Every few years, the Jets become a temporary home for players sharing a common background.

A decade ago, three players born in the Pacific — Sione Po'uha (Tonga), Ropati Pitoitua (Samoa) and Josh Mauga (Hawai'i) — were stout islands in the Jets defense. Two offseasons back, Australian punters were the rule, as Lachlan Edwards and Tom Hackett briefly vied for the Green & White job, which Edwards won and still holds.

This rookie minicamp the accent was on Canadians in the trenches. Third-round DL Nathan Shepherd, we know about and hope to continue to hear about. Undrafted free agent guard Dakoda Shepley played right tackle and right guard for the University of British Columbia. And tryout Mark Korte played LT at the University of Alberta.

"I know a few of the players here," Shepley told me last week during the Jets' rookie minicamp. "I trained with Bentley Spain [another tryout, from North Carolina], and Mark is from the same conference, and he just got drafted fourth overall in the CFL Draft yesterday. He's going to try and make the team, and if not, he's got a pretty nice Plan B."

Oh, those Canadians, always so polite and modest. While talking up Korte's spot in the draft, not once did Shepley say, oh, by the way, I was taken fifth overall. But it's true. Korte was the first-round pick of the Ottawa Redblacks while Shepley was tabbed next by the Saskatchewan Roughriders.

But while Korte has yet to be asked back by the Jets, Shepley is under contract and is starting out at right guard.