FLORHAM PARK, N.J. (AP) -Calvin Pace almost ended up on the other sideline.
The pass-rushing linebacker signed with the New York Jets in the offseason, but was also hotly courted by the Miami Dolphins. He’ll get to show the Dolphins what they missed out on in the season opener Sunday.
“Once I signed on the dotted line, I was happy with it,” Pace said Thursday. “I was fine with it, and I don’t have any second thoughts or regrets. It’s funny that we just so happen to play the Dolphins the first game, but it’s one of 16 – and hopefully more than that – so you can’t get too much more hyped on this game than the rest of the games.”
Pace, who signed a six-year, $42 million deal, should immediately help a team that mustered only 29 sacks last season.
“You’ve got to go out there and prove yourself every day, in practice, too,” he said. “Give them what they invested in.”
Pace, who had a career-high 6 1/2 sacks last year for Arizona, represents just one of the two big pieces the Jets added to their 3-4 defensive puzzle over the winter. Knocked for not having the right personnel to run the scheme, which requires a space-eating nose tackle, the Jets also went out and added 360-pound Kris Jenkins.
“I just think in the offseason, the staff did a good job of getting people that fit into this style of defense,” defensive end Kenyon Coleman said. “They’ve done that and we couldn’t be more happy and we just continue to jel as a unit.”
And they’ll get to see just how much when they take on the Dolphins’ impressive running back duo of Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown.
“Miami’s in a good spot because they’ve got two premier running backs,” Coleman said, “and this is going to be a good test for our D-line and a good test for our defense as a whole.”
Williams, in perhaps the best shape of his career since winning the NFL’s rushing title in 2002, has been impressive in the offseason and the Dolphins have centered their offense around him.
“From the glimpses we’ve seen on film, he’s back to full strength,” defensive end Shaun Ellis said.
“He’s just a hard guy to stop,” added Jenkins. “He’s quick and when he runs, he keeps his center of gravity low to the ground and it’s hard to tackle him. He also has great breakaway speed.”
Oh yeah, and there’s also Brown, who’s working his way back after tearing a ligament in his right knee last season.
“It’s about slowing their running game up early,” Pace said. “You play against anybody and they get their running game started early, and it’s going to be a tough day for us.”
There were too many days like that for the Jets last season, when they ranked 29th against the rush and nine players, including Brown, ran for over 100 yards against them. That’s where the Jets hope Jenkins is worth every bit of the five-year, $35 million contract extension they gave him on the day they acquired him from Carolina – despite him having little experience as a pure nose tackle.
“He’s the big man now, there’s no question about that,” defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said. “It’s a little different technique than what he’s played, but I think if you ask him, it’s still football and it’s still pretty much the same job description as he had in the past. That’s to clog up the middle and hold that so that can be solidified in there.”
The quarterback will be another twist for the defense as Chad Pennington will be under center for the Dolphins after eight seasons with the Jets.
“It’s going to be very weird,” said Ellis, who was in Pennington’s draft class in 2000. “The only thing I know him to be is green and white, so to face him on the opposing team is going to be challenging. Chad’s a smart quarterback, he knows our system. You have to play a little bit like cat and mouse.”
Pennington was a face of the franchise for years, but that doesn’t mean the Jets will take it easy on him if they find him one-on-one in the backfield.
“I don’t know,” safety Kerry Rhodes said with a laugh. “I guess it’s however you’re feeling at the time. I mean, you’re going to think, ‘It’s Chad,’ but he’s the opponent right now. He’s not with our team anymore.”
And that made for some strange film sessions during the week for the defense.
“I mean, just seeing him out there in their colors of teal and white, whatever they are, it’s funny to see him out there running around,” Rhodes said. “And you know it’s him because his name is written in all of the things he does. It’s odd knowing you’re going to play against a guy that you have been accustomed to being around, joking with and actually being a good friend. It’s going to be fun.”
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