Jets' Mini-Camp: Change Is in the Air

(Photo by Jim McIsaac/Getty Images)

The verb "change" became as much a part of the fabric of American culture over the last year as fireworks is to the Fourth of July and Santa Claus is to Christmas. Unlike the bitter and hateful political arena, where the word has been used and abused, change is clearly in the atmosphere at One Jets Drive in Florham Park New Jersey.

For the entire week, the Jets opened its year-old facility to the public for the first time ever for a series of events and extravaganza that included five practices.

After personally attending the two afternoon practices on Tuesday and Wednesday, it was quite clear that Rex Ryan has changed what used to be a group of timid tightwads into a group of confident, happy, and gracious players.

On Tuesday, Jet fans were allowed to stand alongside the outdoor field-turf practice field with nothing but small advertising billboards separating them from the players. Unlike past years, when fans were forced to stand seemingly miles away from the players, spectators had close contact with the players on this afternoon.

Tuesday showed an entirely different approach: kicker Jay Feeley joked around with the fans when he turned around and told people to duck when the ball was punted in his direction. Later, Feeley walked through the crowd, undeterred of course, to get to the grass practice fields to run some kicking drills.

While setting up an exercise bridge for his tight ends, Mike Devlin, the team's tight end coach, spotted a young fan of five or six, and summoned the youngster over to help him out. The young boy was excited, looked back at his father and then dashed over to Devlin. Devlin gave the boy some pointers about the exercise that he was going to have his tight ends run and let the kid run through the bridge twice, with applause from the fans.

After the practice, players walked right up to the fans to sign autographs, a stark contrast from the team's days at Hofstra, where fans had to run to a 10-foot chain-link fence in the back of the facility, hoping against hope that players would sign.

Wednesday's practice was slightly different. With nearly 2,000 people present, the Jets had to block off the fields with a waist-high soft mesh fence, but the sense of change was still in the air where it was most important...on the field.

Players like Kris Jenkins, Kerry Rhodes, and Bart Scott were talking trash within earshot of the delighted fans and fooling around with their teammates all day long. At one point, Nick Mangold and Jenkins were seen playfully sparing with each other after a play had been completed.

More importantly, the quarterback battle is heating up. Both Kellen Clemens and Mark Sanchez had their moments in mini-camp. Clemens looked sharp in the pocket, standing with more poise against the blitz than Sanchez, and even threw a 50-yard touchdown on Tuesday.

As for Sanchez, he possesses a superb arm, but when faced with a blitz, Sanchez tends to shrink under the pressure and overthrow his receivers. Luckily for Sanchez and the Jets, the young quarterback signed his five-year contract insuring against the possibility of a holdout so he can continue to progress.

If Ryan is going to be right about one thing this season, it is his defense. After viewing the team's new 46 defense over the past two days, the Jets could easily have a top 10 or 15 defense this season. Kris Jenkins was seen playing at defensive end, Bart Scott moved around from inside to outside linebacker, and Shaun Ellis was seen on the outside as well. The Jets threw everything but the kitchen sink at their young quarterbacks on Wednesday, confusing them and forcing costly blocked passes and interceptions.

On Thursday, after the Jets' final open practice, Ryan opened his press conference by thanking all the Jet fans for coming down to support the club throughout the week. That is a rarity; when was the last time that either Herman Edwards or Eric Mangini thanked Jet fans for anything? Change is here. Change is good. Viva Rex Ryan.

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