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We're a little way off seeing football on Sundays but today marks the start of that road, with the New York Jets back for voluntary workouts.
Some players will choose not to attend, but a lot of players will be around the facility. Getting to know their new team-mates and preparing for the season. Some of the Jets have workout bonuses in their contracts, so it's in their best financial interests to turn up to the majority of them. These players include D'Brickashaw Ferguson, Stephen Hill, Muhammad Wilkerson, Nick Mangold, David Harris, Kyle Wilson, Demario Davis, Kenrick Ellis, Johnny Patrick and Alex Green. Ferguson hasn't the highest workout bonus at $750,000 with Mangold coming in at $500,000. The rest are considerably lower.
Here are some tweets from a conference call the Jets players were on just a short time ago:
Jets DL Sheldon Richardson says he wants to create more turnovers as a defense and "get more sacks" in his second year. #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Sheldon Richardson said he is "most definitely" better than a 3.5-sack DT. #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) April 21, 2014
Defensive Rookie of the Year Sheldon Richardson (@Godforshort): "You've yet to see the best of Sheldon Richardson." #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Sheldon called Michael Vick "Great competition for Geno." #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) April 21, 2014
Richardson on Chris Johnson: "He's a highlight reel waiting to happen." #nyj
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) April 21, 2014
Geno on Vick: "He’s a good guy. Looking forward to working with him, looking forward to competing with him as well." #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) April 21, 2014
More Geno on Michael Vick signing: "Overall, I think it’ll make the team better. And I’m all for competition." #jets
— Kimberley A. Martin (@KMart_LI) April 21, 2014
Geno Smith on Vick: "He's a veteran with tons of exeprience.. He's played in many big games...but I look forward to learning from him" #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Does Geno expect to be the starter with the Jets? "Yes." #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) April 21, 2014
Geno Smith: "With the experience I've gained... I feel like I'm more than capable of being the starter." #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Geno Smith on cutting down turnovers from last season: Says he watched the film "over and over and over... as painful as it is." #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Geno won't knock last year's offense: "It all comes down to me. If I would've done things better, we would've done better as an offense"
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) April 21, 2014
Mangold on Vick: "I'm excited about having him here. He's a heckuva player." #Jets
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) April 21, 2014
Jets center @NickMangold: "We saw some flashes last year. Especially the way we ended last year... Everyone's upbeat." #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Rex Ryan: "I feel kind of a buzz, just a little pep in everybody's step walking in. Our team is excited about this season" #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Rex says the stable of RBs reminds him of 2009. "We had a great stable of backs. That's what we have here." #nyj
— Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) April 21, 2014
Rex on CJ2K: "When u look at our stable of backs, it's pretty good. Kind of reminds me of my 1st year here."
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) April 21, 2014
When talking about RBs, Rex did mention that team is hoping Goodson comes back from knee injury. #Jets
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) April 21, 2014
Rex Ryan: "We're not going to be absolutely saying we're going back to the Ground & Pound... unless we choose to." #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Rex says Mike Goodson won't be able to do anything "in near future" coming off ACL/MCL repair. (MG likely odd man out though with CJ in mix)
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) April 21, 2014
Rex says "we feel pretty good there" when talking about his CBs.
— Dennis Waszak Jr. (@DWAZ73) April 21, 2014
Rex on CJ2K and workload: "Nothing was ever promised that you’re going to get X amount of carries." #nyj
— Seth Walder (@SethWalderNYDN) April 21, 2014
Rex: "The biggest thing Mike (Vick) is going to help Geno with is his experience and his experience in this system." #jets
— Kimberley A. Martin (@KMart_LI) April 21, 2014