Pettine Impressed With Former Hawaii Linebacker

Was having a read of the Honolulu Star Advertiser (as you do), and came across some Jets talk. Everything is revolving around contracts at the moment, Ferguson got his done, we have locked up all our draft picks but Wilson, and Revis and Mangold are looking to get paid, publicly. So was looking for something under the radar football side of the business related.

Mike Pettine has been talking up one of his defensive acquisitions, and it's neither Cromartie or Taylor. Rather Brashton Satele who after impressing at camp in May, has earned a spot at the main Jets training camp this August.

If Satele does work out, Jets defensive assistant Mike Smith could well be the one to take all the credit. After serving as a graduate assistant at Hawaii in 2009, it was upon his recommendation that the Jets invited Satele to camp. Satele had been hoping to gain a 6th year of eligibility at Hawaii, but after the NCAA rejected his appeal, the Jets pounced.

"He's certainly a guy who has all of the tools to do it," Pettine said. "What impresses us is he's a three-down linebacker. A lot of linebackers can only play first and second downs. They don't have the coverage ability on third down. It's pretty obvious, from what he showed us, he can cover most tight ends, and he can cover most guys."

"He was a kid we felt kind of fell through the cracks," Pettine said. "We contacted his agent. We were in a position where we couldn't offer him a spot in training camp just yet. But it was a no-brainer to bring him in, at least for a rookie camp as a tryout."

After seeing Satele in person, it seems Pettine didn't hesitate in doing what he needed to do to bring the former Warrior back to NY for the Autumn.

"You talk about our mentality to play like a Jet -- passionate, tough, competitive, play like your hair's on fire," Pettine said. "When he came in, he was in great shape. He impressed us right away.

"It was evident after a day we needed to switch him out and get him to (training) camp and send another player home. That's what we did. We're looking forward to a pretty good camp for Brashton."

File this one under "one to watch".  Satele was out of football for a year, but claims he hasn't lost a step and by the sounds of Pettine, he hasn't. The Raiders backed out at the last second on an agreement to sign Brashton, so their loss could be our gain.