E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

So here’s “The Watch” story, as referenced by Marvin Lewis yesterday.

When Mangini was an offensive assistant in Baltimore, the head coach at the time, Ted Marchibroda, needed a watch during training camp. He asked Mangini if he could borrow his, and of course the young assistant said “Sure.”
Two or three weeks later, they’re sitting at dinner, and Ted calls Eric over to his table.

“Oh, Eric, I really like this watch,” Ted says. “It’s the favorite one I’ve ever had. How much did you pay for it?”

Eric says he’s not sure, probably about $30. So Ted pulls out his wallet, hands Eric $30, and says “Go buy yourself one.”

It’s a charming story. Does it live up the hype Marvin Lewis bestowed upon it? No. Was it worth the 24 hours of breathless anticipation? No. But it was a nice story. And Mangini does a pretty good impression of Marchibroda, which adds to the delivery. And I'm sure he appreciated a reason to smile during this week of being 1-5.

Anyway …

Another practice that started with one-on-one tackling. The receivers were doing a pretty cool drill in which they would have to make cuts and catch the ball, then drop it almost immediately, cut again, and catch a second ball. Then a third. They did it with four footballs, so it was a little dizzying. But it was a cool drill to watch that required a lot of synchronization.

Nick Mangold had to leave the locker room early for a special phone interview with the Dayton Daily News, essentially his hometown newspaper. Nick’s a great guy, but his quotability is starting to dry up. One time earlier this year he was asked about facing the formidable Giants defensive line that had just sacked McNabb 12 times. “Every NFL defense is formidable,” he said. He was once anointed (here and elsewhere) as The New Pete. I guess the Jets took care of that pretty quickly.

There was an article and a picture in a recent issue of Jets Confidential in which Jets long snapper James Dearth had his face photoshopped into a picture of the 70s band Earth, Wind and Fire. The headline was, of course, “Dearth, Wind and Fire.” Dearth got a chuckle out of it and passed it around to his teammates. It took Hank Poteat a little while to realize what was up, but eventually he caught on.

One thing I forgot to mention from yesterday’s practice was that Darian Barnes – who’s a really nice guy who gives thoughtful answers and can carry on a strong conversation but is a little crazy – spent some of the workout without his helmet. Apparently it was in the shop for a little while, because one of the equipment guys came running out with it. But there were a few plays where Barnes participated in the drills without the head protection. I told you he’s crazy.