The Jets held an open media portion of OTAs on Tuesday, and while the attendance is not mandatory, neither is speaking with the throng of media outlets afterward.
But in the case of Calvin Pryor, it’s almost hard to blame the man for stonewalling the masses, especially given what should be deemed as a rough offseason for the young safety. The Jets began their draft by selecting two blue-chip players at Pryor’s position, Jamal Adams of LSU and Marcus Maye of the University of Florida. And if Pryor, a former star at Louisville who was drafted 14th overall in the 2014 draft, can read the writing on the walls, it’s safe to assume his time could be up in the green and white.
Adams and Maye ran with the first unit today and looked fluid in the back end of the defensive unit that needs a strong secondary to complement its strength — a fearsome front seven.
Head coach Todd Bowles insisted that there’s nothing to Pryor practicing with the third teamers. He said the maligned safety “has not been demoted,” noting that guys “regularly rotate.” But Pryor’s ducking out should suggest that the fourth-year safety is sensitive to a once lofty status that is now deferring to rookies.
New York’s fourth OTA practice during this early offseason phase suggested that change could be coming for a revamped and reworked Gang Green secondary — one that struggled mightily last season, despite having household names like Pryor and the now-departed Darrelle Revis in tow.
Pryor skipped the first round of OTAs last week, when the media first had access to the players and coaches, but practiced the following day when there was no media present to gauge his mindset and extract a first-person account of his reported frustrations with the team. The shunning of media is understandable considering Pryor must not be happy that his once-lofty status among members of the secondary and now his roster spot is being threatened because the Jets drafted two safeties.
The Adams selection with the No. 6 pick was a no-brainer for the Jets and one that was well received within the NFL community. The Maye selection, although a bit puzzling to outsiders, was also deemed an obvious choice. Defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers noted that the Jets had a “super high [draft] grade” on Maye, which excited the coach once he found out that Gang Green was going to use the No. 39 pick on the former Gator.
New York media won’t have access again until next week, so it’ll be difficult to gauge Pryor’s mood until then. But if he continues to send out cryptic tweets about his job status, it’ll be telling to see much further he falls down the early depth chart.
Gang Green notes:
— Wideout Robby Anderson declined to discuss his recent arrest in Miami, taking a page out of former NBA star Rasheed Wallace’s playbook and continually reciting the same answer over and again anytime he was asked about the incident. Anderson, whose arraignment hearing is on June 6, would only repeatedly say that he’s “excited” about the upcoming season.
— Other wide receivers of note included rookie ArDarius Stewart, who missed at least one practice during last week’s OTAs, veteran Eric Decker, who wasn’t spotted at practice today, and rookie Chad Hansen, who sat out with an apparent injury.
