Jets Benched Dee Milliner Because They Were Afraid the Patriots Would Ruin Him For Life
Yahoo! – Rookies sometimes need tough love, and Dee Milliner received a humble dose two games into his NFL career. The rookie cornerback, the ninth overall pick by the New York Jets this past April, was viewed as the most ready-made NFL corner in the draft. He had an excellent winning pedigree, great production at Alabama and played for Nick Saban in an NFL-like atmosphere in Tuscaloosa. But Milliner has struggled to adapt a little so far, which is not uncommon for such a demanding position. Although the Jets penciled him in as a Day One starter, they pulled out the eraser midway through the loss to the Patriots last week. Milliner was benched mid-game, defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said, per The Star-Ledger, for fear that he might lose his confidence if the Patriots and noted assassin Tom Brady continued to pick on him. “With Dee, it wasn’t that we were unhappy with what we were seeing. It’s just that the situation for us called for, OK, they’re getting ready to take some shots at this kid. Rather than have him in a situation where he can get himself deflated, we decided to make the move… we don’t want a rookie to go out there and get shell-shocked and not be able to come back. And we were concerned about that.”
Well, well, well… Where’s your swagger now? Is this really how far the Jets have fallen? Are they really so gun shy about how badly they’ve drafted that they won’t even let a No. 9 overall 1st round draft pick go up against the Patriots in a division game because they’re worried about his feelings? Whatever happened to “I’m not here to kiss his rings” and “Can’t stop a nose bleed” and the “two straight AFC Championship Games” mantra? Now they’re holding rookies out of crucial divisional games because they’re so terrified of what Brady will do to them. I don’t know whether it’s pathetic or hilarious, but I suspect it’s a lot of both. I mean, it’s like a wife saving her virginity for her second husband. So while they’re worried about this kid’s feelings, Brady’s on the Patriots sidelines telling his rookies to man the fuck up because there’s a championship to be won. Christ, I can’t believe Rex Ryan went along with this, since by the time Milliner gets his self esteem together, Rex’ll be a D-coordinator or coaching college ball or home trolling foot fetish sites. But at least Dee Milliner will have confidence.
@JerryThornton1