| Steve Politi and Dave Hutchinson discuss the Jets as they prepare for the Chargers |
We have said it, the media have said it, coaches have said it, but now it's gone one step further, even his father has said it.
Am I worried about him getting a reputation for dropping the football?" Stan Edwards asked this week from suburban Detroit. "No. Because let’s be honest — he’s earned it."
It is becoming a tired issue but with the off-season right around the corner, a decision has to be made on his future. He will likely want to get paid, and he will be looking for a multi-year deal. Can we afford to give it to him with his unreliability with the football in the air. A lot of fans come here and mock him because all they see is the highlight package, and when you are thrown the ball twice, one for a 5 yard vital completion, the other a massive drop, only one is making the reel. We see the others aspects he brings to the table, his speed keeps defenses honest, his blocking skills are unique and despite his problems, at any time he can break out. So what are the problems?
"Wish I knew," he said. "It’s mind-boggling. He’ll make catches that nobody else in the game will make. It’s not making a difficult catch. He’ll make a borderline impossible catch! And then he’ll drop one on a simple route."
Some have suggested that his legal trouble in Cleveland was on his mind, his QB carousel in Cleveland prevented any rapport developing, when he worked with an impressive QB in Derek Anderson in 2007 (seems strange to say that after Anderson's performances lately) he went to the Pro Bowl. Outside pressures also played on his mind according to his father:
Stan Edwards remembers his son’s house being egged the week of the Ohio State game, his lawn strewn with trash. He called it "a negative situation for everyone.""The Michigan-Ohio State thing is real," the father said. "I remember one night, we needed a police escort back from a restaurant — this was during the off-season. These people were very serious about causing bodily harm. I thought I was going to have to fight."
This is going to be one of the tougher decisions for Mike Tannenbaum this off-season, Braylon could really do with a 'special' game this weekend, like Hutchinson and Politi says he isn't getting a long term deal off this seasons performance, even if he is looking for one, and the likely $5 million is a far cry from the $10 million that was projected earlier this season. If you ask Edwards there is no doubt in his mind where he wants to be
"I’d like to be a Jet for the rest of my years,"