Jets healthy and "hungry" Dee Milliner catching eyes of coaches
Dee Milliner isn’t just on the field. . . but on the minds of Jets coaches two days into the team’s organized team activities.
Fully healthy for the first time in quite some time, Milliner is enjoying extra playing time with New York star cornerback Darrelle Revis sidelined with a wrist injury. According to defensive coordinator Kacy Rodgers, Milliner is making the most of his additional reps.
“That guy is hungry,” Rodgers said.
Originally a first-round pick in the 2013 NFL draft, Milliner arrived in New York with high expectations surrounding him. After all, shortly before the Jets took Milliner ninth overall, they had traded Revis to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. The thought was that Milliner would be Revis’ replacement.
Things just, well, they didn’t go as planned.
Milliner’s rookie year was up-and-down, which saw the cornerback start, get benched, then eventually return to the starting lineup. Entering year two, he proclaimed himself the “best” cornerback in the NFL, but since making that statement, hasn’t been able to back it up.
And that has nothing to do with poor play. Milliner simply hasn’t been on the field. An Achille’s and wrist injury limited the Alabama product to just eight game appearances these last two years. . . of a potential 32.
“Dee is a guy that we really, really expect a lot out of,” Rodgers said. “And so far, so good. The last couple of days, it’s been funny, his name has really been coming up. He’s made a lot of great plays out there in practice.”
arlier this offseason, the Jets elected not to pick up the fifth-year contract option on Milliner, rendering him a free agent following the conclusion of this season. As a result, Milliner has a little extra incentive in 2016 knowing, in a way, he’s playing for his future.
Be that with the Jets, or elsewhere.
Speaking after practice, Jets coach Todd Bowles indicated Revis may be out until training camp, meaning those reps for Milliner aren’t going to diminish much over the next month or so.
It’s just up to Milliner to show that now that his health isn’t keeping him off the field, his play warrants him being on it.
http://jetswire.usatoday.com/2016/0...hungry-dee-milliner-catching-eyes-of-coaches/
