Posted by Will Brinson

The Jets suffered a brutal season-ending injury when Jim Leonhard broke his leg on Friday.

And while it won't help their secondary, there's at least some semi-exciting news as it appears the Jets will fill Leonhard's roster spot with Laveranues Coles, right?

That's according to Lisa Zimmerman of TheJetsBlog.com, who reports that it's likely Coles' signing is "very temporary." As in, like, less than a week -- Coles is expected to join the team simply for the Patriots game.

There are a couple reasons for this. First, he can play safety. Okay, that's a lie, but he is extremely familiar with the Patriots, and even more so with the Jets.

There's also a good chance that this allows Coles to retire as a Jet -- signing him to a one-week deal and then allowing him to retire (and/or cutting him) with his last team being New York means he can go out with "his team."

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

If you didn’t know about Jets FB Tony Richardson before Hard Knocks began its latest run, you have learned about him the past month.

You’ve learned about his leadership, about how much he’s loved in the New York organization, about how much respect he’s earned as he was entering his 16th season.

None of that, though, saved the three-time Pro Bowler from getting cut today.

Adam Schefter of ESPN.com reported the news, and as the decision made its way around the Internet, many were left confused. Maybe we shouldn’t have been surprised, as Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News writes:

In a bit of eerie foreshadowing, GM Mike Tannenbaum intimidated in last week's episode of HBO's Hard Knocks that Richardson may be on his way out. In an exchange with Ryan, the GM specifically pointed out Richardson, WR Laveranues Coles and LB Lance Laury as three players whose salaries were above the veterans' minimum.

During that conversation, (Rex) Ryan went to bat for Richardson, one of the unquestioned leaders on the team. The coach told Tannenbaum that Richardson was an integral part of the Jets' ground-and-pound philosophy. Ryan pointed out how close the team was to the Super Bowl playing that smash-mouth style of football.

Now, Richardson is gone.

Another interesting point is that Ryan ripped into his team for a lack of leadership. Meanwhile, the Jets had cut ties with veteran leaders Alan Faneca, Thomas Jones and Leon Washington.

The Jets obviously lose another veteran by whacking Richardson.

The Jets could opt to bring him back after Week 1, meaning his salary wouldn’t be guaranteed throughout the season. But that’s not a definite either (another team could want him and sign him, Richardson might decide he’s through with football, the Jets might not want him back, etc.).

Either way, it’s a sad day for the people who got to know Richardson a little bit this past month.

UPDATE (9:16 p.m.): A quote by Tannenbaum on Richardson: “We appreciate Tony’s contributions and leadership over the past two seasons and have nothing but the highest respect for him as a person and as a player.”

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

After a one-week absence, I’m back with my review of the fourth episode of what has been a very good season of Hard Knocks.

 -The episode begins on a down note. Apparently, nobody has any leadership with this team. It’s a concern for the coaches. This, not surprisingly, will be a theme.

- What a nightmare for Tim Cowlishaw. The Jets front office is talking about his reporting that Darrelle Revis and the Jets would sign a deal. GM Mark Tannenbaum has no idea what anybody is talking about. As a reporter, this is an interesting perspective. Unfortunately for Cowlishaw, we know how this ends.

- It’s hilarious that Mark Sanchez walks into the quarterbacks meeting without a binder to talk about the gameplan for the Redskins games. That’s a rookie mistake for a guy who’s not a rookie any more. Hell, even the guy who’s going to get cut at the end of the show has his binder ready to go. Unless he was set up, and of course, it’s a veteran move by Sanchez to get back at his offensive coordinator by changing his screensaver into something not exactly manly.

- Kellen Clemens’ meeting with Tannenbaum is interesting. Tannenbaum says he wants to cut Clemens’ salary to the minimum but he would guarantee that throughout the year. Also, by the way, Mark Brunell is the No. 2 QB, Tannenbaum says. Responds Clemens, “Here’s a question for you. What if I say I’d rather not?” Tannenbaum without missing a beat: “We’d probably cut you. … Probably sooner than later.”

Ouch.

- Ah, I could tell some stories about Laveranues Coles. Unfortunately, none of them would be all that interesting because he HATED dealing with the media in Cincinnati. As in, he never did it. Interesting to hear how the coaches seem to like to him, especially because Santonio Holmes is suspended for the first four games of the season. But then again, the team just cut Coles. So, that’s kind of weird.

- Wow, FB John Conner just lifted a Panthers special teamer off the ground with a block on kickoff return. As Rex Ryan said, “He knocked the piss out of the guy.” I think if he had the opportunity, Ryan might like to make out with the Terminator.
 
- Jason Taylor seems to have a problem getting to the stadium on time. Not just in the New Meadowlands, but at Hofstra too. The first time, it was a big joke. It wasn’t so funny the second time.

- And what’s up with eating cheeseburgers on the field before practice? The coaching staff is running a real disciplined workout, eh?

- Man, the players just LOVE it when a jackass runs onto the field during practice and the security details rocks the crap out of him. It’s funny, though. Whenever you see somebody disrupt a sporting event, there are always a few level of emotions you feel. No. 1, Hey that’s kind of funny. That guy is just running around out there, isn’t he? No. 2, All right, this guy is kind of getting annoying. When will the game restart? No. 3., He’s not taking off his clothes, is he? No. 4, I wish somebody would hit this guy and get him out of here.”

With the Jets, they fast-forwarded to No. 4 real quickly.

- Uh-oh, so it turns out Rex didn’t like the whole cheeseburger thing at practice. I love after his impassioned speech about being a professional and being a leader, he ends it with, “Now, let’s go eat a g------ snack!”

- Boy, Vladimir Ducasse didn’t look so good in the Redskins game, huh?

- Ugh, it’s brutal to watch these guys’ faces when they realize they’re going to be cut. But that’s cold how Ryan talked to Coles when he was cutting the 32-year-old WR. “We have to have money in place in case (Revis) shows up without a new contract. There’s a great possibility you’ll still be on this football team. But if we have you in the first week, we have to pay the whole season. The way our money is right now, we can’t do that.” Coles takes it well, and I know he’ll be OK. We’ve had chats about finances before, and I know he’s smart with the way he handles his business.

-And that’s the way the show ends. Not my favorite episode of the series, but solid nonetheless. We’ll see what happens in the final cuts next week.

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Posted by Josh Katzowitz

I talked about this in my preview , but I didn’t love last year’s version of Hard Knocks, featuring the Bengals. So, I was interested tonight to see if I could resume my love affair with the show if I wasn’t intimately involved with covering the team. And the end result: Yeah, it was pretty good. Had to set up some storylines, but there were some laughs and some good in-practice footage. I’ll keep watching.

-The first voice we hear is coach Rex Ryan, and he’s already very salty. While talking to his team before he releases the players for the summer, he says, “We’re right where we want to be, no question about it. Enjoy this time. Get away from it. No matter what you’re doing, it’s better than my (bleeping) vacation. I’m cruising the Baltic’s with my in-laws and (bleep).” Great, great stuff already from Rex.

-I probably shoulld have counted his F-bombs, but I never did. If I had to guess? Maybe 30.

-It’s not often you get to see players training in the offseason. Dragging a tire behind you as you run hills doesn’t look fun.

-Like usual: a great intro. I love watching the mundane stuff you see every day but would never stop to focus on. Stuff like the FieldTurf spraying when a guy runs his sneaker along it in slow motion. I remember one day before practice last year when a Hard Knocks camera crew spent 30 minutes filming a worker painting one of the lines on the field before Bengals practice in Georgetown, Ky. Of course, the next week on TV, it looked like the most interesting thing in the world. Sure enough, just after I wrote that, the crew filmed somebody spray-painting a line in Cortland.

-Somehow I expected Rex Ryan to look thinner. But yeah, he looks better than before. Just not as much as I thought after his surgery.

-I was wondering how much they would focus on Darrelle Revis. I was wondering if they’d have filmed him. The answers: a pretty fair amount and no.

-Rex knows how to draw laughs from his squad. “Revis isn’t in this building right now. Does it matter that Revis isn’t here? Goddamn, he’s pretty (bleeping) good.” Big laugh.

-Ah, a Laveranues Coles sighting. This is his second Hard Knocks in a row. He must be loving it. That’s a joke, of course. Coles does not like dealing media. And when I say does not like, I mean he hates it. I interviewed him just once last year – which was more than just about anybody else - and he got pissed at me and abruptly ended it after a couple questions.

-How about Buddy Ryan in a tie on the sidelines in that archived film? I think Rex should bring back that look.

-Yep, we’ve got our long-shots to make the squad. Brashton Satele, a rookie LB, and Aaron Kia, a rookie OL from Hawaii. OL coach Bill Callahan is talking about out how Kia played in a spread offense in college and how he doesn’t know much the techniques around the NFL. Not surprisingly, he’s getting coached up quite a bit. Rex Ryan then calls him awful. Ugh. Satele, meanwhile, is impressing some people. Then, he sprains his ankle – which drastically decreases his chances of making the team.

-Lots of people being fined. Apparently, it costs you $5 if you’re caught running shirtless. Even Rex isn’t immune. He’s fined $1 per snacking offense.

-How about the hair-pulling by GM Mark Tannenbaum when dealing with the Revis stuff> I thought he was going to pull it out of his head.

-It’s a half-hour into the show before we’re introduced to Mark Sanchez. And he’s telling LB Bart Scott to shut up.

-Good lord, Joe Namath looks like my grandfather getting out of the front seat of that SUV. High belt line and a bit stooped. He does make a good point about how people shouldn’t fumble.

-I love the skills competition between Rex and Tannenbaum.

-Could there be a better name for a bone-crushing fullback than John Conner, who’s obviously nicknamed the Terminator? He should make the team just on his name alone.

-Well, they didn’t paint the Revis picture in very positive terms after the diner meeting, did they?

-We have our first casualties. Rookie LB Kevin Basped and his bad knees are let go, and Kia is laid off as well. Poor dudes. They don’t even make the second episode. Kia is told, though, that he could play in the UFL. So, he’s got that going for him. But man, he looks pretty pissed. Kia hands in his playbook, slams the door in the cameraman’s face and the episode ends.

-Once again, solid work from HBO. Looking forward to next week

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The Jets have signed possession receiver Laveranues Coles to a one-year deal. This is Coles’s third tour of duty with the Jets. He was brought in to be a source of depth while Santonio Holmes serves his four-game suspension. Coles has already said that he could be gone once Holmes returns.

The 32-year-old veteran no longer has explosiveness in and out of his breaks, and his quickness has deteriorated to a subpar level that matches his speed. That said, Coles’s intelligence and toughness can’t be questioned. He can be a serviceable No. 4 or No. 5 receiver to open the season. In the first four games, Braylon Edwards and Jerricho Cotchery will start. Likely, either Brad Smith or David Clowney will operate out of the slot.

-- Andy Benoit

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This should make you feel good about the owners.

In an interesting column about how some players – despite being warned over and over again by the NFLPA – are spending piles of money and not saving for what happens if a lockout occurs, CBS Sports’ Mike Freeman bemoans the short-sighted attitude of many players who just don’t understand the reality of this labor situation. Or don’t care about it and just want to spend money.

But the sentence that caught my eyes was this:

Owners are aware of this and plan to use the players' lack of spending control against them should the expected labor strife occur.
I get it. I understand the owners want to take advantage of every little bit of leverage they can find when negotiations begin – and the same goes for the NFLPA – but it’s hard to get the image of Henry F. Potter out of your head when you read something like that.

It’s funny, I had a conversation last season with former Jets WR Laveranues Coles when we were talking about saving money and discussing strategies for the best way to invest. We both knew the importance of setting up yourself for the future. Of course, Coles was 32 at the time. The problem is that a 23-year-old kid with wads of dough in his pocket doesn’t think like that.

So, he buys that fourth car or he buys that third house. The owners know better. But they also know that if they can make a positive gain off a monetary loss for the players, they’re prepared to do so.

--Josh Katzowitz
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