away the opposing team’s No. 1 wide receiver without a double team or safeties rolling coverage to his side.
Cromartie is also one of the best in the league—when he wants to be—which will equate to more blitzes from the secondary (i.e., Wilson from the nickel).
Add into the mix Kris Jenkins back at nose tackle and the league’s best defense from that season gets better. Jenkins demands a center and a guard to block him on every play, opening up for more exotic blitzes from the Ryan.
So with Revis back, the real question that remains is the one that the Jets really need to worry about—Mark Sanchez taking the leap forward in his second year.
Tune in every Friday night from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. (EST) on WSRU-FM as Matt Sugam co-hosts Scarlet Football Fever discussing Rutgers football as well as the New York Jets and Giants.
