E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

Mangini’s presser just ended, and in it he gave one of the clearest arguments he’s ever given for using the 3-4 defense. Here’s what he said:

“What I’ve always liked about the 3-4 is that you’ve got the flexibility to have that double bubble over the guard in the standard, or what you would think of as the traditional 3-4, and you can move one of those ends down and rush an OLB and conceptually it’s the same exact thing as a 4-3. Or you can bring both ends down and rush both OLBs and now you have like a 46 look, like the Buddy Ryan Bears look. And with four LBs, those four pieces can replace defensive linemen to build any front that you want. And you’re not forced to adjust with the secondary on movement, you can just adjust with LBs. When you have four big guys in there, they can really only go to certain spots and the little guys have to adjust.”

Just a little X and O talk for those who crave it. Back to the drama.

No update on the Kendall or Revis situations, though Kendall spoke out again today and reiterated his frustrations. I asked him that since he obviously does not want to be here, if there will come a time when he decides to leave and take the fines.

“I don’t know,” he said. “I’m here because I don’t want to pay them not to be here at this point. If that’s the type of esprit de corps they want, all I can do is be honest about how I feel.”

Apparently Mangini’s Mozart music is working on the brain waves because I don’t think I’ve ever heard a pro football player drop a French term like that in the middle of a press conversation. For those not sure what esprit de corps means, it’s a team spirit. Je vous en prie!

A few minor roster moves: The Jets resigned G Dominic Moran and waived K Justin Ayat.

Leon Washington was back at practice this morning. He declined to elaborate on his “personal reason” explanation for missing two practices, but he said everything has been taken care of. He looked good – better than when he couldn’t hold down his breakfast on Day One.

I spoke with Wantagh native Joe Villani, a rookie free agent center out of Pitt. He played at St. Anthony’s HS and is tickled to be playing here for the Jets. He said when he was a kid he used to come out and watch Jets practices. Unfortunately Mom and Dad didn’t have a chance to see him in a Jets uniform for the first few days. He was such a late signing and left his apartment in Pittsburgh in such a rush that he had to zip to LI and his folks had to head out to PA to pick up his stuff. They were scheduled to be out there this morning for their first glimpse of Joe the Pro.

Bobby Hamilton and I traded a few turkey recipes. He likes his deep fried and he was telling me about how he injects all kinds of Cajun spices into the birds at just the right spots and then drops them in peanut oil because peanut oil will not burn meat. I prefer to smoke my turkey over cherry wood after a brine of about 30 hours in a garlic and orange flavored mix. We had a little disagreement over the benefits of a spice rub. Too bad neither of us will be able to do that this year since the Jets will be in Dallas on Thanksgiving.

The topic of cooking came up because Bobby has bought into a restaurant called Michael’s Kitchen in Hollywood, Fla. He said he likes watching Rachel Ray on the Food Network and loves Hell’s Kitchen. Maybe it reminds him of Mangini’s training camp.

We’re getting hit with a pretty strong lightning storm right now. A few crackles of it just hit pretty close to the Jets building – it looked like they may have hit the lights on the field – and it was enough to screw with the electronic security systems in the building. A few of the media relations personnel were even trapped in the press room and couldn’t get through the door. Now they know how it feels. Still, the staff did a great job of running through the raindrops and lightning bolts to bring lunch into the building. No eating in the Bistro, the outdoor area they set up for us, today.