E-Boland & Gang Green

So at Eric Mangini's Seventh Annual Football Fundamentals Mini-Camp in Hartford, which I wrote about for tomorrow's paper, at the end of an interview with Mangini I addressed one last thing: What was Mangini's reaction to Bryan Thomas' comments the other day about having "slacked off" last season? Not much.

"One of the things we talk about quite a bit, whether it’s after a practice or after a game, after a season, everybody spend some time and be honest with themselves,” Mangini said. “And that’s the only way you’re going to grow, to sit there and be honest with yourself and how you did. You know whether you did well or achieved to the best of your ability. That’s how you’re going to get better. It’s good that everybody does that.”

Was Mangini disappointed to read Thomas' comments?

"Whenever you have a season like we did, or like we had before (in 2006 when the Jets went 10-6), a lot of people had to do things very well, a lot of people had to do things better. There’s a lot of things I could do better. That’s part of the process. Those are the types of guys that you want, guys that look at it and say, 'I could do better.'

Translation, or my translation, at any rate: Thomas' remarks, while candid, came as no surprise to Mangini. He had to coach him, after all, and saw up close the severe drop in numbers from Thomas, who simply verbalized what Mangini and him had probably discussed many times -- both last season and immediately after the season. The reality, and Thomas put it in words better than anyone else could, was this: anymore slacking off this season and Thomas, as he said, will find his "a**" on the bench.

Another sidenote from the camp, which had 700 kids representing 71 high schools from four different states [New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Rhode Island], with this note demonstrating the power of television. The campers sat relatively still and quiet - impressive because this was just before lunch - for the following guest speakers: Kellen Clemens, Dustin Keller, Notre Dame fullback Asaph Schwapp – a Hartford native and Camper of the Year here three years ago – ESPN’s Chris Berman, and the radio voice of the Jets, Bob Wischusen, more the MC than guest speaker but he deserves mention. Mangini, naturally, spoke too.

After everyone gave brief speeches [Clemens is pretty comfortable speaking publicly it seems. Keller, too], the large group adjourned for lunch, but many swarmed the speakers for autographs.

By far, far, far, the person drawing the most autograph seekers was Berman.

I didn't talk to Berman - I had no reason to for this assignment, or any other one I've had - but having read elsewhere that he has a rough side, it's only fair to report that Berman signed, happily it seemed, everything put in front of him, including plates that had just been filled with hot dogs and the like. I did have a kid intrepidly walk up to me...and ask for a piece of paper. And an extra pen. I obliged.

Finally, the final Flight Crew tryouts are tomorrow (Sunday) in the city at Marc Ecko Enterprises. Ecko, who is one of the judges, is designing and styling the 2008 New York Jets Flight Crew Uniforms. The process - that word, by the way, should be expunged from the dictionary - will take most of the day so when I post something from there, I can't really predict. Basically, I'll be spending a lot of hours around dancers and, well, how much work I get done can't be determined at this time. I'm sure you understand.

Filed this for the newspaper earlier and would have posted it here but I was in the Mets clubhouse from 3:30-6. I know: problems, problems. Anyway, here's what's in the Saturday paper:

"Scott Cohen joined the Jets Friday as the team’s assistant general manager, a new position within the organization. The Jets have not formally announced the move but a team source confirmed Cohen’s arrival. Cohen, who spent the last eight years with the Eagles in their pro personnel department, will report directly to Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum. One result of the move is Terry Bradway, the Jets current director of player personnel, spending more time on the road scouting college players."

And there you have it.

Interesting weekend coming up: off to Hartford, Conn. for Eric Mangini's football camp Saturday and then - Roger don't think I'm not thinking about you here - Jets Flight Crew final tryouts on Sunday. That's right. 'Nuff said. Back with updates of some sort.

Chad Pennington did not have a great day Wednesday working with the second team. His day Thursday working with the first team wasn't much better. But Kellen Clemens didn’t distinguish himself much, either. In short, it was one of those days, for both quarterbacks. It was a Thursday filled with an array of balls that came up short, sailed long and otherwise failed to reach their intended targets. When there were well-thrown balls, often times the receivers – including standouts to this point like Jerricho Cotchery, Laveranue Coles and Chansi Stuckey – dropped them. One receiver who did catch everything was rookie Dustin Keller.

These days happen. Every team has bad practices. No need to go crazy. Anyway, a brief review:

1. After saying all that about the quarterbacks, this wasn’t the best of days to evaluate either one because the practice was spent mostly working on special teams and game-specific situations. For example, the quarterbacks spent the first half of the practice throwing to each other [except for Erik Ainge who still is not throwing] on the lower field at Hofstra while everyone else worked on special teams.

Stuckey returned kickoffs along with Leon Washington and Danny Woodhead. The 5-7 Woodhead drew some “oohs” and “ahhs” on one return when he essentially looked hidden behind the blockers, then darted through a hole on the right side. It was a non-contact drill - all of them are - but had it been full-contact, the play would have been a long one. When it came to punt returns, nothing huge there other than Ben Graham’s Thursday was much better than his Wednesday. There were some spirals and no shanks. Jeremy Kapinos had another solid day.

We got our first look at the Jets “good hands team” for opponents’ onside kicks. The unit included Darrelle Revis, Jesse Chatman, Kerry Rhodes, Bubba Franks, Justin Miller, Dustin Keller, Cotchery and Coles. Last thing on the kickers: Mike Nugent missed a 53-yard field goal and two from 44 yards. He stayed after practice to work on his kicks. Nugent’s day wasn’t great but he did absolutely hammer a 55-yarder through the uprights that would have been good from 65 or 70.

2. The offense went through about every game circumstance it can face – goal-line situations, two-minute drives, Hail Marys, etc. Clemens completed a 35-yard Hail Mary to Chatman, who came back on the ball at the goal line and made the reception in front of Abram Elam and James Ihedigbo. Both Clemens and Pennington had Hail Mary passes from the 45-yard line – meaning they ended up throwing the ball from beyond the 50 – knocked down short of the end zone by Kerry Rhodes. The Jets went 1-for-4 on the goal line [Clemens was 1-for-2, Pennington 0-for-2], the one conversion coming when Clemens rolled to his right at about the 10 and hit David Clowney in the back of the end zone. In a later drill, Clemens, from the 15, found Dustin Keller at the goal line between two defenders.

In the two-minute offense drills to end practice, Pennington completed his first three passes – two were dumpoffs – but had three consecutive incompletions, including a nicely thrown touch pass down the left sideline that Leon Washington dropped. Pennington saw an 18-yarder bounce off Coles’ fingertips – though the ball was slightly underthrown - in an earlier drill.

3. Stuckey, whom I wrote about yesterday, stayed down on the field for several minutes after practice as, on the day’s final play, he got clipped by safety Nate Lyles going after a badly overthrown 20-yard pass from Clemens. After a few minutes, Stuckey was up and walked to the post-practice team huddle, even sharing a laugh with Mangini as he walked.

As I’ve been saying, overall, not a good day for either QB and that was an appropriate end to the afternoon.

4. Mangini, whose record on disclosing injury information is well established, actually disclosed some regarding Brad Smith. Smith has been limited to mostly holding on field goals and riding an exercise bicycle the days the media has been able to watch practice.

“He’s working through some things with his back,” Mangini said Thursday morning. “It’s an on-going process of rehab. When he’s ready to go he’ll be back out there.”

Mangini quickly reverted to typical nondisclosure disclosure when asked about long-snapper James Dearth, who has also been limited in the practices.

“He’s rehabbing something,” Mangini said, restoring order to the universe that had momentarily been thrown into disarray.

Also limited today was Artrell Hawkins and Kenny Patton, the cornerback from Hawaii signed last week. Speaking of corners, for the second straight day, Justin Miller started with the first-team defense.

And finally, the Mangini standup comedy moment of the day: Asked about 36-year-old Tony Richardson and what the fullback brings to the Jets, the 37-year-old Mangini said, “I wanted to bring in a contemporary. Graduated high school the same year. Could actually relate to the same songs, things like that, someone to hang out with personally.”

The man can deliver a punch line.

As for tomorrow in the paper [on line too], I’m writing about a very motivated Bryan Thomas, who after practice today copped to “slacking” last year during practice, which carried over to the games on Sunday. He was open about things, to say the least.

For the first time this offseason, we get to watch consecutive days of OTA practice. One day after not throwing the ball very well, Chad Pennington will work with the first team as he and Kellen Clemens alternate working with the 1s. Same schedule as yesterday: Eric Mangini talks to us from 10:15-10:35 and we watch practice until 12:30 and get the players coming off the field after practice. Darrell, sorry to read about that story you posted. Glad to have you back.

OTA practice session No. 8 is in the books. Let’s go to the video tape:

1. Chad Pennington - working with the 2s as it was Kellen Clemens turn to go with the first team - did not have a good day. In one seven-on-seven drill sequence, the veteran bounced a 12-yard out to Paul Raymond, came up short on a 20-yard out to David Ball and overthrew Laveranues Coles on a sideline “go” route. Later, David Clowney made a nice adjustment on an underthrown Pennington pass down the left sideline.

Pennington did finish the practice strong. He threw a perfect 22-yarder, against the strong breeze that blew most of practice, to Jerricho Cotchery in the end zone and two plays later made a strong throw on a sideline out to David Ball. Clemens, though not as impressive as last week when he threw the deep ball very well, had his moments, highlighted by a 30-yard sideline throw that hit Coles, covered well on the play by Hank Poteat, in stride. All was not perfect, though, as a bit later Clemens missed a wide open Wallace Wright, who had torched Andre Woolfolk coming off the line, on the sideline and instead dumped the ball underneath to Cotchery. In a competition that is still VERY early, chalk up this day to Clemens. During Thursday’s practice, which we’ll also get to see, Pennington will work with the first team. As an aside, Cotchery looked good, regardless of who was throwing him the ball.

2. David Barrett was NOT the starting corner opposite Darrelle Revis as he was the previous two weeks. No, today it was the athletic Justin Miller, whose workload each week of OTAs has increased. So, for today (Wednesday), your starting defense looked like this: Revis and Miller at the corners, with the rest being the same as the last two weeks – Eric Smith and Kerry Rhodes at the safeties and a front seven comprising Shaun Ellis, Kris Jenkins and Kenyon Coleman up front, with Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas as the outside linebackers, and David Harris and Eric Barton on the inside. Cornerback Andre Woolfolk, limited the last two weeks, saw time with the second team and also worked some as the nickel back.

3. Brad Smith was again limited, though not as much as he was last week when he spent 95 percent of the practice we saw on the exercise bicycle. Today Smith ran a handful of routes in some passing drills – though not in the 11-on-11s – and was back to holding on some field goals. This was the capacity in which he contributed two weeks ago so there seems to be some progress with his undisclosed injury, which made Smith a virtual spectator last week. At the end of a post-practice interview with Kellen Clemens – we were talking about Chansi Stuckey’s offseason thus far – I asked Clemens what Smith’s injury was. Clemens had a horrified look on his face [Jets players are forbidden to discuss their own injuries, let alone anyone else’s], before he realized I was joking. The man has a sense of humor. The PR man standing nearby, David Tratner, I'm not as sure about.

4. Thomas Jones looked solid catching several screen passes and then accelerating. Jones received the majority of carries, followed by Leon Washington. Musa Smith, signed to a contract late Tuesday afternoon, was used both as a blocking back and a ball carrier. Both Jones and Washington looked to be hitting their holes between the tackles quickly, though remember, these are non-contact drills, making running back evaluation difficult for obvious reasons. Still, little things can be gathered.

5. Rookie receiver Marcus Henry saw significantly more action than last week’s OTA practice that we observed. Henry today ran primarily short routes over the middle and did not have any drops. He doesn’t seem to have great speed but his hands don’t look to be a problem.

6. Mike Nugent missed a 48-yard field goal and 53-yarder back-to-back, but against the wind ended the practice by knocking through a 58-yarder. Just before that kick, Mark Myers delivered on a 53-yarder. And that leads us too…

7. This one, which is dedicated to Capt. Rich: in the Ben Graham vs. Jeremy Kapinos battle for punter, Wednesday was Kapinos’ day. Against the wind that gusted at times, Kapinos had the better share of good kicks. Graham rebounded after an early-practice kick against the wind that went no more than 20 yards but Kapinos, while getting away his share of below average kicks, avoided any outright shanks.

8. James Dearth was the primary long-snapper after spending the last two weeks mostly in the “limited” category. He still spent some time on the exercise bicycle but not as much. Will Montgomery again got some time at long-snapper.

9. Hofstra’s Shawn McMackin, a 6-3 287-pound offensive lineman who earned a contract after being invited to the rookie minicamp, saw some time with the third team at center and guard. Robert Turner, listed at 6-4 and 308 pounds, also worked at multiple positions on the offensive line.

10. Danny Woodhead, who muffed three kicks last week, didn't drop one ball.

11. And back by popular demand – and by that I mean me –is a return of last week’s feature: the Eric Mangini comedy moment of the day: Mangini, while discussing the “correction binders” all the quarterbacks get [essentially, it’s a compilation of things to work on], was asked if it was a bad thing to have a binder that increased dramatically in size from one week to the next. The exact question: who to this point has the thickest book?

“I don’t know,” Mangini said with a smile and a slight pause. “If size totally matters.”

Probably best to leave it there for now.

No, the No. 6 overall pick is not here but Eric Mangini just cleared up a bit of the confusion regarding exactly when Gholston will be at Hofstra. Gholston will report to the Jets June 6, meaning the outside linebacker will be able to participate in the team's minicamp. Ok, we're headed outside for practice, with a full report to follow.

Same schedule as the previous two weeks today at Hofstra: Eric Mangini talks to the media at 10:15, then we head out for practice from 10:55-12:30. Player interviews follow that. Again, no Vernon Gholston today – or this week for that matter - because of the NFL rule that says a college player cannot participate in more than one camp activity prior to the conclusion of the his college’s school year. And away we go...

The Jets signed former Ravens running back Musa Smith late Tuesday afternoon to an undisclosed deal, another move indicative of a team transitioning toward a power ground game. The 6-0, 232-pound Smith, an unrestricted free agent whom the Jets worked out last week, played in 49 games the last five years with the Ravens, rushing for a career-best 264 yards (75 attempts) and catching 27 passes for 192 yards in 2007. Overall, in his five-year career with Baltimore, Smith had 496 yards and four touchdowns on 132 carries. He was taken in the third round by the Ravens (77th overall) in the 2003 draft.

Much more to come Wednesday and Thursday from the OTAs...

First, happy Memorial Day to all.

This week’s OTAs start tomorrow (Tuesday) and we get two days - Wednesday and Thursday – of access compared to the one day of practice we’ve seen the last two weeks. Plenty of things to keep an eye on, though one of them won’t be Vernon Gholston who, because of the previously talked about NFL rule, won’t be joining the Jets until the June minicamp. Among the points of emphasis for Wednesday and Thursday, in no particular order and, no, this is not an all-encompassing list:

1. The goings on with Brad Smith. Smith, with an undisclosed injury, was limited two weeks ago during the practice we saw, relegated primarily to holding on field goals. Kellen Clemens did some of the holding last week as Smith was even more limited, spending part of the practice on the sideline on an exercise bicycle. Chansi Stuckey, as previously written here and elsewhere, has been impressive and is the third receiver at this point.

2. Where Dwight Lowery is working and is any other cornerback starting to stand out? Lowery, the Jets fourth-round pick, worked mostly with the third team last week but everyone knows the preference is for someone other than David Barrett, who has been opposite Darrelle Revis, to start. Drew Coleman took the place of Hank Poteat in some nickel packages last week. The Jets signed two corners May 20: Jonathan Zenon and Kenny Patton. Asked about those signings last week and if the apparently stockpiling of players at that position reflected some uncertainty, Eric Mangini, still very much a defensive backs coach at heart, said with a smile, “I love corners.” It remains to be seen how many on the current roster are truly worth loving.

3. Clemens and Chad Pennington have been alternating working with the first team early in the quarterback competition, but this will be the first time we’ll get to see the QBs working back-to-back days, as opposed to seven days apart. Clemens had an impressive day throwing the deep ball last Thursday and Pennington showed some zip on mid-range throws. Seeing them consecutive days should be interesting.

4. Sixth-round pick Marcus Henry had a quiet first week of practice, but that was the case for all the rookies, other than tight end Dustin Keller, who worked, though not exclusively, a lot with the first team. We’ll probably see a little more involvement on the part of the rookies who, remember, missed the first week of OTAs because of another league rule.

5. For Gridderbob, I’ll have a long-snapper update. And one on overall offensive line depth, too.

6. And finally, for Roger and others who have asked, Eric Allen over on newyorkjets.com has been profiling the 51 finalists for this year’s Jets Flight Crew. Twenty-one will be picked for the Flight Crew on June 1, and fans will be given the chance to vote for the final member, giving the squad 22 total dancers. I, to this point, have not been asked to participate in the judging but am willing.

Also, I just flipped on the NCAA Division I lacrosse final between Johns Hopkins and Syracuse, a game being played in Gillette Stadium. Bill Belichick, a huge lax junkie, is in attendance. That likely means a gratuitous sideline interview with overwhelming odds on the first question being, “So, Coach, tell us about your love of lacrosse.” The answer? "We're just thinking about the Chargers."

In fairness to ESPN sideline reporter Rob Simmelkjaer, there’s probably no reason for him, in this circumstance, to set himself up to get the Solomon Wilcots treatment from Belichick [the classic clip is on Youtube and worth a watch if you haven't seen it, or haven't in a while].

Some notes/observations from the Jets 1 hour 30 minute OTA practice that recently concluded. Keep in mind Vernon Gholston has not yet reported because Ohio State is still in session and a league rule prohibits draft picks from participating in more than one camp before classes are officially over. With San Jose State finals having ended Wednesday, fourth-round pick Dwight Lowery was on the field Thursday morning. Chris Baker, because of his contract issues, also was not here. As for some of what we saw:

1. Tight end Dustin Keller lined up all over the field, including in the slot, and even went in motion a couple of times. He showed good speed in getting down the middle and caught every pass thrown his way. He worked a decent amount with both quarterbacks.

2. As for the quarterbacks: It was Kellen Clemens day to work with the first team and he looked good. He threw a handful of very precise deep passes, including one that covered just over 40 yards in the air and came down over the outside shoulder of Laveranues Coles. The pass had to be perfect because top corner Darrelle Revis had tight coverage. Pennington did not connect on the couple of deep passes he attempted, though Pennington threw some nice balls over the middle and to the sideline.

3. Nothing different from last week with the front seven. Shaun Ellis and Kenyon Coleman sandwiched Kris Jenkins as the down linemen, the linebackers were Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas on the outside, with David Harris and Eric Barton on the inside.

4. Lowery worked as a cornerback mostly with the third team and a little bit with the second. On one seven-on-seven drill play, Lowery made a nice deflection on a pass intended for David Ball. The first-team defensive back alignment was the same as last week – Darrelle Revis and David Barrett at the corners, and Eric Smith and Kerry Rhodes at the safeties. Safety Abram Elam just returned from Florida where he had been tending to family members after the death of his older brother.

5. Bubba Franks’ practice wasn’t nearly as electric as the one we saw last week when he caught touchdown passes from Pennington, Clemens and Brett Ratliff. Franks did make a sliding 12-yard reception today on an underthrown Clemens pass but he also flinched several plays later and had to run a penalty lap.

6. Danny Woodhead, the NCAA’s all-time leading rusher from Division II Chadron State, had a tough day. He had to run three laps after muffing two punts and mishandling a kickoff. In his defense, the miscues occurred as a very strange – and brief – rainstorm, that included hail, moved through Hempstead. As Woodhead finished the third lap, the sun was back out. Thomas Jones had to run a penalty lap for fumbling on the first play of an 11-on-11 drill.

7. James Dearth, Brad Smith, Artrell Hawkins and Andre Woolfolk were all limited, with each spending a portion of the practice on the exercise bicycles on the sideline. Will Montgomery (this is for Gridderbob) was the long-snapper for most of the practice. Erik Ainge is still recovering from the surgery he had two weeks ago on the broken pinky he sustained before his senior season at Tennessee and did not throw. Justin Miller was also limited but Eric Mangini said he expects the cornerback to be 100 percent by training camp, if not sooner. Translation: there’s no reason to push Miller, coming off surgery, for the sixth OTA practice.

8. As for Smith, the Jets don’t give out injury information but Chansi Stuckey at this point is clearly the third receiver on the depth chart and keeps making catch after catch. At least in the two OTA practices the media has been able to watch.

9. I asked Alan Faneca, a member of some of the best offensive lines in football while in Pittsburgh, if he saw that kind of potential with the Jets’ line. “There’s potential,” Faneca said. “If we put the work in, we’ll see the results.”

10. The Mangini good-humor-moment of the day: The Daily News’ Rich Cimini asked Mangini how he would feel if one of his players missed team activities to engage in a dancing contest (yes, a reference to the Bill Parcells vs. Jason Taylor rapidly developing circus in Miami).

“Having such a passion for ballroom dancing like I do…” Mangini said. “I’ve watched some of that, He (Taylor) is pretty good. He’s impressive. I didn’t vote but I thought he did a great job, and the longer he wants to stay out of Miami’s camp, I think he should.”

All right, I’m turning my attention to my newspaper story for tomorrow. But I’m still available for questions/comments/punch lines.

With San Jose State finishing their final exams Wednesday, cornerback Dwight Lowery flew to New York and arrived at Hofstra this morning so we'll get a look at the fourth-round pick. That means only Vernon Gholston, with Ohio State still in session, is missing. Also, safety Abram Elam, who had been on leave after the shooting death of his older brother, is back with the team. Ok, practice starts in a few minutes.

So here's today's OTA schedule: Eric Mangini talks to us shortly from 10:15-10:35, and then the entire practice is open to the media from 10:55-12:30 p.m. Players will be available coming off the field at 12:30. Updates to follow after that.

Cliff, I'll give a short answer to a question you posted at the bottom of the previous post: Stuckey had more reps with the offense during last week's practice that we saw than Smith did. Can't go crazy based on one practice but Stuckey looked very good. We'll see if that continues this morning and if Smith does more than hold on field goals.

Not all rookies are at this week’s Jets OTA, an assertion I made in an earlier post. An agreement between the NFL and the NCAA restricts a player to one camp activity while his college is still in session. With the Ohio State and San Jose State school years not yet completed – San Jose State has finals through Wednesday – neither Vernon Gholston or Dwight Lowery, both of whom participated in the team’s rookie minicamp the first weekend in May, have practiced this week at Hofstra. The other draft picks, including tight end Dustin Keller, as well as the team’s rookie free agents, are there.

Basically - and don’t think I don’t appreciate the timing on this - I “misinterpreted” the wording of this rule and assumed all rookies would be at Hofstra. Bottom line: my screwup.

The Jets just signed two cornerbacks, Jonathan Zenon and Kenny Patton. Patton, a four-year starter at Hawaii, signed as an undrafted rookie free agent with the Raiders on May 4, 2007 before being released May 15, 2007.

Zenon was a part of the SEC's top defense last season at LSU and started 30 games in his career with the Tigers. His signing today reunites him with Erik Ainge, the Jets fifth-round selection. In last season's SEC Championship game, Zenon provided the winning score by picking off a fourth-quarter Ainge pass and returning it 18 yards for a touchdown in LSU's 21-14 victory. A couple of no-risk signings here at a position the Jets need some depth at.

As an aside to Roger, who posed a question about Brad Smith at the bottom of the previous post, I don't think it's make-or-break for Smith quite yet, though he was a limited participant in the drills we saw last Thursday. He also did some holding on field goals. You and others have raised this question about Smith and it's a good one. We'll see Thursday if he's more involved in things.

This week’s OTAs are under way at Hofstra with some additions to what we saw last week: this year’s rookies, including the Jets six draft picks. As was the case a week ago, Thursday’s practice will be open to the media. Many of the storylines – though not all - this week revolve around the rookies, who did not participate (because of league rules) last week.

Some of what to watch for, besides the obvious Clemens vs. Pennington stuff:

1. Vernon Gholston, of course, and how he looks very early on in his transition to outside linebacker in the 3-4 after playing most of his college career on the line in a 4-3 scheme. The on-field adjustment for Gholston began in early May during the team’s rookie minicamp but this week is his first work in the defense with the veterans. During last week’s practice that was open to the media, Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas lined up on the outside while David Harris and Eric Barton were on the inside.

2. David Barrett was opposite Darrelle Revis at one corner last week. Is fourth-round pick Dwight Lowery there this week and if not, where? Also worth watching at that position is the progress of Justin Miller, who ran extensively last week but did not participate in as many drills. He’s being brought back slowly after surgery.

3. The utilization of Dustin Keller. It has almost been written to death – I’m guilty of it, too – that Keller is not the typical tight end, with the Jets moving up to grab Keller in the first round because they had visions of a Dallas Clark-type receiving threat.

4. Speaking of tight ends, does the Bubba Franks show continue? The veteran tight end was the clear star of last Thursday’s practice. It didn’t matter whether the quarterback was Kellen Clemens, Chad Pennington or Brett Ratliff, Franks made the catches he was supposed to make and then some.

5. Everyone’s favorite Division II player, Danny Woodhead, will be at Hofstra. Does he have a role beyond the special teams?

6. Because of the discussion about the quarterbacks and the performance of Franks, overlooked a bit from last week’s OTA was a very solid-looking Chansi Stuckey, the second-year receiver who missed all of last season with an injury. Everyone liked what they saw out of the 6-0, 185-pound Stuckey last preseason before he got hurt.

This is more a sketch than a comprehensive list, so feel free to let me know what you’re looking for out of this week’s OTA and I’ll do my best on Thursday to answer it.

And with that, I’m off to Yankee Stadium to cover more baseball, despite Bob Glauber’s lobbying against NFL writers doing so. A Robert Moses-like power broker, when it comes to office clout, Glauber is not. No complaints, though, as this still beats working.

The Jets this afternoon signed long-snapper Nick Jarvis, a tryout invitee to the team's rookie minicamp earlier this month. Jarvis, a high school quarterback and tight end, was Wake Forest's long-snapper the last four years and participated in the Hula Bowl and the East-West Shrine Game. The Jets do not disclose injury information but 32-year-old James Dearth, the current long-snapper who has appeared in 112 consecutive games, seemed limited in last week's OTA practice session that was open to the media.

The Jets contacted the 6-3, 271-pound Jarvis shortly after the draft and, in a story that appeared May 9 in his hometown newspaper, The Dispatch (Lexington, N.C.), Jarvis said, "It could be an opportunity for me. I know they don't want to go too long without working on special teams. They don't know if he'll be back and he is 32 years old."

Some time to kill in the Yankee Stadium press room before tonight’s Subway Series finale, so a few Patriots thoughts from last week…

I finally got a chance to thoroughly read the transcript and watch again closely Bill Belichick’s performance the other night on the CBS Evening News and the following kept popping into my head:

“Shhhhhhhh.”

Really, it makes you wonder what Belichick thought he could accomplish by going on the Evening News, using the interview mostly as an attempt to discredit Matt Walsh. Not known for his sense of humor, Belichick stacked guffaw upon guffaw until uttering the side-splitter of the evening.

“I don't know what his agenda is,” Belichick said of Walsh. “He was fired because of poor job performance. There’s not a lot of credibility.”

And at that point it wasn’t clear how interviewer Armen Keteyian avoided falling off his chair.

Belichick should at all costs avoid using the word “credibility,” unless it’s in an attempt to salvage his own. At this stage, he has failed to do so. He “misinterpreted” the videotaping rules; the taping was of minimal value; there was no “deception” on behalf of the team to hide what it was doing. No Belichick denial during the interview came close to passing as plausible and virtually every utterance failed some test of logic. It was such a display of arrogance that it almost made you want to see the spectacle of Belichick placing his right hand in the air in front of a Congressional committee and have to answer questions truthfully, with the possibility of real repercussions for not doing so.

Public money spent in this way is still a tough sell, with so many other issues that should occupy the government’s time, but there is no question that demanding accountability from those who believe they’re beyond reproach sometimes isn’t a bad thing. I find it hard to endorse government involvement in this, but it is tempting, made all the more so not only because of Belichick’s Evening News cameo but also because of the other examples of Patriots pomposity on display last week.

The media doesn’t call fouls on itself nearly enough – boiled down, we ask for and demand accountability from those we cover but rarely from ourselves – and in that regard the Boston Herald’s front page apology to the Patriots regarding the unsubstantiated Rams walkthrough story was proper, though a tad overdone. The problem was it allowed Pats owner Robert Kraft and quarterback Tom Brady to portray the Patriots as some kind of collective victim from a story that, while apparently incorrect, never would have come up had the organization not been exposed as flagrant cheats in the first place.

“I felt very good seeing this paper because we've worked very hard over the last decade and a half to establish a strong bond with our fans, where they could trust and believe in the integrity of the team,” Kraft said of the Boston Herald apology on CNBC. “This story coming out the day before the Super Bowl, the biggest game in our history, going for a perfect season, was very damaging and put a cloud over us for the last three and a half months. I'm glad it's finally come to an end.”

Such gall was only outdone by Brady, who during a radio interview with WEEI in Boston, made headlines in New York for calling out the Jets as a team he didn’t respect. But just as big a story was his self-righteous skewering of ESPN for its overall handling of Spygate and ensuing coverage of Walsh. He made some ham-handed attempt to portray ESPN as a sports version of MTV, more concerned with style over substance – a fair critique in other instances - and more concerned with “filling” time on the airwaves.

Brady, naturally, made these statements while filling time on someone else’s airwaves, something Brady, his coach and his owner should have restrained themselves from doing pretty much all of last week.

Sorry for the long post. Second round of OTA practices start this week, which will include the rookies. Lots to look for there. Back with more, as always.

Since several readers have asked about this year's rookie class - specifically - Vernon Gholston, Dustin Keller and Dwight Lowery - they arrived at Hofstra today (Friday) and will begin working with the veterans in next week's OTAs. Also, I've been drafted to help out this weekend on the soap opera known as the Subway Series - tough job, I've got, I know - but I'll check in here throughout the weekend just to make sure Cliff and a few others are doing all right.

First things first. As I mentioned previously, this year’s rookie class isn’t here and did not practice. That means no updates on Vernon Gholston, Dustin Keller, Dwight Lowery, etc. until next week when we next get to watch an OTA. Here are some things from today, keeping in mind that this was only the third OTA practice and it is non-contact and it's only May…

1. Lining up at the corner spot opposite Darrelle Revis with the “first team” was the veteran David Barrett. Lowery will certainly be given an opportunity to win that spot. The safeties were Kerry Rhodes and Eric Smith.

2. Tight end Bubba Franks was a beast, catching everything thrown at him, whether it was from Chad Pennington, Kellen Clemens or Brett Ratliff. In one sequence, Franks made a nice catch on a Pennington pass that was a bit behind him – beating Barrett – then on the next play, with Clemens at quarterback, getting away from linebacker David Harris in the back of the end zone.

3. Clemens and Pennington are alternating working with the first and second teams, lest either one get the idea they’re “ahead” at this stage of things. More on that in tomorrow’s paper but today was Pennington’s turn to work primarily with the first-teamers after Clemens worked with the 1’s on Tuesday. In the first OTA practice of the week, on Monday, Pennington was with the first team, having won a coin toss. Seriously.

4. Again, keeping in mind the rookies weren’t out there, lining up on the outside were Calvin Pace and Bryan Thomas, while David Harris and Eric Barton were on the inside.

5. Kris Jenkins is listed as 6-4, 349 pounds. Eric Mangini earlier today: “He makes 360 look good. I wish I could say the same. He’s a fluid athlete especially for someone his size.” Tough to judge anyone in non-contact situations, especially at nose tackle, but it’s hard not to say Jenkins will be a significant upgrade.

6. Second-year receiver Chansi Stuckey, who impressed last preseason before getting hurt, showed some good speed in making a handful of nice catches.

7. Justin Miller was running full-speed.

Time to work on the newspaper story but, as always, questions/thoughts - even yours Darrell - are welcome.

Before I head out for practice, Eric Mangini offered his first comments on the Chris Baker situation. Nothing earth-shattering, but the "get-here-or-else" tone coaches sometimes use in these situations was missing.

"I've talked to Chris and one of the things that's important to Chris and I is that he stay current on the information and that's what we've been focusing on," Mangini said. "Chris has been working with the information and will continue to work on the football side of it."

Asked if Baker had indicated whether or not he would show up for the mandatory minicamp that takes place in early June, Mangini said, "We haven't talked about that but everybody who is on the team is required to come to the mandatory minicamp and that's my expectation for Chris."

The only other veteran player missing was Abram Elam, who is back in Florida tending to family matters after the death of his brother late last week.

"The important thing now is for him to take care of his family and take care of himself," Mangini said.

Back with the practice report in a bit. A note: this is the third practice of the week, with today being the first one open to the media. This year's rookie class does not arrive until tomorrow.

Spygate is still expected to be addressed as "a league matter."

So we're here at Hofstra for one of the Jets OTA sessions that will be open to the media this month. We'll do our best to count the respective snaps each of the quarterbacks takes this morning, but let's not get too carried away with how one voluntary practice session plays out. Long way to go in that race. The Democrats will, presumably, have a nominee before the Jets name a starter. So the schedule today is this: Eric Mangini will talk to us at 10:15 and then we get to watch practice. Player interviews will take place coming off the field at 12:30 so I'll file a report after that. And yes, there will be more than just the quarterback derby to report on. It's all about diversity.

As an aside, Matt Walsh apparently has some bombshells he drops in an upcoming HBO interview. Bob Glauber writes about it, as does our sports media reporter Neil Best. The gist seems to be that Walsh says the Patriots derived more benefit from the illegal taping than Bill Belichick said they did. Um, well, obviously. That's why they did it for more than one or two or three seasons. I'll withhold judgement until seeing the full interview but my initial take is, Matt, your 15 minutes are up. Yours too, Sen. Specter. Back with more OTA info later.

Bob Glauber, who never falls asleep, had this posted at the crack of dawn. The short of it is Tom Brady, in a radio interview yesterday, said he respected most teams in the league but not all.

Asked which team he didn't respect, Brady said, “There’s four letters in their name.”

The show's host, Glenn Ordway, providing the follow-up that should cut down significantly on "Spygate" questions leading up to the first Jets/Patriots matchup this season, said, “Those green guys?”

Brady laughed, "Yeah, exactly.”

Glauber's blog also has the link to the audio of the interview.

Is there an element of silliness to this as a "controversy"? Of course. The only surprise is Brady, normally cautious with the media, called out another team, and a division opponent at that. Whatever. No news that the Patriots don't like the Jets.

Ok, DKnyj, you asked for the numbers comparison between Kellen Clemens’ first eight games and some other standout quarterbacks, the premise being none really shined early. Note: For simplicity, these are the respective quarterback’s first eight games, not necessarily first eight starts because some started but for whatever reason didn’t finish games or did not start but played most of a given game. Enjoy.

Also, this is not an endorsement of one candidate, not that Eric Mangini, Mike Tannenbaum, or you for that matter, are perched on seat edges waiting for me to weigh in. I will, but I’ll wait until passes actually get thrown in minicamp, training camp and in the exhibition games. Besides, any such knee-jerk response from here before the competition even begins might bring a stern Sue Simmons-like rhetorical beatdown. I, for one, am glad I'm not on camera at all times. Cut Simmons a break. Anyway, those stats:

comp-att-yards-TD-INT
Clemens – 117—224—1,414—4—9
Aikman – 109—213—1,388—8—13
P.Manning – 161—292—1,873—11—16
E.Manning – 95—197—1,043—6—9
Bradshaw – 65—158—972—3—15

On a related note - kind of - media availability for this week’s OTA is Thursday. Besides keeping tabs on Clemens/Pennington, I’ll be interested in who is opposite Darrelle Revis at corner and what alignments we’ll see at linebacker, among other things. Chris Baker is not there, but that was expected. There are other stories as of now to write from the voluntary offseason program. On Thursday I do expect to see a somewhat chastened Erik Ainge, who probably had to watch the Simmons clip on loop after being a bit too forthcoming for the Jets liking in regard to disclosing injury info. Ah, rookies. [And keep in mind, this was a minor surgery on the broken pinky on his throwing hand Ainge played with all of last season].

Finally, the world’s most famous team video guy, Matt Walsh, met with Roger Goodell this morning. Bob Glauber, our NFL columnist, is covering the story for Newsday and will have updates on Goodell’s press conference. Bill Belichick got off easier than he should have, and his explanation of “misinterpreting” the taping rule was as laughable and dishonest as Roger Clemens’ “he misremembers” line about Andy Pettitte, but it’s time – barring any new evidence – for this story to end.

The Jets this afternoon signed free agent kicker Mark Myers, formerly of the CFL and before that a standout at Florida Atlantic University. At Florida Atlantic from 2001-04, Myers set 17 school records, going 43-for-59 in field goals. Never can have enough kickers in camp. Also, to clarify the 80-men-to-a-roster rule, draft picks don't count against the roster until they have officially signed, meaning with the addition of Myers, the Jets current roster size is 75.

Well, perhaps a little something, but admittedly not much and arguably not enough to interrupt the discussion going on in the comments section of the previous post. So anyway, here at Shea, as I’m assisting – or detracting from – Newsday’s Mets coverage today, there’s some Jets news. Not “news” in that sense, though. Jets Night, originally scheduled for April 28 at Shea but rained out, has been rescheduled for July 8, both the Jets and Mets organizations announced earlier today. Fans with tickets from that April 28 game who want to go to the July 8 contest need to go to Mets.com and follow the standard rain-check ticket exchange policy.

Among the former Jets planning to attend the evening are Joe Klecko, Wesley Walker, Greg Buttle, Emerson Boozer, Randy Beverly and John Schmitt. Those players, and others, will appear at a 5:30 p.m. fundraiser in Shea’s picnic area.

Also, as I previously mentioned in the comments section of that earlier post, the Jets begin OTAs this week. We’ll have reports on Thursday, when the media is given player access, from Hofstra. Ok, Rich, Mike, Darrell, Cliff, Big A, Jay, et al., have at it again. And to Dknyj…Baker-Gate? Quality sarcasm.

ESPN's John Clayton reported last night the money pool available to each team to sign this year's draft picks. The Jets have the 10th-highest figure, with $4,903,030 available to sign their six draft picks. Kansas City, by comparison, has the largest pool money – $8,221,790 to sign their 12 picks. Keep in mind as various picks get signed, those figures available to teams can be circumvented, to a degree, by inserting various incentives and roster bonuses into contracts. Most of these negotiations won't begin in earnest for another few weeks.

Also, in Newsday today, Bob Glauber writes about Matt Walsh and the tapes he has turned over to the league. There, apparently, is no smoking gun, no wal