New Jets offensive coordinator Tony Sparano will stick to one flavor Friday night when the Jets open preseason play against the Bengals in Cincinnati.
"It's going to be vanilla," he told reporters Wednesday. "We didn't plan at all here"
The new offense will be unveiled Friday, but keep in mind that the Jets don't plan on showcasing too much. After all, the regular season opener against the Buffalo Bills is still a month away and the Green & White will be without two of their top three wideouts in Santonio Holmes (rib) and Jeremy Kerley (hamstring). Echoing Rex Ryan, Sparano said the first unit will get in a handful of plays before exiting to the sideline.
"I would say that they would probably play a quarter — maybe somewhere in that range or a play-count," he said. "If we felt like we did some good things here and we got 12 to 15 plays in, then we will probably see where we are at that point."
It was two weeks ago today that the Jets reported for camp here in Cortland. They have gotten in a lot of work, but the new NFL means less summer practices.
"Today was practice number 10. In the old days at this time, it would be practice number about 18," Sparano said. "We're in practice number 10. We've made good progress, really good progress along the way. We've gotten an awful lot done. We've got a long way to go here, but we've still got some time."
Mark Sanchez continues to impress and had one of his best days Wednesday with some of his family in attendance. Tim Tebow, who will take the reins when Sanchez departs Friday, is making progress getting rid of the football
"I think the ball every day is coming off of his hands a lot better. He is getting some of the quick game stuff out faster, which is something they had not done a whole lot with him in the past," Sparano said. "I see improvements from the guy every day. I think Matt Cavanaugh has done a good job with him that way and every day he continues to push the envelope that way. And our defense helps us do that because we don't sit here and script plays to have success against our defense."
Our next "EA Q&A" will be posted tomorrow evening. I will travel with the team to Ohio and have a couple of meetings upon arrival, so thanks for your patience. Remember the form is on the side of the page if you'd like to participate.
