Eric Mangini talked yesterday about what rookie left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson needed to do to become a force on the offensive line, something the Jets clearly think he’s capable of.
When it was brought up that relatively lanky Ferguson would be well served to put on a few pounds, Mangini agreed.
“I suggested that he and I have dinner [together] more often,” the head coach said with a grin.
So when Ferguson walked into the locker room minutes later chomping on a hero sandwich, it appeared he already was taking Mangini’s advice.
“No,” said Ferguson – not exactly a scrawny 315, but at 6-foot-6, not as huge as some of his contemporaries – as he put the hero down.
“I was just hungry.” Regardless of the reason, the Jets would like to see Ferguson do even more of that as he continues to develop at the most demanding position on the offensive line.
“You’d always like to get bigger without sacrificing quickness,” linemate Pete Kendall said. “I think as he matures physically, that will happen.” Ferguson has thus far shown flashes of what the Jets saw to make him such a sought-after player, but he also has made plenty of mistakes.
Those errors are even more glaring at left tackle, where Ferguson often is matched up with some of the best defensive linemen in the NFL.
When it was mentioned that Ferguson has had challenges thus far this season, Mangini said, “He has. He’s had a Who’s Who of defensive linemen and every week it’s going to be another.
That’s why it’s exciting to play left tackle.” Mangini smiled as he said this, but the difficulties, particularly for a first-year player, are real. Tomorrow, Ferguson will be tested by Miami’s Jason Taylor and he’s already gone up against the Colts’ Dwight Freeney.
Despite the inconsistency Ferguson has shown, Kendall said he thinks his teammate has handled his tough situation well and not been affected by his problems.
“If he [has been], he certainly hasn’t shown it,” Kendall said. “And that would be a little naive. I think D’Brickashaw is too smart for that, I think he understands what he was getting himself into and what the team was going to throw him into. He was the fourth pick in the draft and there are certain expectations that people have with that.
“Even blind people can see that,” Kendall said of the expectations. “And I don’t think he’s blind.” He isn’t and knows he has a long way to go before he gets to where both he and the Jets want him to be. Still, he sees signs of progress.
“I don’t know if comfortable is the word I would use, but going up against these guys is definitely a learning process,” Ferguson said. “I get a chance to learn more about these individuals, so being faced with different problems, now I know how to deal with them a little bit better.”
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Laveranues Coles recalled catching his first NFL touchdown during the Jets’ win over the Dolphins in the Monday Night Miracle.
“That’s probably the most vivid memory I have of my career.” . . . Jonathan Vilma said the defense was “doing good jobs in spurts,” echoing Mangini’s belief that the biggest problem plaguing the Jets this season is inconsistency.
“We can see when they should be getting two yards on a run, they’re getting eight yards and when they should be getting 10 yards on a pass, they’re getting 20,”Vilma said. “It’s just little things in technique and in mental that we have to sew up.”
