New York Jets rookie tight end Jace Amaro had a lot of reading to do this offseason, though the learning has just begun.
In absorbing Marty Mornhinweg's West Coast-style playbook over the past month, the Texas Tech product had a study buddy in rookie quarterback Tajh Boyd, who was regularly quizzing Amaro on the fly in the cafeteria and hotel.
“He would just throw different plays out there,” Amaro said last week, via NJ.com.
The first-year pass-catcher thinks his mental immersion into the system, which consisted of "hours and hours" of studying and memorizing, will pay off.
“I just know the whole playbook now, and I know exactly what I need to do on every single play," he said. "It’s just a lot more relaxing out there. I can read the defense and I can see who I expect is going to guard me on a certain play. I feel a lot better about it.
"... I know what I can do (physically) and what my game is. That’s all going to come along. The mental part about it and the playbook part about it is the biggest thing.”
The 6-foot-5, 265-pound former Red Raider set the NCAA single season record for receiving yards with 1,352 in 2013, also earning consensus All-American and first team All-Big 12 honors.
Amaro inherited high expectations from the Gang Green faithful having been drafted in the second round to help bolster the Jets' sub-par pass-catching corps of a year ago. This training camp, preseason and beyond, he'll look to unseat--or at least find a seat next to--veteran Jeff Cumberland atop the positional depth chart.
