FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Reggie Bush got plenty of screen time on Hard Knocks in the offseason, and now that the show has run its course, he can say that the additional scrutiny wasn’t necessarily a good thing.
“I don’t think it helped us,” Bush said. “It’s a great show and I think it did a great job of capturing just what it takes to be in the NFL and go through an NFL season and training camp and the business side of things and the sports side of things. I think that’s great for fans. As football players I don’t think it makes or breaks us. I think a lot of guys would probably prefer not to have the show around because then you have to watch what you say and how you act, and speak differently and walk differently. Especially in this day and age you never know, especially when there are cameras around, what kinds of things get out there so you just want to err on the side of caution.”
Bush will be under the spotlight himself after a 197-yard performance against Oakland. He’s had six 100-plus yard rushing games for the Dolphins in the last calendar year.
“Quick guy, definitely a home run hitter,” Jets defensive lineman Muhammad Wilkerson said.
The Jets defense has definitely keyed on the running back and studied him as they prepare to take on Miami. They also experienced it first-hand last season.
“He’s a guy who makes sharp cuts,” Pouha said, “probably the sharpest anybody can make in the NFL. You think he’ll hit one spot but then he’ll cut somewhere else.”
Safety Yeremiah Bell, who came to the Jets from Miami as a free agent, may be more familiar with Bush than many of his teammates, having gone against him in practice for a season.
“With a running back like that just make sure he doesn’t get to the outside,” Bell said. “He’s a back who is looking to get to the outside, looking to get to the perimeter and get up the field. A big thing for us is going to be keeping him inside the tackles. Not putting guys in one-on-one situations because he can make guys miss I mean that’s what he does, and we have to gang-tackle him. That’s going to be a big thing.”
And Bush knows that Miami’s offense has to be mindful of the Jets as well.
“The biggest challenge for us I think with all the exotic fronts that they run on defense is just protect the quarterback,” Bush said. “I think that’s always probably one of the main challenges for any offense but any time you face a defense like the Jets defense where they bring in all pressures at you and a lot of different looks, you just want to make sure you’re ID-ing the fronts right and make sure you’re protecting the quarterback and limiting the hits on the quarterback.”