2009 Preseason Week 2 Jets At Ravens Photos
It's primetime in the preseason. And Rex Ryan, who said he doesn't remember the score of any preseason game he's been in, including his first as the Jets' head coach against St. Louis a mere 10 days earlier, said this one "is going to feel special."
Not because Ryan, along with Bart Scott, Jim Leonhard and Marques Douglas, is returning to his home by the harbor of the previous 10 years. It's because of that, and Mark Sanchez making his first pro start as the Jets' quarterback, and one established defense vs. one that's ready to be special under Ryan's direction.
"You put Monday night on top of that and you're playing against a great football team and you're going to play against one that's going to be great in the New York Jets so I think that's going to be a great matchup."
Sanchez has looked sharp in pregame warmups. Of course, he's throwing against air, but his throws have been tight spirals and on target.
One switch that was announced earlier was that K Jay Feely stayed back in North Jersey to continue rehabbing his sore groin. Parker Douglass will do the Jets' placekicking and kickoffs tonight.
Besides Feely, the Jets' inactives include CBs Darrelle Revis and Donald Strickland, RB Jehuu Caulcrick, LB Josh Mauga, T Damien Woody and NT Kris Jenkins.
Dwight Lowery will get the start for Revis at LCB, Sione Pouha will start in place of Jenkins at NT, and Wayne Hunter will get the nod again for Woody at RT.
Not listed as inactive is Pro Bowl LG Alan Faneca. Ryan said Faneca would be out with his broken finger, but No. 66 was working with the first offense on Saturday at Florham Park in a no-pads, three-quarters-speed practice. Will Faneca get in a series tonight? We'll let you know.
The Jets are wearing their green jerseys and white pants for the second time in their two games of the Rex Ryan era. Naturally, the Ravens had something to say about tonight's Green & White attire — they're dressed in their white uniforms with the purple numbers and trim.
This will be the Jets' seventh primetime preseason game since 2000. They were 4-2 in their first six such games of the new millennium. The last time they played in the summer in a national game was in 2007, when Fox aired their 37-20 home loss to Minnesota. The last time they played in the summer on ESPN was in 2004, when they dropped the Colts at the RCA Dome, 31-7.
We're using the CoveritLive chat interface again tonight to help us cover the Jets-Ravens for you. We're going to be more selective on the comments tonight. Let us know how the experience goes and how it compared to the St. Louis game.
And now we're less than 20 minutes away from the start of the game. M&T Bank Stadium isn't full but there's a good crowd already in their seats. The Jets special teams were announced and were booed. Rex Ryan's first mention over the PA system drew a mix of boos and cheers. Pretty soon Preseason Game No. 2 will be under way. I'll next speak with you in a postgame blog after we leave the Jets' locker room and get on our train back to Newark, N.J.
