STC Chris Banjo: 'Depth Charts Are Written in Pencil'
Special teams are kind of the Rubik's Cube of the game in the NFL -- there are always moving pieces to the puzzle. And special teams coordinator Chris Banjo is well aware that putting together solid kickoff and punt return teams is a moving target.
"I think when we talk about our depth chart from a special team's perspective, I know AG has said this and I echo the same sentiment, those depth charts are written in pencil," Banjo said. "So, it's a dynamic process that can change on a consistent and day-to-day basis. The biggest thing that we try to make sure we do is challenge these guys, make sure they compete, and put their best foot forward as much as they possibly can."
In terms of return men, it's "an open competition" among Xavier Gipson, and rookies Arian Smith and Jamaal Pritchett, among others.
"Just a guy who's dynamic back there," Banjo said of Pritchett.
When it comes to gunners, the speedy Smith is in the mix as Banjo and the Jets anticipate the return of Irvin Charles from injury. Charles blocked a punt in Week 2 at Tennessee last season before he sustained a torn ACL in a Week 14 OT loss to Miami. Nevertheless, the Jets re-signed him and he is continuing to rehab.
"If you're talking about playing football on fourth down in the special team's world, it's hard for anybody around the league to not know about somebody like Irv," Banjo said. "And obviously, he did a phenomenal job last year until his unfortunate injury. ... He's doing his best job staying mentally sharp, staying mentally prepared, and just kind of putting himself in those situations whenever he's fortunate enough to come back and play."
Aaron Glenn: Culture = People
The term "culture" has evolved to be a kind of catch-all for a way of doing business. We may have a hard time defining it, but we know it when we see it.
"Well, here's the first thing when you talk about culture, and also here's the negative part of it, because I think sometimes people think culture is about a coach sitting in front of a group of men and giving some rah-rah speech," HC Aaron Glenn said during the recent minicamp. "And the negative part of that is, players can have deadhead when you continue these rah-rah speeches, and they've heard that before since they were in pee-wee football, these speeches.
" So, that's not culture to me. Culture is all about people. So, you bring the right people in the building, that determines what kind of culture you're going to have. Listen, I give the guys before this regime, before we got here, credit because we don't have any bad guys. I think we have a bunch of good guys on this team. So, I give those guys a lot of credit for the guys they have here.
"So now, our job is to make sure we steer them in the right direction the way that we want to play football, the way that we want to operate, the way we want this building to be. And to me, that's what culture is."