Bart Scott grabbed headlines during the playoffs last year with his now legendary "Can't Wait!" rant following an upset of the Patriots in the postseason. The Jets star linebacker had another statement this week, about the very real possibility the NFL will drop two-a-day practices in training camp.
"I think it's wimping out; making football more soft," Scott told the Newark Star-Ledger. "No reason to try and make camp easy.
"I get concerned you're making football players weaker because you don’t push them past that threshold. I get concerned with the same thing with the quarterback stuff, that they turn it into flag football; they turn it into little pansy stuff."
According to reports this week, the owners have agreed to end the long-standing tradition of twice-a-day practices during camp.
Players demanded the end of the "Hell Week," tradition, claiming it was a health and safety issue. Over the past few years, a number of high school players have died, with the two-a-day practices being blamed as a contributing factor.
Scott sympathizes with -- of all people -- his Jets coaches.
"You're stealing reps from coaches," Scott said. "Even if you put those reps into the front of practice, what's the quality going to be? Eventually that cuts down on the quality of the product. We're already behind. Now you're trying to go full-speed running, when you're absolutely dog-tired, and that’s when you get pulls and stuff like that."
Scott, signed by the Baltimore Ravens as an undrafted free agent in 2002 out of Southern Illinois, has been picked for one Pro Bowl (2006). Head coach Rex Ryan was a big supporter of Scott while in Baltimore, bringing him to the Jets on a six-year, $48 million deal in 2009.
