The task of lining up against the Colts’ all-planet wide receiver Marvin Harrison is daunting enough for anyone. Now imagine if you’re an NFL rookie playing in only the second exhibition game of your life. Welcome to the world of Derrick Strait, who by virtue of injury, will find himself staring down the barrel of the most feared aerial attack in the league tomorrow night.
Said coach Herman Edwards, “I walked by the training room and said, ‘You better get your hamstrings rubbed down – what are you doing, young man? Because when 88 steps out there now, you better be ready because he can run fast.’
“And he looked at me and said, ‘I’ll be ready, Coach,’ and he will.
“He’ll be fine. It’s good for these guys. It’s good for them to be evaluated on those types of receivers because that’s who they play every week.”
Thanks to the knee injury suffered by veteran nickel back Ray Mickens earlier in the week, Edwards will deploy his youngster against the Colts in what promises to be a wonderful test to see just exactly how good this year’s draft class may be. Strait, selected in the third round out of the vaunted Oklahoma program, is two weeks into his NFL career and is already learning just how thin the Jets’ defensive backfield is – and just how quickly luck can change.
Just as quarterback Ricky Ray will see increased playing time under Edwards’ microscope this weekend because of the knee strain suffered by Brooks Bollinger, Strait has been presented with an opportunity to flash what he’s made of early in camp, and both he and the coaches are anticipating the display.
“Nothing has changed,” Strait said when asked if he went about his business differently this week.
Strait won awards as the country’s top defensive back and the Bronko Nagurski Award as the nation’s best defensive player last season after completing his four-year, 13-interception career with the Sooners. He played sparingly in the preseason opener at New Orleans, but will see significantly more time this week.
Still, Strait, who will wear No. 27, is just a rookie, and with that comes the usual dose of hazing, much of which has involved first-year players being forced to belt out their college fight songs.
“There has been a little singing,” Strait said, naming himself as the worst singer on the team. “Some guys don’t have voices, but it is fun. It has been all in fun; there has been a lot of singing going on.”
But in the end, the Jets didn’t draft Strait to sing. They picked him to defend, and beginning this weekend, the team will begin to find out just how well he can do that.
(p. 85 in metro)