No Preseason Games Has Connor McGovern 'Ready to Go After Somebody That Isn't in a Green Helmet'
Connor McGovern has noticed all the differences about NFL training camp this year and the unusual set of circumstances due to COVID-19. The New York Jets center said that what he is missing right now is not seeing anyone else.
McGovern, like the rest of his teammates, is tired of practice and wants to play some games. He wants to play someone other than his teammates on defense.
“Everyone's ready to go and they're ready to get after somebody that isn't in a green helmet,” McGovern said Tuesday in a virtual press conference.
For more than a month, all NFL teams are operating on the same schedule, excluding the Kansas City Chiefs and Houston Texans, who open the regular season on September 10. The NFL and the NFLPA agreed to a specific timeline that included acclimation and ramp-up periods before teams could practice with pads. After practice, meetings with position coaches still had to take place virtually, and it has taken its toll on McGovern.
“I think what I missed the most was the in-person meetings,” McGovern said. “That's a lot of the time where you're joking with each other. You're poking fun at somebody. A funny play happens on the screen. You can laugh together and stuff. It kind of breaks it up. It's a little bit harder on a virtual meeting when you're muted and you're not gonna unmute your mic to give somebody a hard time while a coach is trying to teach him up.”
McGovern stressed that he understands why and isn’t suggesting that the NFL does anything differently. He believes that this team is doing the best they can to prepare for the opening game twelve days away.
The 27-year-old offensive lineman is coming off a solid season for the Denver Broncos in 2019. He started all 16 games for Denver and has 36 starts in his last 3 seasons. He was sought after in free agency by both the Minnesota Vikings and San Francisco 49ers, but ultimately reached an agreement with the Jets.
McGovern praised quarterback Sam Darnold saying that he has gotten to know the man he will be protecting on Sundays. He also believes running back Le’Veon Bell looks great in camp. This from a guy who helped Denver Broncos running back Phillip Lindsay rushed over 1,000 yards the last two seasons.
McGovern is considered an integral part of an upgraded and revamped offensive line.
Still, he recognizes that time in the NFL is limited and what was missed this training camp is valuable, even though the work is getting done.
“Whenever you talk to a retired guy about what do you miss about football? It's normally that locker room back and forth,” McGovern explained. “Because it's a lot of meeting time and the coaches do a great job, especially we do a good job of making it more fun and stuff virtually. It's hard to do that. You know how much the coach is going to start off each meeting having some fun, making some jokes, we all joke around and started. Maybe once that meeting gets going and we all mute our mics or whatever you want to call it it’s a little bit harder. I guess that's what I've missed the most.”
