JET NOTES
Aaron Beasley played one of his best games as a Jet Monday night in Oakland, but unfortunately his most vivid memory might be the jarring blow to the head he took while taking on Raider TE Roland Williams.
As a result, Beasley hasn’t practiced this week and is listed as probable with what he described yesterday as a “headache . . . a big headache.”
Herman Edwards refrained from calling Beasley’s injury a concussion, though here’s the way he described it: “He kind of got up and walked around cuckoo, and then it never settled down. Then, for a while on the flight he had some nausea. He’s going through some neurological testing. He’s OK, he just hasn’t gotten all his faculties yet.”
Beasley, who said he didn’t know whether he’ll play Sunday, recalled, “I remember everything about the game. I felt like my right eye was in my left eye socket and my left eye was in my right eye socket. I was laughing at it when it happened, because I knew I was dinged up. I tried to put my leg down and couldn’t even find the ground.
“But adrenaline pushed me through that game.”
Beasley has been one of the Jets’ most improved players since the start of the season. He particularly stood out making some dramatic pass breakups against the Raiders, including a hard hit that separated Tim Brown from a sure catch.
Beasley credited a talk he had with Edwards before the Minnesota game as a turning point for him in terms of eschewing old habits and buying into the Jets’ system.
“Herm got on me the week we were playing Minnesota,” Beasley recalled. “He said, ‘[Randy] Moss is going to come at you; he’s going to come at you.’ That woke me up. I knew it was going to happen and I took it very much more serious.”
In addition to Beasley, WR Santana Moss (sprained left ankle) and RB LaMont Jordan (sprained left ankle) didn’t practice. Both are listed as questionable, though Moss is more likely to play than Jordan because the degree of his sprain isn’t as serious. DE John Abraham (bruised foot) was taken off the injury report.
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A number of players are already singing the praises of veteran LG Dave Szott, who’s expected to complete his five-month comeback from major right knee surgery to start his first game in a Jet uniform Sunday.
“He brings an added intensity,” Chad Pennington said of Szott. “He’s very intense. Very determined. With Szott and I in there together, there might be a nuclear explosion.”
Curtis Martin said, “Getting Szott back will add to our production.”
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Early in practice yesterday, Edwards borrowed Wayne Chrebet’s helmet and participated in a special teams coverage drill to make a point.
Jet defensive coordinator Ted Cottrell was unable to attend practice because he was in South Jersey at the funeral of former Bills LB Damien Covington, who was shot and killed over the weekend. He had planned to be back in time for practice, but the snow intervened.
After practice ended inside the bubble, Pennington and Vinny Testaverde had a toss outside in the snow so Pennington could get acclimated to the elements.