State of the AFC East: Spring Edition
By J.P. Scott
May 22, 2013; Florham Park, NJ, USA; New York Jets head coach Rex Ryan (left) and general manager John Idzik (right) during the New York Jets organized team activities at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
Greetings, Pats fans!
Here at Musket Fire, we aim to provide you with as much up to the minute content on the Patriots as possible. That said, it’s also good to know your enemy. As such, I’ll be periodically dropping by with news and notes from the other three teams in the AFC East, just to make sure you know what to expect from those teams New England plays twice a year.
With that, let’s look at the State of the AFC East as we get ready to close out the month of May.
BUFFALO BILLS
One of the top stories coming out of Orchard Park this week was the appearance of wide receiver Stevie Johnson at OTAs. Johnson had been nursing a lower back injury but was able to participate at full speed with a full range of motion on Tuesday. This is great news for Bills fans, as the depth chart at receiver behind Johnson is filled largely with young, albeit talented receivers with little-to-no NFL experience. Read more here.
On the other side of the ball, defensive coordinator Mike Pettine is busy installing a scheme that is built largely around the versatility of his players. It sounds like he likes what he sees from his front seven and plans on regularly rotating between a 3-4 and 4-3 during games while masking his in-game changes as best he can. Read more here.
NEW YORK JETS
Mike Goodson, fresh off a May 17 arrest for drug and gun charges, participated in practice on Tuesday. In all seriousness, if Goodson can skirt serious punishment or prolong it until after the season, the Jets could have an underrated yet formidable running back duo with Goodson and Chris Ivory. Read more here.
In the front office, it appears that new general manager John Idzik’s first order of business will be to find a new identity for the Jets. Between on-field performance, off-field legal issues and organizational drama, it appears Idzik has his work cut out for him. Jets fans are hoping he can take some of what he learned in Seattle and apply it in the Big Apple to get similar results. Read more here.
MIAMI DOLPHINS
A lot of Mike Wallace talk coming out of South Florida these days. Wallace claims his new teams has a “college mentality” where everyone is hungry and anxious to achieve a winning record. This drew a bit of attention. As a result, Wallace also took some time out of his day to clear up some things he said that he felt the media and others may have misinterpreted. Read more here.
Back on the field of play, offensive tackle Jonathan Martin is making the transition from right to left tackle in an effort to replace Jake Long. It should be a fairly easy transition for Martin, as he spent his college career playing left tackle for Stanford while protecting Andrew Luck. Read more here.
That’s just a few quick hits on what’s going on around the rest of the AFC East. We’ll have more of these updates for you here on Musket Fire, every time there is a time.
Thanks for reading and Go Pats!