The first practice of Jets rookie minicamp was not your father's first practice of rookie minicamp. Head coach Robert Saleh explained that the accent Friday was less on what the team's first-year draft picks, free agent signees and tryouts did in 7-on-7 drills and more on what they did with the team's strength and conditioning coaches, not suffering a devastating injury on day one, on being creative instead of creature-like in pressuring the quarterback.
None of that mattered to Ahmad "Sauce" Gardner. He's still as hot as a habanero about finally wearing the full green and white.
"It felt good to be in a Jets uniform," Gardner told team reporters following the midday session at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. "Man, it just felt good, like a dream come true. You get into college and you're still trying to put that work in to get where I am today. It felt good, but it's still square one for me at the same time, so I have a lot to prove."
Perhaps less to prove than some other cornerbacks in the 2022 NFL Draft, since the Jets tabbed the Cincinnati Bearcats cornerback No. 4 overall. Gardner dug into several gameday topics that the reporters peppered him with in his short news conference.
On playing more zone coverage in the pros than he did in college: "I like playing zone. I feel like it's easier. I like what everyone around me is doing so I know what to do, when to be there. I feel like I'm a great zone player, too."
On some opposing wideout landmarks that he uses to play his patented press-man coverage: "People say look at the waist, just keep it there at the waist. I have something different that I look at. ... [but] I don't want receivers seeing that because then they'll be trying to do stuff differently."
On film study, which becomes so much more important in the NFL: "Oh, yeah, most definitely. It doesn't matter how young I am, how old I am, I'm always going to try to help others. ... At Cincinnati, you play press coverage and you'd better be studying film or you're going to get beat a lot. I always prided myself on studying film, knowing where the other 10 guys on defense are going to be. I study film a lot."
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May 07, 2022 at 04:32AM
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