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Todd Bowles Gives a 'Shoutout' to His Staff

Jets Head Coach Offers Loud Praise for Coaches' Intensity & Style During Rookie Minicamp

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By now you may have seen — and heard — Jets head coach Todd Bowles' loud response as Kimberley Martin of Newsday started out today's rookie minicamp news conference with a question about the intensity of this year's staff on the field. We think Todd yelled out:

"WHAT WOULD YOU LIKE?!?!"The reporters liked that over-the-top response and it captured the lighter nature of day two in front of the media. But seriously, what does Bowles make of the voluble styles of new coaches like offensive coordinator John Morton, RBs coach Stump Mitchell and LB Kevin Greene to add to the voice of special teams coordinator Brant Boyer et al.

"They're communicating," Bowles said in his more usual dulcet tones. "We've got a lot of guys coaching, a lot of voices, so you can hear them all, and they're coaching their guys up, which is what you want to see."

Just as Bowles and GM Mike Maccagnan were looking for high-character toughness in their draft picks and are emphasizing the "we" of the team this year, the head coach may have been looking for a certain kind of hands-on coach to add to his mix. He explained the changes this way:

"We had good coaches last year. I was looking for different types, as far as teaching their guys a different way. And with the system we had coming in, I knew the kind of guys I was looking for, and all those guys that replaced the guys we had kind of fit the bill."

When it was suggested that Bowles' loud intro sounded a bit like Greene's style, he took a back seat to his new linebackers coach, who famously had a few tenures with World Championship Wrestling as a transition between his playing and coaching careers.

"Kevin's like Hulk Hogan and Randy 'Macho Man' Savage," Bowles said. "He's enjoying it to the fullest. He loves the game and he coaches like he played. He was an intense player, he's an intense coach."

It's not screaming for screaming's sake, he said.

"Intense teaching, maybe, but understanding when to pull back and when to go forward," Bowles said. "I think we have those guys."

Rookie Minicamp NotesCount fifth-round TE Jordan Leggett as one more observer with high praise for first-round S Jamal Adams after the two tangled a few times during this minicamp. "He's definitely a great athlete," Leggett said. "I definitely see why he went in the first round. He has great instincts, just a head for the ball. He'll play for a while in this league."

Fourth-round WR Chad Hansen said he mastered one of a wideout's important skills at Moorpark (CA) High School: He grew. "My sophomore year I was probably 5'8", then I grew to 6-foot, 6'1"," Hansen said. "My junior year was sort of feeling it out, then my senior year it was putting it all together." Hansen's size now is a QB's friend at 6'2", 202.

Top Photos from Saturday's Outdoor Practice

Fifth-round RB Elijah McGuire, who attended Vandebilt Catholic in Houma, LA, before playing his college ball at Louisiana–Lafayette, no doubt has heard about Matt Forte's career, but he said he's looking forward to working with the two-time Pro Bowl RB: "All I know is he's a Louisiana native. Hopefully when he gets here he can take me under his wing."

The rookie minicamp winds up at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center on Sunday. The second week of Phase Two of the voluntary offseason workout program for veterans resumes Monday.

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