SB Nation - Antonio Garay

Jets Flight Connections 121009

dvdvil — Thu, 10 Dec 2009 13:15:55 -0000

HC Rex Ryan decided that QB Mark Sanchez will not play this Sunday. Rich Cimini reminds us that he thought of it first.

Fellow rookie and first round pick QB Matthew Stafford will not start either.

Fellow rookie and first round pick QB Josh Freeman is getting ready for the Jets game.

The Buccaneers have their work cut out for them, and having WR Michael Clayton might help.

The state of the upcoming opponent had nothing to do with the Sanchize being inactive. Attached to Dave Hutchinson's article are videos of Rex, Mark and back-up QB Kellen Clemens.

Hofstra product and Tampa Bay HC Raheem Morris knows the Jets just plan to run the ball anyway.

Clemens will get another chance to start, possibly his last shot to show what he can do. WR Braylon Edwards compares Kellen's situation to Browns QB Derek Anderson's experience.

The Jets and the Giants are keeping New York somewhat optimistic.

Former Giants RB Tiki Barber thought Mark would be okay to play.

Speaking of RBs, I once again urge you to vote early and vote often for Thomas Jones for FedEx Ground Player of the Week.

And again, you can send CB Darrelle Revis and other Jets all-stars to Miami by voting them in the ProBowl.

More connections after the jump.

Here is a nice summation of the Jets' clearest path to the playoffs.

ESPN.com says the Jets are in good position with their running backs.

RB Leon Washington is a big bargain. Browns HC Eric Mangini thinks highly of him.

Do the Jets actually have "the best front seven" out of the top five defensive teams right now?

This article names Darrelle Revis as Defensive Player of the Week.

This blogger compares Revis to 1994 Defensive Player of the Year Deion Sanders.

This blogger, for some reason, compares and contrasts the Jets to the Cowboys over the years.

Even K Jay Feely should have a productive Sunday for fantasy football. Pick Thomas Jones for your running back this week, as well as the Jets defense.

This article mentions Jaguars RB Maurice Jones-Drew's no-TD play against New York, as well as his experience with Jets fans.

University of Washington QB Jake Locker looks at Mark Sanchez's decision to turn pro.

Even though Patriots QB Tom Brady recently became a daddy, he still made it to work on time, unlike these guys.

New England activated DL Titus Adams, who used to be on the Jets practice squad.

San Diego activated DT Antonio Garay, who used to be on the Jets practice squad.

Miami LBs Jason Taylor and Joey Porter did not practice.

Bills WR Terrell Owens says, "Just shoot me."

And lastly, here is a video of the Jets defensive players talking about their squad:

Howard Green Resigned

John B — Wed, 21 Oct 2009 11:38:57 -0000

In an unsurprising move, the Jets resigned Howard Green to take Kris Jenkins' spot on the roster.

Jenkins tore his left ACL in Sunday's 16-13 OT loss to Buffalo. Green, expected to help fill in for Jenkins, was released last Saturday to make room on the active roster for wide receiver Danny Woodhead.

The Jets also signed defensive tackle Antonio Garay to the practice squad.

Green was the most obvious choice since he knows the system. He'll probably be the new Sione Pouha where Pouha will try and fill Jenkins' big shoes.

Is Chris Samuels a dirty player?

Skin Patrol — Sat, 06 Sep 2008 17:27:33 -0000

The good news, hat tip Big Blue View, is that Mathias Kiwanuka will live:

I was already in the tunnel under the stadium when I heard he was injured on the last play of the Giants 16-7 win tonight, and I saw him walking gingerly toward the X-Ray room after the game with the trainers at his side. But he walked without a limp, both to that room and to the locker room.

And when he returned, he said he was “OK.”

In case you don't know, in the waining seconds of Thursday's fight, Chris Samuels was called for offensive holding on Mathias Kiwanuka. Kiwanuka appeared to hurt his ankle or leg on the play though, fortunately, he appears to be ok.

X-rays must've been negative. You never like to see a player get injured, especially at the very end of an already-over game. I don't like the Giants, but I don't will injury on even my rival teams or players. This is a game. When people get injured, it affects their livelihood. And while I applaud the violence of this game most of the time, I don't really want people to experience devastating and extended physical pain of the kind that comes from broken bones. Wind knocked out of you, walk it off? Cool. Shattered ribs? Not cool.

So no harm no foul, right? Wrong, so sayeth Kiwanuka (hat tip: AOL Fanhouse):

"Honestly, I thought it was a dirty play," Kiwanuka said. "There's no question about it, he was definitely beat. Instead of recovering or giving up or whatever options you have ... I don't think there's any place for that in the NFL."

More from Kiwanuka:

"As an NFL player, there's going to be times when you're going to get beat," Kiwanuka said. "For a guy to turn around and ... basically he tackled me, after I beat him around the edge. It's uncalled for."

Samuels former teammate Antonio Pierce had a slightly different take:

"It shouldn't have happened, but it happened," LB Antonio Pierce said of the play. "Our guy is okay, he's healthy. That's all that matters right now. ... It's smart on (Samuels') behalf. No doubt. If David Diehl or Kareem (McKenzie) was in that position, I'd expect them to do the same thing. They could go about it a different way, maybe. I wouldn't want them to try to almost injure a guy and have him out for a couple of weeks. From that standpoint, that's disappointing, but I would expect our guys to protect Eli."

That's how Justin Tuck feels as well, emphasis added:

"I understand his reasons for doing it, I don't necessarily agree with it," Tuck added. "You're putting a player's health in the balance there, that's always going to be questionable. But I know Chris. He's not a guy like that (who would) try to take out another guy. It was just a bad judgment play."

I don't think we're going to get Redskins fans or players and Giants fans or players to agree one what it is that happened, exactly, as partisans for either team will see it however they want to see it. As I was drunk by the time this happened (what else do you do in a 9 point loss?) I don't remember seeing much of the actual play, but I do distinctly remember seeing Samuels standing near Kiwanuka immediately after, motioning towards the Giants sideline, and looking generally contrite over the incident. It kind of reminded me of Lawrence Taylor over Joe Theisman. At the time I wrote that it was unfortunate but that the manner Samuels acted afterwards certainly didn't appear to be that of a guy intentionally trying to injure another player.

I'm reluctant to bring up a similar incident in fear of establishing a damning pattern, but I think it speaks to Samuels as a player and provides an opportunity to quote others defending his character. You might recall that in December of last year, Samuels broke the leg of Antonio Garay:

Last Thursday, Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels hit Bears defensive tackle Antonio Garay with an illegal chop block, breaking Garay's leg and ending his season...

The officials missed it and Samuels wasn't flagged on the play, but he was later fined $12,500.

How is this supposed to speak highly for Samuels? It was what he did afterwards that mattered, emphasis added:

Redskins offensive tackle Chris Samuels recently called Bears coach Lovie Smith to apologize for delivering an illegal chop block that ended defensive tackle Antonio Garay’s season...

“It’s not like he had to [call to apologize],” Smith said. “I know what type of football player he is. He’s not a dirty player or anything like that. But it says a lot about a guy who’s sorry for something that was unfortunate.”..

“It’s not something he tried to do on purpose,” Smith said. “Things like that happen in the game of football sometime.”

Similarly, Samuels apparently spoke with Tom Coughlin after the game, emphasis added again:

Added coach Tom Coughlin, "I spoke to (Samuels) after and he said, 'That wasn't intentional.'"

Chris Samuels has started 125 games to date in the National Football League
which is plenty of time for peers to compellingly level charges of persistent dirty play if indeed he is that kind of player. As far as I can tell, Samuels does not have a reputation as a dirty player. He's very well liked by teammates and when print is written about him, it's almost always in a positive light. I don't know Chris Samuels, but I've never had any reason to suspect he's a dirty player. And I am perfectly happy, unlike Kiwanuka, drawing the line between dirty plays and merely unfortunate ones at: Intent. A dirty play, in my mind, is one where a player either intends to injure or intends an act so reckless that injurious results are more likely than not to follow. I wish I had video of the incident in question, though am comfortable claiming from my (admittedly inebriated) recollection from the game, the play was far from so reckless that injury was a necessary result. And taking Samuels at his word, and the history, I very seriously doubt that Samuels intended to harm anyone on that play.

I trust that Samuels is not a dirty player. I am pleased Mathias Kiwanuka is uninjured. I don't fault Kiwanuka for being upset over the incident -- he's the one who damn near suffered a livelihood affecting injury, afterall -- but I respectfully disagree with his assertion that my offensive lineman is a dirty player.