FLORHAM PARK, NJ – Listen, it’s rookie camp and there’s 64 players, nine draft picks, eight non-rookies already signed to the team and eight undrafted free agents. That leaves 37 players on tryouts and only a handful of them, at most, will be invited to OTAs.

What I’m getting at is, these past two days of installs in shorts aren’t telling us a damn thing about whether or not any of these players will be any good. There’s a few positive signs, which I’ll get to shortly, but those signs could end up meaning nothing. We’ve all seen that movie plenty of times before.

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What stood out the most was the volume turned all the way up as the intensity flew from a couple of new coaches. The entire beat was focused on two coaches, new offensive coordinator, John Morton, and outside linebackers coach, Kevin Greene. These two coaches haven’t given these rookies any slack for being rookies, they were on mission to ratchet up the intensity and make sure players know when they mess up and that they better damn well get it right next time.

“Kevin is like a Hulk Hogan and Randy “Macho Man” Savage,” Todd Bowles joked after practice. “He enjoys it to the fullest. He loves the game, he coaches like he plays. He was an intense player, he’s an intense coach, but don’t mistake that for him not being very bright. He’s a very bright guy.”

The same can be said for Morton because he was loud and intense and he wasn’t interested in letting any mistakes slide. Obviously that runs counter to Bowles’ style, but maybe that’s a good thing. For a team that was so undisciplined last year, they could probably use some more intensity to balance out Bowles’ calm demeanor.

“We had good coaches last year, I’m looking for different types as far as teaching their guys a different way and with the system we had coming in, I knew the kind of guys I was looking for,” Bowles said. “All those guys that replaced the guys we had kind of fit the bill.”

But that’s enough about the coaches, let’s get to the players. Again, not a lot stood out. ArDarius Stewart and Chad Hansen looked perfectly capable receivers, but that doesn’t actually mean anything.

The two things that did stand out where Dylan Donahue’s intensity and physicality and Jamal Adams already displaying his leadership qualities. Of course, neither of those things will tell us if the players will be good, great or out of the league in a few years, but that’s what stood out and it’s encouraging to see.

Yesterday Donahue talked about having Greene as a coach, and how he thought Greene saw some of Donahue in himself, today it showed because as Greene’s intensity was blasting through sound waves across the practice field, Donahue was flying around at full speed and wasn’t afraid to get physical at all. I don’t know how good of a player Donahue will be, but I’m taking the over of three training camp scuffles involving Donahue this year.

Watching Adams on the field you can see his comfort level in the system already and you can see his instincts as he works his way around the field, but what was most impressive was watching him come off the field. Every time he came to the sidelines he would go up to one player or another and either congratulate them for a good play or to help them correct a mistake. He’s been here two days and he’s already helping his teammates learn the defense, which also means he’s been here two days and also has a firm grasp on the defense. Bowles and Mike Maccagnan wanted to change the culture of the locker room and it sure as hell looks like they have the right guy to lead that charge in not only the future but the present as well. Now we just have to see how well he plays on this level, otherwise all that leadership won’t be enough to keep him around to lead.

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