| | By John Clayton
ESPN.com
HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Wayne Chrebet borrowed a Superman T-shirt so that he would have something
to wear during the sixth day of Jets training camp.
"He's pretty close to
Superman, I'll tell you," quarterback Vinny Testaverde said.
|  | | Wayne Chrebet must make fans forget about Keyshawn Johnson. |
Until Testaverde's gang of "green" receivers catch up to the veteran receiver's route-running proficiency, Chrebet better be able to deke taller
defenders every down. Rusty but moderately mobile coming
off Achilles' tendon surgery, Testaverde often dropped back only to watch Dedric Ward,
Laveranues Coles, Yatil Green and others struggling to free themselves from
the clutches of veteran Jets cornerbacks.
Chrebet, meanwhile, consistently angled his squat frame at defenders, made
a quick turn on his ankles and gained instant 5-yard separation from the
cornerback. Unfortunately, there isn't enough Chrebet to go around on every
play, and as Chrebet knows, he must perform well enough to make Jets fans
forget about Keyshawn Johnson, who was traded to Tampa Bay before the draft.
"Obviously, it's going to be tough for one guy to replace him, so we are
going to do it by committee," Chrebet said about replacing Johnson. "Dedric Ward is going to surprise a lot of people. And I still think we
have a lot of weapons on offense."
Except for Chrebet, the committee will be under review throughout training
camp to determine if coach Al Groh needs new members. The problem is that
the Jets have elected to be cap-strapped enough that available replacements
such as Carl Pickens, Sean Dawkins, Andre Hastings will be long gone by the
time the Jets will know if they have the right mix of receivers.
Groh is quite comfortable to roll the dice with this young group of
receivers, which also includes fifth-round choice Windrell Hayes, who missed
Wednesday's practice to be in southern California to be with a sick mother.
As a starting group, they are short in NFL standards. Chrebet is 5-foot-10, Ward
5-9. After Chrebet, Ward (65 receptions) and Green (18, roughly eight more catches than
he's had knee surgeries) are the only receivers at the top of the rotation
with NFL catches.
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Wed, July 19
If there is any doubt that the Jets are a defensive
dominated team, watch their goal-line offense. During
Wednesday's practice, linebacker Dwayne Gordon lined
up at fullback. On various days, linebackers Bryan Cox
and James Farrior do the same.
The innovative idea is something from the mind of coach
Al Groh and his staff. Richie Anderson is their main
fullback, but he's more of a good runner who blocks well
when he's coming at a defender from an angle. In
goal-line situations, big fullbacks who crunch the middle like a
runaway truck are more effective.
"On a 53-man roster, it's hard to carry that kind of
specialized player, a hammer fullback who is only used
a short amount of plays," Groh said. "That is a tough
strain on your roster to have that type of player for that
particular role. They are players who are 6-2, 6-3, 245
pounds, 250 pounds who run well and hit hard. That
sounds like a fullback."
From the looks of things, Groh is right. When Gordon
placed the white offensive jersey over his defensive
uniform and let him be the
lead blocker, the Jets scored a couple of running
touchdowns. When he rested and the offense went
without a lead blocker, the offense was stopped.
So what do we call this hybrid -- full-backers?
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"All the draftniks write about such and such receiver and his 40-yard dash
time, but in this league, it's about getting open," Groh said. "To get
open is to get off those jams by cornerbacks. So lateral quickness and
balance is as important as speed."
Groh believes that Coles, a former running back, and Hayes have those
skills, but it will take time for it to show on the field. In the meantime,
Testaverde will have to hold back any frustration in his comeback from
Achilles' tendon surgery.
Testaverde admits to being rusty in the early days, but Groh labled
Testaverde's practice on Wednesday his best of camp. Testaverde feels he is
getting the glide back into his backpedal from center, which is important in setting
up the timing of his passes with receivers. Some of his long passes down the
sideline missed the mark, but he looked particularly sharp in one-on-one
drills in which a receiver worked off a cornerback's jam and receives the
throw once the receiver gains separation.
"I don't worry about throwing," Testaverde said. "If anything, my arm
feels a little stronger because I've had more of a rest from throwing."
Said center Kevin Mawae, "You wouldn't know that he had surgery. He's out
there running around and doing everything else did. He ran
all the conditioning tests with us."
On a few occasions when receivers weren't open, Testaverde sprinted forward
and scrambled for yardage. No, Testaverde isn't a mobile quarterback. Never
was. But his willingness to try a run shows he has confidence that his leg is sound. What affects the confidence of a proud quarterback are receivers
who aren't open, and that problem won't be healed overnight.
"My philosophy whether it's offense or defense is that you do what you can
do," Groh said. "You do what your players' skill dictates. If you are a
stand-in-the-box-hit-a-home-run team then you try to hit home runs. If you are
hit-and-run, then you play hit-and-run."
So the Jets will run their draws with Curtis Martin and watch Chrebet work
his magic on cornerbacks to get open. And if the gang of green receivers
don't learn evasiveness, Vinny up the middle might be a play Jets fans see a
few more times than expected.
John Clayton is the senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.
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ALSO SEE
Clayton's postcard from Jets camp
Clayton Across America: 31 camps in 28 days
Jets: Plenty of room to Groh
NFL Training Camp 2000
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