Erik Boland: Inside the Jets

By Ken Berger

Mangini was pleased with the morning practice today. The key thing for the rookies in a camp like this is to 1) improve on what they did the day before, and 2) translate what the coaches tried to teach in the classroom to the field as the installation on both sides of the ball progresses beyond the basics. Mangini seemed pleased that both had taken place.

I was here at 10:10 sharp for the toe-touching again, and I thought it was even better than yesterday. Not a single toe went untouched. Woody was back for Day Two, without the orange tie. He went tie-less, in fact. Mangini wore his gray sweatshirt, but he's clearly trying not to be too much like Belichick. There was no hood.

I am getting concerned about the health and well-being of a long-time practice observer. The black-and-white cat that Parcells used to stop and pet on his way to the field has been nowhere to be found during minicamp. Maybe he/she/it is not allowed to watch practice anymore. Or maybe he/she/it already has moved to Florham Park, N.J.

Assistant coaches and former Jets Richie Anderson, Bryan Cox, and Rick Lyle were back on the field after missing yesterday's sessions to attend a coaching symposium. Watching them coach brought a serious question to mind: Is Mangini going to be held back by having such an inexperienced staff?

I wish there was more I could share from the on-field activities. Honestly, the only thing that jumped out at me was Kellen Clemens' poise. He just looks the part. He'll need to bulk up considerably, and I gained no sense for how he's progressing with the playbook, but he oozes confidence. I'd prefer, however, if he would no longer refer to Chad as "Mr. Pennington."

I suppose there's a chance the Jets might've gotten a steal in Leon Washington, whose draft status suffered because he was in Bobby Bowden's doghouse at Florida State last year. Washington didn't join his teammates for offseason workouts after his junior year because he had to return home to Jacksonville to help earn money for his financially struggling family. He came back in less than exemplary shape as a senior and didn't put up the numbers he could have. If the Jets are going to run the Chargers' offense, they'll need to throw the ball to someone nifty out of the backfield. The opportunity to earn carries behind Curtis Martin should be wide open.

There's one practice tomorrow, with no media access. I do not anticipate being invited to the passing camp at the end of the month, so my next trip to Hofstra is tentatively scheduled to be full-squad minicamp, June 12-14.

By Ken Berger

Friends and countrymen, it appears that we will have to seriously revise our expectations for the depth and quantity of information I'll be able to deliver to you out of minicamp this weekend.

You're all curious about how various draft picks and undrafted rookies looked in drills. Unfortunately, reporters were permitted to view only 45 minutes of one practice today, and that time included none of the team drills. We didn't see anyone line up in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11, so I can't even tell you who's working where or how they are handling their assignments. These guys can touch toes with the best of them, though. That I know.

It's more of the same tomorrow, when we get to watch 40 minutes of the morning practice. The afternoon practice will be closed. I'm not sure what the big secret is -- and the funny thing is, I'll never know.

To me, limiting what reporters can view in a minicamp practice is not only unfair to the fans who want information on their team. It's unfair to the players, too. If we report that a player dropped a ball in individuals or stumbled in an agility drill, how would we ever know if he he caught three touchdown passes in the more important team drills? No wonder players think the media are unfair.

I can tell you that Mangini seemed at ease on the field in his first practices as a head coach, even participating in some of the drills and raising his voice a couple of times. He was equally at ease in his first news conference alone (without GM Mike Tannenbaum), and genuinely seems to be trying to give the writers some useful information. He's a good guy who cares a lot about football, and I'm as convinced as ever that he's going to grow into an excellent head coach. He just has a plan -- not to give out specifics about anything that could be construed as remotely competitive -- and he's going to stick to it.

Just to make sure everyone's on the same page, there are no veterans participating today or tomorrow. This camp is strictly for rookies and first-year players. There were 40 players in camp -- 10 draft picks, 14 free agents, and 16 tryouts.

The list of undrafted free agents signed by the Jets was made official today, so here it is:

DL Darrell Adams (Villanova), DT/OT Tui Alailefaleula (Washington), WR Maurice Avery (Memphis), DE/LB Craig Bailey (Nevada-Reno), T Ed Blanton (UCLA), LB Michael Brown, Jr. (Howard), LB Blake Costanzo (Lafayette), P/K D.J. Fitzpatrick (Notre Dame), WR Deqawn Mobley (Texas A&M), RB DonTrell Moore (New Mexico), DT Brennan Schmidt (Virginia), S Jamie Thompson (Oklahoma State), LB Will Thompson (Georgia) and QB/WR/RB Stacy Tutt (Richmond).

The players invited for tryouts are:

DB Omowale Dada (Washington State), QB John Davis (N.C. State), DE Tearrius George (Kansas State), DB Rolando Humphrey (Southern Methodist), DB Jovon Johnson (Iowa), LB Anthony Jordan (Toledo), TE Joe Kowalewski (Syracuse), DB Pierre Lee (Virginia State), OL Kevin McAlmont (Western Carolina), LB/DE James Parrish (Kent State), DL Sam Segond (Rutgers), C E.Z. Smith (Penn State), TE Brian Watje (San Jose State), LB Bryan White (Virginia), and WR Wallace Wright (North Carolina).

My observations will have to be limited to what I learned from the locker-room period. A few things I found interesting:

* Brad Smith, the Missouri QB who is working at WR, is nonetheless wearing a QB's number -- the No. 16 that used to belong to Vinny Testaverde.
* John Abraham is gone, but both of his numbers are still here. Third-round linebacker Anthony Schlegel is wearing No. 56, and seventh-round defensive tackle Titus Adams is wearing No. 94.
* Schlegel and Nick Mangold, both of Ohio State, will be engaging interview subjects. When Schlegel was at Air Force before transferring to Ohio State, he wanted to be  a combat controller -- the person who coordinates ground strikes in a military air conflict. When minicamp is over, Mangold goes back to Ohio State -- and back to reality. A 9:30 a.m. physics class awaits.
* Fourth-round RB Leon Washington has a  vice grip for a handshake.  I can't see him fumbling. Actually, if he were to fumble this weekend, I wouldn't be able to see it anyway.

By the way, Jet Boo is the runaway winner in the "name this blog" contest. I'm just not sure if "Bergermeister Meisterblogger" is going to get past management.

Back tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day.

By Ken Berger

Just wanted to let everyone know that Chad Pennington spoke with a few of us media types at the Taste of the NFL fundraiser tonight at the South Street Seaport. Check out my story in the paper tomorrow for all the details, but here's a taste (couldn't resist) of what he had to say:

* He's "full go" in his throwing regimen and "throwing every route we have in the playbook." It was our first update on his progress since he started light throwing March 1, and I have to admit, I was surprised.
* He plans to play at his current weight of 229 pounds, about a dime heavier than before. He said his goal is to be "better than what the old Chad Pennington was" and "as strong as I ever was." Clearly, he is making an effort in the weight room to build himself up so he doesn't break down again.
* He's optimistic that he'll be ready for live drills in time for passing camp at the end of the month and full-squad minicamp in mid-June.
* He's excited that he's 31 weeks post-surgery and still has four months to get ready for the season opener. He noted that he started the season opener last year 31 weeks after surgery.
* He knows he'll have to compete with Patrick Ramsey for the starting job, and sounds ready for it.

Come back often for minicamp updates. Later.

By Ken Berger

Thanks for all your suggestions on naming the blog.  I can empathize with Bassett about having an uninspiring name. I'm pushing for something simple, like, "Berger Blog: Inside the Jets." I haven't heard this many hamburger jokes since elementary school, a simpler and information-deprived era when blogs didn't even exist.

I have fielded some unsolicited guesses from colleagues about the possible identity of John Doe, who lauds me one day and shreds me the next on here. As journalists, our natural investigative instincts have caused us to hatch an unofficial probe, but fairness demands that the results and details not be made public until after the grand jury convenes.

Now, on to more important stuff.  Our first look at the new rookie crop will be this weekend at Hofstra during a two-day minicamp Friday and Saturday.  Under Herm, the Jets typically held one offseason minicamp, open to rookies and veterans, on the weekend after the draft. Mangini has opted for a rookie camp two weekends removed from the draft, followed by a full-squad minicamp in mid-June.

In between, there allegedly will be a passing camp -- and that's the one that, at least for me, will generate the most curiosity. From what could be gathered during the draft, it appears that the passing camp at the end of this month will provide Chad Pennington's first snaps in live drills since his latest shoulder operation. If I had to guess, I would say that those practices will not be open to the media. It will be a monumental task simply to find out for you what, if anything, Pennington does. The full-squad minicamp in mid-June will be open to reporters, so I'll at least be able to tell you what my eyes see at that point.

As for the rookies this weekend, a lot of eyes will be focused on D'Brickashaw Ferguson. But to me, the most interesting storylines will be Brad Smith, Kellen Clemens, and Nick Mangold. I'll give you my impressions of all the rookies, as well as how Mangini conducts himself during his first on-field practices as a head coach.

We might as well get this rolling now: Feel free to throw me some questions or things you want me to look for this weekend. I'll be your eyes and ears. Even you, John Doe.

And you, too, Glauber. The only way Glauber would interrupt his post-draft hibernation would be if the Jets had drafted Marcus Vick.

Which brings me to an interesting question: Who thinks it's possible that Brad Smith could be a better pro than Marcus Vick?

See ya.

By Ken Berger

It's nice to be wanted. So thanks to your overwhelming response, it would appear that this blog isn't going anywhere.

The name will have to be changed now that the draft is behind us -- I wish I could come up with something better than "Ken Berger's Inside the Jets Blog" -- but I just write the stories, not the headlines. (Little known fact about journalism. Writers do NOT write the headlines. Headline writers do. I have to explain that whenever a player or coach doesn't like the headline on one of my stories. They, of course, think I'm passing the buck. But it's true. Honest. ) Thankfully, our headline writers come up with many more good ones than bad ones, so it's rarely a problem.

So the first order of business is deciding what to call this thing going forward. I'm open to your suggestions, keeping in mind that we must adhere to the same high standards for decency that apply to headlines that appear in the paper.

But as you've proved, you're a fairly reasonable, high-minded group. I appreciate that more than one of you has noticed and pointed out the dignified nature of the commentary you've produced here. It's been nothing like the simple-minded, knee-jerk stuff you'd expect if you believed every Jet fan was like Joe Benigno.

I can't emphasize enough how encouraging it has been to see that the vast majority of you rejected the simplistic notion that the Jets had to make some sort of marketing splash in this draft.  I've spoken with some colleagues who lamented the fact that the Jets missed a chance to bring in a player who could be the "face of the franchise" and generate "excitement." Pardon me, but wasn't that the flawed logic behind prematurely signing Chad Pennington to a seven-year, $64 million contract a couple of years ago?

The suggestions that the Jets screwed up by not taking Leinart or trading up for Bush that I've read elsewhere are far outweighed by your acknowledgement of informed opinions offered by Gil Brandt and others who said the Jets did a solid job here.  Coming from someone who covers the team every day, this tells me that there are plenty of fans out there who want coverage that is intelligent and football-driven -- not the same old recycled tabloid angles that any imp with a laptop could produce.

I'm also pleased to know that a few of you have pointed out that you realize beat writers like myself will be up against enormous restrictions in trying to get you information under this new Belichick-like regime. Few examples of this could be more appropriate than the attempt to report the signing of undrafted free agents. The 48-72 hours after the draft are extremely nervous times for NFL personnel departments. Until the paperwork is signed, it's a free-for-all. Team X is paranoid that if word leaks out of an agreement with an undrafted rookie, Team Y could come along and scoop him up.

I find most of the Jets' paranoia to be unwarranted, but in this case, I understand. Fortunately for you, I work for you -- not the Jets -- and it's my job to get you the information you want. So while I am still waiting for the team to confirm what free agents have been signed, here is a list that already has been reported in various forums. No sense keeping the names from you; if you don't get them here, you can get them elsewhere. Frankly, I'd rather you come here:

DE Darrell Adams, Villanova (born in Jamaica, raised in Bay Shore, and attended Islip HS)
DE Craig Bailey, Nevada
RB Ryan Gilbert, Houston
DE Brennan Schmidt, Virginia
DL Will Thompson, Georgia
P/PK D.J. Fitzpatrick, Notre Dame
LB Blake Costanzo, Lafayette
RB DonTrell Moore, New Mexico
OL Ed Blanton, UCLA
S Jamie Thompson, Oklahoma State
TE Brian Watje, San Jose State
QB Stacy Tutt, Richmond
LB Brian White, Virginia

Lastly, now Glauber says he wants to start a blog. I'm not sure there's room for both of us in this town.

By Ken Berger

The draft is over, so Mel Kiper goes back in his basement to start studying high school tape for the top prospects in 2011.

The draft geeks will go away until next April. But you, Jets fans, and me, the Jets beat writer, will not. We're still here. You will spend the whole offseason looking for every sliver of information you can possibly find about how the New York Tanginis are looking, and I will spend the whole offseason (with the exception of comp time, vacation time, and a few moments when I might need to doze off like my colleague the other day) trying to find out that information for you.

Does this mean the blog has to end? I think not, but I'd like to know your thoughts. Is this something you'll find worthwhile if I continue it? Let me know, but hurry. I have some Titus Adams film to break down.