Santonio Holmes is a name that draws a lot of divergent opinions from among Jets fans.  While Tone has been an integral part of the offense, last year was a struggle and ended poorly.   But no matter what the public perception of Holmes is, Kristian Dyer writes for Metro New York that young wide receivers like Stephen Hill and Jordan White see Holmes as a big help, since the elder receiver works with the younger guys on the club to help them become better receivers often.

In the locker room, Holmes doesn’t have that diva reputation, at least not that the young players on the team are willing to admit.

“Santonio is very approachable and is someone who is willing to teach and show the younger players how to do things,” rookie wide receiver Jordan White said. “It doesn’t need to be said, [but] you can go up to him and talk to him about anything, and he also is the kind of guy to come up to you and talk to you as well and share with you what he knows, what he learns. It is very easy that way. When he talks, you want to listen because he’s been there.”

Brian Bassett, TheJetsBlog.com

No matter what’s happened last year, based on the contract the Jets have with Holmes, they are likely sticking with each other for the next two years, so pragmatically one would hope that they could make it work until then.  In the NFL, Holmes always had a player to help take the heat off him up until last year and Plax was unable to adequately provide that help last season.  As we wrote from training camp a few weeks ago, no matter the intent of why Holmes is doing this for his teammates, the truth of the matter is that he’s helping them out to be better players for this team.  Hopefully Tone can get back on the field soon.