Last night, those who sat down to watch “Hard Knocks” were given an insider’s view into Jets’ training camp. The hour-long episode consisted of surprising subplots, laughable moments, on-field gems, and plenty of Rexisms. Here is just a sprinkling of the highlights from the series premiere:
1) Sanchez’s one-handed catch: The guy’s got a set of hands. I’m not one to get all too excited about one or two impressive catches, but Sanchez had me sold. Let’s dial up a few quarterback throwbacks or prepare some Smith-to-Sanchez wildcat pass options as part of our trick play packages.
2) Jenkins’ post-scrimmage chatter to Damien Woody and the rest of the offense: “That’s called gettin’ your ass whooped! Sit down!” If Jenkins’ knee holds up as well as his trash talk, he should be more than ready for the wear and tear of a complete NFL season.
3) An Inside Look at Mike Tannenbaum and Woody Johnson: In addition to their philosophizing about how even NFL agents are human beings, the cameras offered some interesting snippets of the two with their negotiating game-faces on. (It was reassuring to hear that Tannenbaum has had at least one “non-negative” conversation with Neil Schwartz.) It will be interesting to see how the show’s producers continue to develop this story on future episodes, especially if things get nasty and Tannenbaum seeks a bit more censorship.
4) Rex Ryan’s Mouth: We knew it was coming, and it still managed to shock the world. Quite frankly, I’m shocked by those who were appalled by his language. Fat Francesa went so far as to say that Rex was clearly just screaming and cursing for the audience’s consumption, and that Tom Coughlin would never do such a thing, especially in front of a camera. When a caller noted that Coughlin isn’t exactly shy with words when he’s screaming at players during nationally televised Monday Night Football games, Fat Francesa promptly disconnected the caller (but not before the caller murmured “I hate you.”). Fat Francesa and anyone else who is horrified by coaches’ passion clearly haven’t played a game of football in their life; if they had, they would know that fiery speeches and open language are part of the reality of coaching football- which is exactly what “Hard Knocks” is meant to depict.
5) The Fullback Competition: And my, oh my, what a competition it is. Jason Davis and John Conner (a.k.a. The Terminator) are shaping as two very solid fullbacks, and they’re not even the starters. Tony Richardson finally got some credit and was given his own segment in which Brian Schottenheimer dubbed him an “instrumental” part of last year’s success, and deservedly so. With Richardson likely to see lots of rest in the preseason games, it will be interesting to see how the improved wayfarer and the rookie out of Kentucky play in their Monday night preseason debut with the Jets.
6) Rex Ryan and Co.: Forget Café Lex, try Café Rex. The coaching staff seems to be getting along just fine with the players, and Ryan proved to be a “Hard Knocks” star (no surprise there). On top of fining fellow coaches for shirtlessness and tanning oil, Ryan seems to demand trust from his players by being honest (sometimes too honest, at least for Aaron Kia: “That 76 is awful. Oh my god is he bad.”), and knows how to motivate his players in ways other than passionate speeches- he gave LaDanian Tomlinson a bundle of all the negative articles that had been written about the former San Diego Charger… I’m looking forward to next week’s segment on the antithesis of “player’s best-friend,” the revered Mike Westhoff.
The production of “Hard Knocks” seems to be shaping up just fine. Let’s hope the Jets do, too.
Stay tuned.
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