The guy with the toughest job in the Jets’ building the past few weeks may have been wide receivers coach Karl Dorrell.
Dorrell oversees a group that for much of training camp consisted of mainly first- and second-year players. Then, the team traded for veteran Jermaine Kearse nine days before the season opener and signed Jeremy Kerley five days before.
“They both were very receptive to working overtime to learning our system as quickly as they could,” Dorrell said this week. “We spent that time trying to get them ready to go on very short notice to be contributors for our offense.”
So far, so good.
Kearse leads the Jets with 14 catches for 165 yards and two touchdowns in three games. Kerley was not ready for the season opener in Buffalo, but has made big catches in the last two games. He has eight catches for 56 yards.
Dorrell said both players put in extra time with him to pick up the Jets’ system and get the language of the offense down.
“That’s what coaches have to do,” Dorrell said. “You go out there and help your players prepare the best you can.”
Dorrell has had to adjust from having a room heavy on veteran leadership in his first two seasons with the Jets with Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker to now having a very inexperienced group outside of Kearse and Kerley.
“There’s always teaching each and every year whether you have a veteran group or the group that I have now,” Dorrell said. “If anything, it’s not skipping any steps. If you have a veteran group, you can probably give things a broader stroke. When you have a younger group, you have to teach them why we do it a certain way and put them through all the situations of the different adjustments. It’s a little bit more specific. I prefer teaching that way anyway.”
Dorrell said he’s happy with how the team’s two rookies — ArDarius Stewart and Chad Hansen — are progressing.
“I’m very pleased with their progress,” he said. “We haven’t had a chance to put them in in too many scenarios as the season has started. [Last week], ArDarius made a tremendous catch on a deep in route, one of the best catches I’ve seen in my career. That shows you his ability. Once he gets going and he understands everything, that ability will take off. “
The Jets put WR Charone Peake on injured reserve this week after he suffered a high-ankle sprain. Peake had a limited role on offense, but his absence will be felt on special teams.
“Huge, huge because he’s a four-core guy for me,” special teams coordinator Brant Boyer said of the loss of Peake, referring to Peake’s presence on the kickoff, kickoff return, punt and punt return teams. “He’s a physical guy for being a big, tall guy for us. He played gunner, he played tackle and he did everything for us, and when you lose a guy like that it’s big.”