Vernon Gholston is finding the milestones to mark his progress this year.
Two weeks ago it was when he was named the Jets' special teams player of the week. Then Friday after the last practice before the Jets left for Oakland, the team's No. 1 draft pick realized he'd hit upon another.
"It was the first day I haven't had any mental mistakes,"
Gholston said.
"That was a big monument for me just in terms of being on the same page as the defense and knowing what's going on. I had no mental busts in practice and that's big for me because if I can eliminate that it builds my confidence and I can go out there and play the way I should be playing."
So perhaps it's hard to throw the confetti on a first-rounder who will get $21 million in guaranteed money and is just getting comfortable at linebacker. Especially when the 3-2 Jets play Oakland on Sunday at 4:15 p.m., when Jets watchers will have an opportunity to see Gholston on the field with running back Darren McFadden, perhaps also known as "the one that got away."
The Jets, who had the No. 6 pick, scooped up McFadden during his New York visit and took him to a boxing match. Jets coach Eric Mangini and general manager Mike Tannenbaum became comfortable with McFadden.
"A lot of things to really like about him as a person outside of what you liked about him as a player,"
Mangini said.
And then Oakland (1-4) snatched him with the No. 4 pick.
McFadden has made an immediate contribution on the Raiders, and his 164 yards gained against Kansas City was the second-best contribution from a rookie for the franchise. But Gholston is gaining ground as well, perhaps not as quickly.
There are a few mitigating factors. Gholston wasn't able to join the Jets until much later than the other rookies due to NFL and NCAA rules on underclassmen, and once here he was asked to move from his Ohio State position, defensive end.
Defensive coordinator Bob Sutton has seen positive things in the transition.
"It goes from the position where people told you what to do to where you're the guy telling someone what to do so there's a comfort level there,"
Sutton said.
"And I think Vernon's improving in that area. He's worked really hard off the field to speed up, which is important because we we all know he lost some valuable time, and I think he's finally getting to the point where he's comfortable, and that was a first sign there in the special teams. And that's an area that allows you to act aggressively, and so if he can take that over into our end then he should be in good shape. I think we're going to see continued improvement from Gholston."
One player who was in a similar position is D'Brickashaw Ferguson, a first-rounder in 2006, it took him a while but after the win over Cincinnati he was named the team's offensive player of the week.
"The game is not an easy game,"
Ferguson said, "but if you practice it long enough it will pay off."
Mangini said Ferguson isn't the only one who can relate.
"I'm sure he can give some unique insight just because of where they were picked in the draft, how high they were picked in the draft,"
Mangini said.
"You also have Nick Mangold, coming from the same university (Ohio State), their combined experiences. Calvin Pace, who was a first-round draft pick, played (defensive end) and made the transition to linebacker. He wasn't as productive as he wanted to be right from the start."
Gholston said those players had given him some good advice. And then on Friday the defense looked at some tape of linebacker Bryan Thomas in his rookie year on special teams.
Gholston laughed when he thought about how raw Thomas looked, and how he looks now.
"These things take time. Don't rush it,"
Gholston said.
