Jets coach Rex Ryan has become so exasperated by his revolving door of inconsistent punters since he’s been here, he said yesterday he’s not looking for anything heroic out of his newest punter — Steve Weatherford, who was signed on Monday.
“We might not need a home run every time from a guy, but we need some singles,” Ryan said yesterday.
“That’s what we’re looking for. We just need a consistent pro. Knock it out there and we’ll go cover it. I think we have outstanding coverage teams. We’ll play defense.”
Hopefully for the Jets, Weatherford, the seventh punter signed or claimed by the Jets since the end of the 2008 season (that number includes incumbent Reggie Hodges, who was released in April before being re-signed in June), will be a consistent singles hitter.
“We signed one [A.J.Trapasso] and brought another one [Weatherford] in,” Ryan said. “The one we brought in beat the other one out, so we’ll go from there. He’s wearing No. 9 right now, but we’ll probably change that jersey number since we had about eight punters try to wear that.”
Weatherford, who worked out for the Jets on Monday morning and beat out Trapasso, a waiver-wire claim, for the job, believes he’ll be the guy to fill the void.
“I think it’s going to be a really good fit for everybody,” Weatherford said.
“I get along really well with [special-teams coach Mike Westhoff]. My strengths are what he likes, so I think it will work out real well. I’m flattered that they thought highly enough of me to bring me in right away.”
Weatherford, who was beaten out for the Jags’ punting job by Adam Podlesh, said, “I got out-punted in preseason games, but that doesn’t mean I punted badly. I was doing what I’ve done the last four years — 44-yard gross, 4.5 [second] hang time, 38-yard net. That’s kind of my MO. But Adam was lighting it up.
“In my exit meeting with [Jags] coach [Jack] Del Rio, he was thrilled with my punting but he said, ‘I can’t cut a guy who’s leading the NFL in net punting.’ ”
In three NFL seasons, he’s punted 199 times for a gross average of 43.5 yards and a net of 36.4. Last season, playing for the Saints, Chiefs and Jags, he averaged 42.7-yards gross and 34.1-yards net.
In an odd six-degrees-of-separation situation, Weatherford was replaced last season in New Orleans by Ben Graham, who’d been released by the Jets. And, Weatherford is good friends with Hodges, the punter the Jets cut on Monday.
“I’ve known for a while [the Jets] haven’t been happy with the punting situation here, so this was one of the places I had my eye on,” Weatherford said. “There’s like a cluster of 35 guys that are really good punters right now and there are 32 jobs.”
The Jets hope they’ve found, at the least, one of the best 32 in the league in Weatherford, because they’re tired of searching for new punters.
Asked if he feels added pressure coming to the Jets considering the problems they’ve had at punter, Weatherford said, “No, they’re just looking for a guy to come in here and be consistent.
“They don’t need a guy to come out and hit 70-yard punts,” he added. “I’m going to hit the ball 45 yards every time, I’m going to give you good hang time, and do my job and go home.”
