The Boone Docks

Linebacker Calvin Pace has been suspended without pay for the Jets' first four regular-season games for violating the NFL's policy on performance enhancing substances.

Pace, in a statement released through the team, said the suspension is a result of dietary supplement he took, though he declined to cite what the banned substance was.

"This is a situation that resulted from an over-the-counter dietary supplement that contained a substance that I did not know violated the League’s policy," Pace said. "I am responsible for what I put into my body and I should have paid closer attention to the League’s guidelines. I regret that this has happened and apologize to my teammates, the entire Jets organization as well as the fans. Hopefully, this does not distract from our ultimate goal of winning the Super Bowl."

The suspension for Pace, who will be allowed to practice and play in the preseason, begins Sept. 5. He's eligible to return to the Jets’ active roster Oct. 5, the day after the Jets play the Saints in New Orleans and the beginning of the week leading up to the Oct. 12 Monday night game with the Dolphins in Miami.

Looks like Thomas Jones still has a thing for granting interviews to radio stations.

Jones, who didn't speak with the media after ending his boycott of the OTAs nor did he make himself available during minicamp, was on Houston radio station KILT last week while he was in town preparing to pick up an award. It wasn't a very in depth interview (these things rarely ever are) so there's nothing earth shattering.

But it's the first thing we've heard out of him in a while. He addressed the comments he made about the guy who's name has been banned from this blog and here's what he had to say:

“Well the situation with me is I was asked a couple of questions [last year] and I answered them," Jones said. "First of all, I have the utmost respect for Brett Favre - he’s one of the greatest quarterbacks to ever play. It was an honor for me to get a chance to play with him. I played against him in Chicago for three years in my division. But it was an honor to play with him. He brought a lot of fun to our team; he brought a lot of energy and excitement to the huddle last year so I was definitely happy I had an opportunity to play with him.

"The deal with the interceptions and all that - it was kind of blown out of proportion, it’s just part of the game. You make one comment or a couple comments and they’re turned in to something else. But I guess he’s not ready to give it up - and when you’ve played as long as he’s played, that’s pretty much all you know. I’m not saying he can’t do anything else but football’s his life. So you know, I wish him the best of luck, I hope he don’t have mixed feelings about what he’s doing. But hey, at the end of the day, if you can still play and a team wants you, then why not play?”

Click underneath the, ahem, picture below for the rest of the transcript and if you want to check out the audio for yourself, you can do that right here. Scroll down to the end of his comments to click on the audio link.

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As for Sterger, the apple of many a Jets' fans eyes, she'll be performing at the sports-comedy show 12 Angry Mascots later today. Sterger will be there long with Green Bay Packer running back Ryan Grant, who hails from Rockland County.

So if you're longing for another glimpse at Sterger, here's your chance. The show begins at 8 p.m. at Comix. The club is located in Manhattan at 353 West 14th Street, just east of 9th Avenue.

Better make those last-minute plans now.

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The Jets claimed G Mike Fladell off waivers today. Fladell, a 6-7, 334-pound Rutgers product and Howard Beach native, was a member of the Giants practice squad and was waived last June 24.

Update: Fladell was waived by the Jets Wednesday after failing his physical.

Continue reading "Thomas Jones speaks and a Jenn Sterger sighting" »

Ok, so he's no Plaxico Burress, but the Jets figure they've got nothing to lose in going after wideout Mario Urrutia. They have put a waiver claim in on the former Bengals receiver, a seventh-round pick (246th overall) in 2008.

Urrutia, 6-6, 232, was released by Cincy last Aug. 30 and signed to the team's practice squad the next day. He spent the entire season on the practice squad and was subsequently released.

During his college career at Louisville, Urrutia had 130 catches for 2,271 yards and 16 touchdowns.

The waiver claim comes a day after the Jets were awarded cornerback Rod Barksdale off waivers from the Giants. The move is in keeping with GM Mike Tannenbaum's "look-under-ever-rock" theory in acquiring personnel.

Glauber here filling in while Hot Rod enjoys some R & R. Just a note that the Jets have been awarded cornerback Rashad Barksdale off waivers, adding depth to a position that the Jets have concentrated on through much of the off-season.

Barksdale - 6-0, 208 pounds - was originally a sixth-round pick (201 overall of the Eagles in 2007 after starring at upstate Albany. He didn't make the Eagles' roster, but joined the Chiefs and played in six games, recording nine tackles.

Barksdale signed with the Giants practice squad last Sept. 1, but was released on Saturday, shortly after the team concluded its mini-camp.

(Note: Barksdale's first name was inadvertently listed as Rod. It is Rashad.)

There's some unwritten code among football scribes that we spend most of late June and July on vacation recharging and freshening our batteries. Now that I'm officially a part of the fraternity, I'm no different. I'm actually writing this from the comforts of another climate where there's no rain in sight on the radar and the heat index is somewhere in the neighborhood of 110 today. Rain? What rain?

So I'll be continuously pulling my head out of the sand like an ostrich as we rest up before the season-long grind. (Sorry I'm not as cool as the beloved E-Bo and didn't post a picture of ... well, you get the point). But if there's any news, we'll still be all over it. Training camp is six weeks away and I'll have plenty of stuff to keep you guys entertained as we get closer to the opening of camp in Cortland on July 31. I'll do my best to provide you with more than enough morsels to whet your appetite until then.

In the meantime, here's something I wrote on Rex and Buddy Ryan as part of our Father's Day Sunday Special. Buddy is a character (he kept me laughing throughout the entire time we talked) and we've learned that Rex is following right in his footsteps. It was great to chat with both of them about their relationship with each other.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there. Kick back and relax and enjoy your day tomorrow. Even though my father isn't alive to smell the flowers and I can't physically tell him, I'll say it anyway: Happy Father's Day, pop.

You guys had some good convo going on whether you wanted Plaxico Burress on board. Brandon Marshall became another possibility when his trade demands went public. It's an interesting debate: Which of those two wide receivers would you want? Are you guys convinced the current collection of wide receivers can get it done or do you believe they still have to go out and get a No. 1 wide receiver?

All right, the pool is calling my name, so it's time to open up the forum for you guys again. As my man the King Fixer likes to say, tossing the keys ...

We interrupt The Great Plaxico Burress Debate for a quick bit of news.

The Jets today have announced the signing of third-round pick Shonn Greene. Terms of the deal were not disclosed, but it's believed to be a four-year contract that includes a signing bonus of $905,000.

Green's signing means the Jets have officially inked all three of their picks in April's draft, with Mark Sanchez's five-year, $50-plus million deal that could be worth as much as $60 million the headliner.

Update: The Jets also announced they've signed free agent LB Brock Christopher.

Below is the info from the Jets' short releases on Greene and Christopher.

We now return you to your regular-scheduled programming and apologize for any inconvenience. You may now continue with The Great Debate.

Continue reading "Shonn Greene signs" »

Tom Rock is all over it, with a little something here and here, and Bob Glauber offered up some thoughts here.

So what does this mean for the Jets, who, of course, have expressed their interest? It all still depends on how long the case is adjourned. If Burress' next court date is postponed until sometime after the season and he is free and clear to play this season, then the Jets might go ahead and make that plunge. Along with the Buccaneers and a third team, the Jets have expressed their interest in Burress and coach Rex Ryan this past week didn't do anything to shoot down speculation the Jets remain in play for the talented but troubled playmaking wide receiver.

The Jets players and coaching staff appear to be in favor of bringing Burress on board, including wide receivers coach Henry Ellard. But remember, as Glauber noted, NFL commissioner Roger Goodell could hit Burress with a suspension even without a final legal verdict. So the whole situation is a little bit murky.

What do you think about Burress, Jets fans? Do you want him or should the team stay away?

Rod Boone recaps the three-day minicamp and answers your Jets questions today in a live chat at noon.

It's bad enough to be a rookie in the NFL. But being a rookie who was just given the most lucrative deal in franchise history weeks after he appeared in a GQ spread?

Let's just say it's not a good combination.

With $28 million in guaranteed dough, Mark Sanchez has a boatload of money coming his way, and his teammates are going to find a way to make the rookie earn his keep. Sanchez's five-year deal hovers around $50 million and can reach a value as high as $60 million. Don't think for a second that his teammates aren't aware of those figures.

Exactly what have they been asking for so far?

"No one has demanded too much," Sanchez said. "They’ve just been joking around saying, 'So, when are we going out?' or 'When are we going to dinner?' 'Don’t forget you’re still a rook, you have to buy all the stuff for gameday mornings.' So, I’ve been hearing all of the requests. Quench gum for [Alan] Faneca and Zipfiz for some of the coaches so they can get their energy boost, all that stuff. It's pretty good. A lot of guys do that, 'sniff, sniff' smells like new money around here. But it’s good."

Sanchez apparently hadn't spoken with one of his protectors before making those remarks after practice today. Center Nick Mangold is anxiously awaiting his gift -- and he's not talking about a Rolex.

He has his eyes set on something a little more expensive.

"Well, I'm looking forward to my new car," Mangold said. "So I really didn't want to say anything negative because I expected my car here. It should be nice, nothing fancy just a new vehicle would be nice."

Once I stopped laughing, I asked Mangold what was his preference. Are we talking a Honda or Toyota here? Or are we looking at something much more luxurious like a Rolls? Benzo perhaps? Beemer anyone?

"I'm keeping it simple, just a BMW six-series," Mangold said. "Nothing flashy, real easy. I think it will be a nice present for me helping out."

Then we started discussing a few other subjects when the conversation turned back to Sanchez. We were talking about the weeks leading up to training camp when I said, "So when you return, the car will be here right?"

Mangold cracked: "He said he was getting it shipped straight from Germany. So, hopefully that gets done quickly."

A couple of quick housekeeping things:

■ Be sure to check out the practice report on the post below by intern David Cassilo. I think he's angling for my job with that kind of effort. I feel like Kellen Clemens helping out Sanchez.

Cassilo also wrote a little something on S Eric Smith, who was one of the standouts of minicamp with his five interceptions.

■ Here's my story wrapping up the minicamp.

■ Bob Glauber offers his thoughts on the QB competition.

■ The Jets released TE Martrez Milner after practice.

■ We'll have our second Live Chat right here tomorrow to wrap up the minicamp/OTAs. It's scheduled for noon so be there.

By David Cassilo

Before we get started, most of the readers are probably wondering who I am, and what I'm doing on Rod's blog. This is my first week as an intern with Newsday. I'm a student at Villanova where I'm sports editor for our student paper, The Villanovan. The last three days, I've been helping Rod keep tabs on the Jets at minicamp.

On to today's highlights...

With the news of Mark Sanchez's contract breaking late yesterday afternoon, all eyes were on the rookie quarterback to see how New York's newest millionaire would perform.

Early on in the morning practice, Sanchez looked no different than he had so far with the Jets. At times he struggled reading the defense, and as a result, he held on to the ball too long while making his reads. When he did finally throw, he relied on safe short passes to his running backs out of the backfield. Although, he was 2-for-2 in the first session of 11-on-11s, both passes were for minimal gains. The first was a dump off to running back Jehuu Caulcrick and the second a play action pass to running back Danny Woodhead. The latter would never have been completed in an actual game as cornerback Dwight Lowery was in position for a sack.

However, Sanchez closed the day with a bang by completing his last five passes en route to a touchdown in his final series of 11-on-11. It started with a pass to wide receiver Wallace Wright. Sanchez then hit David Clowney on three consecutive passes as the team moved downfield. Then Sanchez threw a perfect 17-yard touch pass to Wright in the corner of the end zone for a touchdown to cap the drive.

Sanchez, who was thrilled to end minicamp on such a high note, said that Rex Ryan had told him just to let it go and play like he did in college.

■ Kellen Clemens was working with the first team again today, and while he had his moments, he did nothing to separate himself from Sanchez. He started his 11-on-11s with a crisp 10-yard pass to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery on a curl route. However, on his next pass Clemens overthrew a wide open Dustin Keller that would have led to a big gain.

Clemens, like Sanchez, finished strong as he completed both his passes on his final series of 11-on-11. The first was a short pass to fullback Tony Richardson, while the second was a strong strike to tight end Kareem Brown near the right sideline for close to 10 yards.

■ It looks like the Jets are preparing Shonn Greene to be Thomas Jones' successor, whenever that will take place. While Jones was working on goal line carries with the first team offense, the Jets made sure that Greene was right behind him watching. The Jets then turned to Greene, not Leon Washington, for the remainder of the goal line carries.

■ The only thing that is for certain in the group of wide receivers is that Cotchery will be a starter. The rest of the group has been rotating in and out of the first team offense over the minicamp. Brad Smith made his case for a starting job today with a terrific one handed catch in the 7-on-7 drills. He also earlier caught a bullet from Sanchez in the same drill.

Chansi Stuckey also had his moments today which included a terrific catch on the sideline in the QB-to-WR drills.

■ While the offense made significant strides today, it is still clear that the defensive unit is the stronger of the two. Lowery looked great with a QB pressure and a pass breakup. Cornerback Darrelle Revis also was fantastic all day, and is continuing to look like the lockdown cornerback that the Jets knew he would become.

However, the story of minicamp was safety Eric Smith, who intercepted his fifth pass in the three days. There was a brief scare, though, as on the interception return Smith grabbed his right hamstring, but he was quick to dismiss the injury.

"This was nothing, I'm fine," Smith said.

Two years ago Smith was lost in training camp to a hamstring injury that was far worse, so although this moment was eerily similar, it does not seem to have the same severity.

Defensive back James Ihedigbo is another player that was all over the field in practice. He broke up two passes, the second of which landed in the hands of Smith for the interception.

■ Ryan stated in his press conference that the Jets sometimes keep defensive tackle Kris Jenkins out of certain practice situations because they do not want him to disrupt the offense.

■ Jay Feely closes practice by connecting all five of his field goal attempts. They were all from at least 40 yards with the longest coming from 47.

We did a little digging and a source familiar with the terms of the contract tells Newsday that Mark Sanchez's contract is a five-year deal worth as much as $60 million, with $28 million of that guaranteed.

That gives him the distinction of being the highest paid Jet in franchise history.

"It means the world to me to put myself in a position like this and work hard enough to get here," Sanchez said. "Obviously, I’m thankful to the Jets and the organization here, but this is just the beginning and that comes with a lot of responsibility just like being the quarterback here. I’ll be working every day on and off the field to justify this contract and let the Jets know, like I said, that this is the first of many contracts."

"Nothing but joy and a lot of hard work to get to this point," he added. "But obviously it's only the beginning and the one thing that comes to my mind is just a breath of fresh air. And wow, let's go now, let's really compete for this job, let's get into camp. I'll be in on time and I have nothing to worry about there. It's time to focus on football."

On draft day, Sanchez spoke of wanting to get signed early and get into camp as quickly as possible. Now that's a reality and don't think general manager Mike Tannenbaum wasn't going to use that evidence against Sanchez if need be.

"I recorded that, so I played it back a number of times," Tannenbaum joked. "It's great, modern technology. Every time they ask for something unreasonable, I just hit play. Mark is a real sincere person. You have two sides working in good faith."

Sanchez talked about how he planned on flying his parents here to New York from So Cal. He said they've been constantly asking him for daily progress reports and some insight on how things are going. He'll be able to buy his parents a house somewhere here in the metropolitan area and his clan should have few financial worries now that he's a millionaire.

"It means a lot to my entire family to know you can take care of the people you love and supported you the whole time," he said. "So now like I said, it's one big weight lifted off my shoulders and a lot of hard work was put into this. But for me, it's only the tip of the iceberg. There's so much more I want to accomplish. This doesn't [mean] you are going to be successful. It's going to take a lot of hard work, and I'm fortunate enough to be on a great team."

Yeah, but he's still a rookie so ...

"Signing this deal doesn't man that Bart Scott isn't coming after me tomorrow," Sanchez said to laughter. "He's going to be there talking just like Big Jenk (Kris Jenkins) and all those guys. So nothing changes on the football front. I've got to keep my same mindset and stay focused."

Mark Sanchez and the Jets have agreed to terms on a contract. More information as it becomes available. Check back later for updates.

That Rex Ryan sure knows how to have fun, doesn't he?

In keeping with his tradition of opening his press conference with a little stand up comedy, the Jets coach tossed another jab at Dolphins linebacker Channing Crowder, who responded to Ryan's comeback yesterday evening. Ryan's comments were relayed to the Crowder and he threw a little more gas on this small June brush fire.

Talking all the chatter in stride, Ryan didn't back down again today.

"First off, Channing Crowder had a rebuttal," Ryan said. "Let's see if he can top this one: I've walked over tougher guys going to a fight than Channing Crowder. It's funny, the dude is going to kill me. We'll make that trade. They'll throw us both out, but we'll make that trade. "

Keep in mind folks that Ryan is smiling when he's saying these things. There's no anger or hatred in his voice. The only thing he gets defensive about is when people knock him for being who he is.

I'm not sure whether most of you agree with his comical trash talking or not, but I think it's pretty funny. In this era when athletes and coaches speak in mostly bland cliches (cough, Derek Jeter; cough Alex Rodriguez; cough Eric Mangini) it's quite refreshing to hear a professional coach or athlete actually say what's on his mind and not give the same old stale canned answers.

We'll have some video of today's practice posted later on our web site and that should hopefully include Ryan's remarks provided that guy with the big head didn't ruin the shot. So be on the lookout for that.

Now moving along to the matters of the day:

Starting with the position battle that everyone wants to know about, it was a rather ho-hum morning practice for Kellen Clemens and Mark Sanchez. Neither was particularly sharp and no one was head over heels above the other. They both went 3-for-7 in 11-on-11s and each had potential interceptions dropped.

Clemens was nearly picked off twice, once when he was looking for TE Dustin Keller and over the middle and the other coming when he was trying to hit WR Jerricho Cotchery. LB Bart Scott almost came up with the interception and you know he'd probably still be talking about it if he did.

Sanchez, meanwhile, just flat out missed some of his intended targets and held onto the ball way too long again, resulting in at least one would-be sack. He badly overthrew Keller on a sideline route in 11-on-11s. One of his best throws came in the 7-on-7s when he hit TE Kareem Brown in traffic in the seam. But the rookie, who did complete two of his final three attempts and might have nailed all three if WR Wallace Wright ran through a sideline route rather than laying out for the ball, continues to be a work in progress.

"Both quarterbacks had their moments," Ryan said, "both good and bad."

■ Expect to see some Wildcat in this year's offense. The Jets used several variations of the Wildcat these last two days, with Leon Washington and Brad Smith taking the direct snaps. Washington got most of the Wildcat workload today, although Smith was mixed in a bit. Washington, though, probably has to work on his throws a bit more after getting picked off by S Eric Smith in yesterday's evening practice.

■ Ryan hurled a lot of praise Eric Smith's way. We mentioned in yesterday's report that the safety collected three INTs, and that didn't go unnoticed in the eyes of the coaching staff.

"He's really taken off for us," Ryan said. "He's really improving. Here's a veteran player that came in -- I don't know if he was a little disgruntled with where he was on the depth chart and all that kind of stuff, but he just keeps getting better."

■ New/old punter Reggie Hodges was present and accounted for. Hodges wasn't very consistent in his punting days with the Jets last season as many of you know, so Ryan was asked why Wilbur was let go and why Hodges is back.

Speaking of Wilbur, Ryan said: "We had some issues with his hands and his consistency and that's not a good thing."

■ It's that time again. Here's the next episode of the Rex Ryan Comedy Hour.

In response to a query about his decision to move training camp away from The Hangar and up to Cortland, Ryan started joking about the number of people who aren't all that fond of him at the moment.

"I know I was the Most Wanted guy in New Jersey," Ryan cracked. "I don't know what's up with that. I'm the Most Wanted in Miami now, Most Wanted in New England," Ryan cracked. "I never even brought the Miami dude up. I'm just happy they never said I was that big left tackle they got. Then I might be nervous. I don't know, I'm in trouble it sounds like."

■ There's another practice at 4 p.m., so I'll be back with updates and include them right here in this same report.

We hinted at this after last Thursday's practice and, yes Mr. Green T, it's come to fruition.

Rex Ryan and special teams coach Mike Westhoff apparently aren't satisfied with what they were seeing out of punters Eric Wilbur and T.J. Conley so far in the offseason. So the Jets have welcomed back Reggie Hodges, who they waived on April 27. Wilbur, who played at Florida, was released to make room for Hodges

I know many of you guys have an affinity for special teams. So let me hear what you think about Hodges' return while I'm watching the morning practice, which begins at 11 a.m out here at The Hangar. The afternoon practice starts at 4, and once again both will be open to the public.

We'll be back with another detailed report and obviously some thoughts from Ryan on the decision to bring Hodges back on board.

So much for opening minicamp up to the fans.

The deluge of rain that blanketed the metropolitan area this morning forced the Jets to move their first minicamp practice inside their fieldhouse, meaning fans weren't able to see anything. But for those who are thinking about heading out to see the afternoon practice, we've been told that it will be held outside and the fans are welcome to attend.

So onto the biggest news of the day, which had nothing to do with practice. Leon Washington spoke and he didn't rule out possibly holding out during next month's training camp if he doesn't get his new deal.

"No decisions on training camp," he said. "I'll wait until that time comes around. We'll see how talks go with my agent and the Jets. But I haven't made any decisions yet, so I think it's important for me to be in training camp and I think the Jets realize it's important for me to be in training camp. So hopefully I can be there.

Washington used the term "fair market value" several times during a roughly nine-minute chat with the media. It's the first time he's spoken since electing to stay away from the Organized Team Activities for the last three weeks because of his unhappiness with his contract. He did reiterate that he wants to be a Jet and also talked about how he wanted to be a part of this year's team because he feels it can be a special one.

Still, he's looking for the Jets to break him off. I asked Washington if he thinks he'll have a new contract by the time the Sept. 13 season opener rolls around.

"Hopefully," Washington said "There's no guarantees. Hopefully, I'll have a new deal. I want to have a new deal. I think the Jets expressed their interest to have a new deal done by training camp, but at the same time my stance is fair market value. So I'm pretty much sure I won't say anything less than fair market value. That's my stance on it and that's the furthest I can go into details about that."

Understatement alert: This situation will bear some serious monitoring.

■ Rex Ryan's father Buddy, who I had a chance to speak with Monday, is here attending this week's minicamp and was sitting with the media during Rex's press conference. It was a perfect setting for Rex to address Channing Crowder's comments as well as the he's "not here to kiss Bill Bellichick's rings" statement.

"I'm not intimidated by him or anybody in this business," Rex said.

Then, pointing to Buddy situated in front of where he was standing, Mark Cannizzaro of the Post said, "Well, what about this guy?"

"Nope. That's my dad; I love him," the younger Ryan said before offering up, "Maybe a little bit." The room burst into laughter.

■ Plaxico Burress remains a possibility. It's no secret the Jets have expressed some interest in the wide receiver's services and Rex still refused to completely quell the Burress speculation. Rex said the Jets have not had any more discussions with Burress' agent, but it's obvious they are keeping a close eye on what's happening with the former Giant. Burress, looking at the possibility of 3 1/2 years in prison, faces a court date next Monday and reportedly has his attorney working on a plea agreement that would allow him to play this season.

■ Probably one of the brightest stars of the morning practice was WR Wallace Wright. He ran some crisp routes and caught pretty much everything thrown his way. He was Mark Sanchez's favorite target and Sanchez hit him on crossing routes, outs, you name it.

■ Kellen Clemens and Sanchez had pretty good practices. Clemens still has the edge in my mind at the moment because of his familiarity with the offense. Sanchez is methodically gaining ground, however, and despite what he said last Wednesday about that being his best practice, I'd say he looked better today than he had in the previous practices I've watched. He threw the ball with zip, accuracy and showed he has more than enough arm strength to complete the sideline routes.

Clemens was 5-for-7 in 11-on-11s this morning, and his best throw was a fade to Brad Smith for a would-be 64-yard TD. The throw sailed about 40 yards in the air and Smith beat CB Donald Strickland. Clemens didn't fare as well in the second practice, going 4-for-10 with an interception (LB Bart Scott picked him off after the pass was tipped at the line).

Sanchez went 8-for-15 with an INT in the afternoon after going 4-for-8 with an INT in the morning session. Rex said one of the things he wants Sanchez to work on is his cadence so the defense won't be able to jump the snap.

■ Although the punting game remains a question mark, K Jay Feely appears to already be in late-season form. Now again, the practice was held indoors so the conditions were perfect, but Feely was banging field goals through with relative ease. With punter T.J. Conley holding, Feely was true on of his attempts at the end of practice, hitting from 27, 39, 20, 31 and 34 yards out.

■ The Jets signed free agent LB Craig Kobel and released LB Nate Harris and DL Brian Schaefering. Of the moves, Ryan said: "If I feel that somebody doesn't have a chance to make the team, there's no sense of them being here."

■ The most outstanding performer of the day in my mind was S Eric Smith. He racked up three INTs, two coming in the morning and the other in the afternoon.

■ The COD (that's what we'll call the catch of the day) goes to TE J'Nathan Bullock. He made a spectacular grab on a Chris Pizzotti throw, first getting his left hand on the ball to tip it to himself before he reeled it in for a would-be touchdown.

■ TE Bubba Franks (knee) and LB David Harris (mouth) didn't practice.

■ OK, it's about that time, ladies and gentlemen. Time for the next installment of the Rex Ryan Comedy Hour.

Rex was discussing Channing Crowder's remarks and was talking about how since the Dolphins LB is all "tatted up" that he should be "nervous" of the chatty Crowder.

"If I was younger, I'd probably handle him myself," Rex said, drawing his usual laughter.

Just for good measure, here's a one-liner from Buddy. He was asked if he thinks Rex has any of his qualities.

"I'd like to think so," Buddy shot back. "He's 6-2, good looking ..."

And with that, we'll be back at it tomorrow as the Jets hold the second of their three-day minicamp.