Antwan Staley | New York Jets Reporter, NY Daily News

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Up to 45% off right now with Blinds.com. Rules and restrictions may apply. We're pleased to welcome Antoine Stanley, who covers the Jets for the New York Daily News. We will start there. Antoine, what's your reaction to the Dalvin Cook signing for New York?

I think it's big. I think, you know, there's much needed for the Jets, too, as well. That's what's simple because the unknown status of Bryce Hall. I know Robert Saleh talked about Bryce Hall being ready for the opener against the Buffalo Bills on September 11th. But, you know, the fact of the matter is he has not, you know, come off the PGP list yet.

And it's hard to know what he's going to look like, you know, once September 11th comes around. If you look at the running backs and the history of ACL injuries, it's very good. It's a long list of guys that have had a lot of success. If you think about Saquon Barkley and him coming off that injury, too, as well.

It took him another year just to get back to form. I think it's good for the Jets to have extra security outside of the guy like Dalvin Cook, who's well established in the league. What happened to the Jets' running game last year after Bryce Hall got hurt?

I think it's a few things. I think, one, obviously, Hall getting hurt. I think that was big. And, two, I think Elijah Rivera-Tucker going down, I think that was huge for them. You know, we're talking about a guy that played three different positions on the offensive line, which I think is so rare nowadays. And, you know, losing those guys in the same game against Denver, that really derailed their running game, too, as well. And, you know, Michael Carter and, I think, Bam Knight, the son of a knight, really gave them a little bit of a jolt later on in the season. But I also think the fact of the matter is they couldn't pass the ball effectively, you know, with Zach Wilson there.

And then also brought a lot of defenders in the box. And I think that's also a culprit, too. So I think it's a combination of those three things of why they couldn't run the ball late last year. Let's say that Breece Hall is even 80 percent of what he was last year or 70 percent of what he was last year. You have him as well as Dalvin Cook. The rest of the Jets have raved about Garrett Wilson. We saw what he did last year as the offensive rookie of the year.

How do they feed everyone, Antoine? It's not a bad problem to have, to be honest with you. So I think it's just when you have a guy like Dalvin Cook, what you want to do is just, you know, feeding the ball early and often. And you're not going to necessarily rush Breece Hall back, as I talked about, you know, running backs in the history of coming off ACL injuries. He's only 22 years old.

He's going to be the future of your team. So there's no point of rushing him back so quickly. And, you know, as long as Dalvin Cook's healthy, I know he's going to be he's going to come and start practicing a week from now because he's still recovering from his shoulder injury.

And also he has expected his first child as well. So, yeah, I think you can just kind of split those carries up and still have a running back committee early on in the season against Buffalo and get those guys going. And I think, like I say today, they're going to be explosive offensively. You talked about Garrett Wilson and also like Lavalas are too as well.

It's a good problem to have here at the Jensen out there, Rogers. Meekole Hartman also a Super Bowl champion, Corey Davis in there as well. And that's just the wide receiver position. So when you think about the balance that they want to establish with the run versus the pass, what does it look like so far? It's going to be mostly a passing team.

I would expect to a lot of short passes, especially when you got a guy like Aaron Rogers, who isn't far removed from winning back to back MVP awards, too. And I also think, you know, they're going to play the high hand is going to be it's going to be depending on the opponent that they're playing and strategy and face of that nature, too. It might be a team like the Buffalo Bills who have a really good defense. You know, maybe they decide, you know, we want to rely more on the running game and they decide to do that.

And then, you know, you got the Dallas Cowboys the week after that. And maybe they decide, you know what? We want to go a little bit more past friendly. It just depends on the opponent.

And I think it's going to vary from week to week to decide depending on what they want to do. We're pleased to spend a few minutes with Antoine Staley, who is covering the Jets and the Aaron Rogers Circus, as it were for the New York Daily News. It's after hours here on CBS Sports Radio.

I keep hearing about how the atmosphere is different, how there's a different energy. So what have you seen and felt so far with the Aaron Rogers component, Antoine? The main thing for me is like what I haven't seen. I've been covered at NFL for a little while now. It's just Aaron, like after the play is over, he'll go up and talk to all of the offensive players, but also the defensive players and tell them what he's doing and how they can get better and little tidbits that may sway the side of what he wants to do as far as coverage and things of that nature too. And yeah, I think that's rare to have an offensive player that goes up to players like doing practice to do that. So I think that's one of the ways he's changed the culture of the team too. We talk about a Jets team that's relatively young, especially what we saw last year, thought out seven and four and ended up flying around layover the season. And now you've got a guy like Aaron Rogers that has been to the mountaintop, knows what it takes to get there. And now it's helping players establish that new culture around the Jets. Remains to be seen how far they can go in the AFC in the playoffs this year, but it's definitely a new aura around full court these days. What have you heard from some of the other players about what it's like to be on the field with him?

It's just some of them were in awe. Some of them just, they're making him better on the field. I think a lot of players have said that just them talking about X and O's and strategy-wise while they're at practice too. And also a belief that they can win. We're talking about a Jets team that has not made the playoffs since 2010.

And it was hard, like it's hard to have that belief that you can win. So yeah, to have a guy in there that has, like I say, has been to NFC championships, has been to Super Bowls, can help out strategy-wise. You look at Zach Wilson, even in the preseason, he looks like a different quarterback too. I mean, I know he's not flinging the ball over the plate like I used to, but he is being a lot more efficient than what Custer was his first couple of years in the league.

And if you see his games against Carolina and also the Browns, I definitely think you can tell a big difference in even his demeanor early on. Maybe going back to say end of regular season, when a lot of the buzz was around Zach being traded or them not keeping him, are you surprised that this is how it panned out, that he is still on the roster? No, because I think, you know, ultimately, what were you going to get for Zach Wilson? Maybe like a seven-round pick or so, but both well for them to just keep him. And, you know, you didn't know how long Aaron Rodgers might decide to play. Now it seems like he's going to play at least a couple of years, but now you can try to groom Zach and, you know, rehab him. And, you know, it's kind of a first start for him and who knows what the future may hold after Aaron Rodgers decides to leave if it is two years, if it's three years down the line. Yeah, I don't think it's a bad thing that they're holding on to them. I just thought that was probably the best situation for them simply because I don't know what they would have got for Zach Wilson otherwise.

Antoine Staley of the New York Daily News is with us talking Jets here on CBS Sports Radio and After Hours. Defense is expected to pick up where it left off last year, tough, physical, hard-nosed, but I'd like to know what are the expectations for Sauce Gardner in year number two? Well, he, you know, a lot of people thought he was one of the best corners in football. I think for him, he wants to be the very best in the game. And I think humbly, he'll tell you that he's not there yet because he has, you have to do it from year after year, but ultimately that's his goal.

And that's what he, that's what he's striving to do and to be the best quarterback in football. We're talking about a guy that I had, I don't know if I've seen too many rookies come in and do what he did as a rookie in his first year, making me in a first team all Pro, Pro Bowl, arguably one of the best defensive players in the game and coaching staff and the players believe it's another level that he can reach too. And I'm curious to see what that other level was because, you know, he was damn dear good last year for the Jets. Mr. Quinn Williams, I think he was the best defensive player. What is the strength of the defense?

It's got to be defensive wise by far. You've got guys that I think we've even seen in the preseason against Carolina, they got guys like Jermaine Johnson, who I think is going to have a really fantastic year and looking like how he was when he came out of Florida State too. Will McDonald, who they drafted in the first round, which I think a lot of people thought would be a luxury pick.

He's just on raw ability right now to be able to get to the quarterback with his spin moves and, you know, athleticism. And then obviously Quinn Williams there having 12 sacks last year. Carl Lawson coming as year two coming off an Achilles injury too as well.

John Franklin Myers. We can talk about Michael Clemons. Like they're so deep at defensive line and defensive end in general. It's an embarrassment to Richards. I don't know if it's a team in the league that has the amount of depth that they have on the defensive line. And I think that's shown throughout the preseason. They just wait through, you know, later on the regular season where teams are tired and, you know, beat up just the end of the game and the debts will be keep rotating these guys like it's a hockey line.

That's kind of the only way I can equate it to. So yeah, I definitely think the defensive line is spot for their greatest strength, but probably on their team to be honest with you. The expectations obviously are so different this season. They've been building toward this point where they can finally be a winning team, but they're in a tough division. Antoine, Buffalo was 13 and 3 last year, one of the top teams in the AFC. We know about Miami making the playoffs the first year with Mike McDaniel and that's even with a revolving door at quarterback. The Patriots still have Bill Belichick, though they're trying to figure out things. What are your impressions of the AFC East now as we head into 23? I think it's going to be probably the toughest division in the AFC. I mean, yeah, I know a lot of people would look at the West too, and I know that was the bit taught last year before the Broncos, they still deliver their expectations too. But yeah, I think the Patriots are going to be, you know, they have a great defense. They have a really good offensive line. And as you talked about, Bill Belichick is there. I think they can still win, you know, probably seven or eight games to make some teams in the division's life that's difficult.

I think Miami is all on tour. If tour can stay healthy, I think the Dolphins are going to be as close as a team to watch and possibly a team that can contend for the division. We know Buffalo is there, won the division three years in a row. I don't know how much better they are compared to some of the other teams in the division. But, you know, I think with the Davenport coach line, I think the Jets have a legit shot to win the division.

I really do. And how they hold up in the AFC, I still think the Chiefs and the Bengals are tier one, but, you know, the Jets, depending on how they start out with it, because they have a brutal schedule to begin the season. I definitely think they could be a team right under both of those things. Not only does Dalvin Cook land with the Jets, but Ezekiel Elliott reportedly ends up with the Patriots, these top two free agent running backs, which a lot of the buzz was about these last couple weeks. Antoine, the schedule for the Jets, not just because of the AFC East, how they start this season against the Bills on the road at Dallas. They've got a game against the Super Bowl champion Chiefs, not to mention the Eagles, the NFC champions, man alive.

It feels like that schedule is full of landmines. Yeah, really. I mean, not to nothing. Like, I know, you know, you didn't mention the Patriots, but they had to beat the Patriots since 2015. So you can't really discount that either.

So it is a murderous role. And then we got the Broncos, we got the Broncos game, which is going to be kind of a revenge game for the day you'll hack it too. So I know a lot of people, a lot of Jets fans and probably the players will be circling that too as well.

So it is, the Israel Makers did them no favors this year. I know they got them on Prime Times this year, but yeah, early on, they gave them a lot of home games, but those home games are going to be very, very difficult. So if they can navigate that, I think they'll have an opportunity to contend and possibly win the division. Yeah, we had a over under on my show about the number of nationally televised games. So not just primetime, but the ones that they would get on Sunday afternoons that would also be nationally televised. And you can see how the schedule makers and the TV networks have determined that this is going to be a team to watch. Can you feel that buzz then, whether it's extra media, whether it's just the attention around the Jets? Well, yeah, it's no more one o'clock games, which is, you know, as a writer, you guess you kind of won, but at the same time, we all knew once you get Aaron Rodgers, you already knew what was going to happen. You know, they're going to get a lot of games in the 425 slot and Sunday night and Monday night. So, you know, the days of them having one o'clock games is over, but you could definitely feel the buzz and just for the fans and the media and everybody else just surrounded the team. And yeah, I definitely think that's why I think it's going to be a very eventful season one way or the other for the Jets.

Will not be a dull moment, that's for sure. All right, you can find Antoine on Twitter at Antoine, A-N-T-W-A-N Staley, S-T-A-L-E-Y. It's covered the NFL for a while, is now with the Jets for the New York Daily News. We're glad to have you with us. Thanks so much for a couple of minutes.

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