New York Post, Tuesday, August 13, 2019nypost.com42
By BRIAN COSTELLOTh is is how ba d theJe ts co r-
nerback situation hasgotten: Pro
Bowl safety JamalAdams isoffer-
ingto move there.
“If they need meto go to cor-
ner, I’ll go to corner,” Adamssaid
Monday. “I’m dead serious.”
That is not happening... yet.
But theJets sustained another
injuryat cornerback inMonday’s
practice and the position that
wasaconcernwhen camp began
is fast approaching DEFCON 1.
Kyron Brownleft practice with
a hamstring injury one day after
re placingTr umaineJo hnson in
the starting lineup after John-
son sufferedahamstring injury
in practice.Though it isn’t as if
Brown is a proven commodity;
he’s an undrafted rookie out of
Akron.
The Jets first-teamcorner-
backs onMonday were: the
often-doubted Darryl Roberts
and Arthur Maulet—athird-year
player with limitedexperience in
two seasons with theSaints— on
the outside and BrianPoole—
who’s in hisfirst season with the
Jets after three seasons with the
Falcons— in the slot.
CoachAdam Gase put the best
spin on the situation as possible,
but this is thetype of problem
that can sinka season.
“I guessIdon’t lookat it like
that,” Gasesaid. “I lookat it as
Trumaine is down right now,this isa great opportunity fora
lotof guys. Like somebody has
a chance to stepup and makea
namefor themselves. Somebody
hasa chance to getin with that
first defense, go against our wide
receivers,go against ouroffense
andSam [Darnold] and those
guys and see ifa guy canpl ay at
that high level.”
Cornerbackwas arguably the
weakest position before Johnson
went down.Now, Johnsoncould
miss the startof theregular sea-
son. Gasewould notgo that far
on Monday, only sayingJohnson
is “week-to -week,” but theregu-
lar season is less thanfour weeks
awayanda hamstring injuryfora
cornerback is significant.
“He wants to be out there when
weget going in theregular sea-
sonfor sure,” Gasesaid. “To me,
he’ll doeverything he can. Some-
times it’s how the body reacts,
how does therehabgo, how does
the strength andconditioning
go. Yo u can have a setback, so if
things go smooth, hopefully we
get him
back.”Gasewas asked ifJohnson
could miss months.
“I don’t think it’s goingto be
months, butImeanwe’ll see,” he
said. “We’re goingto be week-to-
we ek right now. It ’s all go ingto
be about how his body responds
to therehab and the strength
guys getaholdof him and stuff.”
The Jets did littleto improve
the position thisoffs easonwhen
fo rmerge neral manager Mike
Maccagnanwas in charge. They
re-signedRoberts andsigned
Pooleto replace Buster Skrine.
In the draft, they took only Bless
Austin in the sixthround, but he
is recovering from an injury and
is nota short-term answer.
Now, new GMJoe Douglas is
left to scour thewaiver wire or
possibly find a trade partner, but
go od cornerbacks are fo und in
March(early free agency) and
April(e arly in the draft),
notAugust or September.
Two of Douglas’fo r-
merteams— the Eagles
and the Ravens — have
depthat cornerback, so
the y ar e possible trade
partners,or Douglascould claimpl ay-
ers they cut when rosters are
trimmed.
“That’s what personnelguys get
paid for, they spend all their time
doingthat, goingthroughwaiver
wires,going throughto see about
trades,” Gasesaid. “They evalu-
ate that stuff. Whowehave on
theroster and theguys that
we’re working with out there,
those are theguys that we’re
playing with and until some-
body tells us different.”
In the meantime, it is on
defensive coordinator Gregg
Wi lliamsto ge t creative. Pe o-
ple in the NFL like to joke that
the third ‘G’ inWi lliams’fi rst
name standsfor genius.We’re
about to find out.
“Gregg willwelcome that,”
Gasesaid. “He loves it. He’d
love to be able
scheme thingsup.
He’ll figure it out,
that’s why he’s
been doing
this as long as
he has.”
brian.costello
@nypost.comCRISIS CORNER
Jets lose another CB, leaving
huge questions in secondary
FOR WHOM THE
BELL ROLLSThiswasLe’Veon Bell’s
strongest practice of the
summer. The runningba ck
receiveda heavyworkload
and was very active. Hewas
hitting holes with force and
was not shyingaway from
contact. He looksready to
go.O-LINE LIMBO
The starting offensive
line is getting no time to
work together and build
chemistry. CenterRyan
Kalilhas not started doing
team drillsyet. Right guard
Brian Wintersis out witha
shoulder injury. Left guard
Kelechi Osemelehurt his
pectoral muscle Monday.
This group needsre ps
together and it is possible
they don’t get any before
Week 1.CAUGHT MY EYE
QBDavis Webb
had a terrible
game against
the Giants last
week and now
may be ina
fight for the
third-string job.
Webb andLuke
Falk(right)
alternated
series with
the third team
Monday.MEDICAL
REPORTKelechi Osemelemay
have strained his pectoral
muscle andwas undergoing
tests.... DEHenry Anderson
left practice aftera big hit
and was being checked
for a concussion.... CB
Kyron Brownleft practice
witha hamstring injury.
... CBTrumaine Johnson
(hamstring) could be out
for a while. CoachAdam
Gase said it could beweeks
before Johnson isback. ... RG
Brian Winters(shoulder) and
DELeonard Williams(hip)
continue to sit out.
— Brian CostelloTRAINING
DAY
TRAININGTRAINING
HURTSKEEPONCOMING:AstheJetslearlearlearnedTrumaineJohnson
couldmissthestartoftheseasonandhishisreplacement,replacement,KyronBrown,
leftMonday’spractice,theywereleftwithwiththesuspectsuspecttrioof(fromleft)
BrianPoole,ArthurMauletandDarrylRoberRobertsastheirstartingcorners.