Training Camp Postcards: Jets Posted: Sunday August 5, 2007 2:22PM; Updated: Sunday August 5, 2007 2:22PM http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/don_banks/08/05/jets.postcard/index.html Where's Don? At Hofstra University in Hempstead, N.Y., where the Jets are in the midst of their penultimate training camp at their year-round Long Island team complex. Starting in 2009, the Jets will move their operations to Florham Park, New Jersey, as part of their partnership with the Giants in the building of a new stadium in the Meadowlands. I only wish they had made the switch in time for 2007's camp, because my drive from my Rutherford, N.J., hotel to Hofstra on Saturday became a 105-minute nightmare in large part due to getting caught in concert traffic that was headed for Warped Tour '07 at the Nassau Coliseum, which is across the street from Hofstra. And no, I didn't know what Warped Tour was until I did a little homework. Is old fogey-dom already my fate? Banks Shots 1. It should be intriguing to see how the Jets use versatile second-year veteran Brad Smith this season. New York is getting the former Missouri quarterback turned receiver/running back/special teams performer semi-regular reps in the pocket this summer, and he's even listed on the Jets roster as a quarterback. He even switches jerseys in practice, from his white offensive jersey to his red quarterback jersey, which means he's hands-off to defenders. Smith lined up for a few snaps at quarterback last season, but never threw a pass. This year I get the feeling offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer is going to use him somewhat the way ex-Jets head coach Bill Parcells once employed Ray Lucas, as a multi-faceted threat who can either throw or run from the backfield. He'll be this Slash-type who'll give opposing defenses a little more to prepare for during the week. 2. The Jets took third-year running back Cedric Houston at his word and are moving on without him. Houston surprisingly left the team last week, saying he didn't want to play football any more, and New York has no reason to believe it's not a permanent decision. Mangini told me you never say never when a player as young as Houston (he'll be 25 next month) leaves the game that way, but he also didn't sound as if he was holding out much hope of seeing No. 32 back in green and white. "I think he made a decision in regards to the rest of his life, and I respect that,'' Mangini said. With Thomas Jones and Leon Washington expected to get the vast majority of the carries, it's not a big loss for New York. But Houston did score five touchdowns in just eight games last season, and his 374 yards rushing were second on the team to Washington's 650. His departure is an opportunity for hopefuls such as rookie collegiate free agent Alvin Banks (love that name) to earn the team's No. 3 running back role. Banks is a former James Madison star who has a little burst, and at 5-10, 225 pounds he can also bang out some tough yards. 3. As he did last year, Mangini has speakers set up at practice in order to pipe in loud music when his offense comes to the line of scrimmage. But the new twist is that he has mixed in some Mozart to go along with the selections of rock and hip-hop. Mangini this offseason researched the effect of Mozart on learning, and he liked what he heard. "It stimulates the brain waves that influence learning," he told me from his office. "There are a lot of schools that are playing Mozart underneath all day long." For what it's worth, I told him it was a great idea, because for my money, there was a little too much Bon Jovi on the day I visited Jets camp last year. Mangini said he thought I might have gotten him mixed up with a certain Bon Jovi-loving head coach in New England, but I don't think so. 4. How will the Pete Kendall saga turn out for the Jets this summer? The veteran guard's contract situation has been dragging on for months, and while he's most definitely an unhappy camper, he's here and trying to go about his business while splitting reps at left guard with Adrien Clarke. Kendall wants another $1 million added to his $1.7 million salary this season, but the Jets aren't budging and most believe the team will attempt to trade him a little later this month, once they're through camp and their offensive line is healthy for the regular season. But the tricky side story to everything is that Kendall is represented by agent Neil Schwartz, who also happens to represent Jets first-round pick Darrelle Revis. As of Sunday, Revis remained unsigned. Maybe there's no connection between Revis and Kendall's contract situations, but it's at least plausible that they would be tied together on some level, at least potentially when it comes to deciding whether Kendall is traded or given his release, as he has requested. Chances are the Jets couldn't get more than a sixth-round pick, if that, for Kendall, who started 15 games last season. But New York would prefer a trade to releasing him, in order to control where he goes. The Jets probably wouldn't be thrilled to see Kendall wind up with an AFC East rival. 5. Proving that it is possible to escape Mangini's doghouse if you're willing to put in the time and effort, Jets receiver Justin McCareins has followed up his strong offseason with an impressive showing early in camp. Last year at this point, McCareins was on the PUP list after failing the team's conditioning test at the beginning of camp, and he didn't look long for Mangini-land. But McCareins has rallied, and he won some points with his head coach last season by volunteering for special teams duty and then making some tackles in that unsung role. The Jets could still listen to trade offers for him this month if they have a comfort level with some of their other receivers (Brad Smith or Frisman Jackson?), but McCareins seems to want to be in New York and he's looking more secure all the time in the No. 3 receiver slot. If there's a team out there that's motivated to go get him, it's probably the receiver-thin Titans, his former club. Did You Know? Mangini likes to get guest speakers to motivate his team, and on Friday he brought in future Hall of Famer receiver Jerry Rice to address the Jets at a little team cookout at Hofstra. Rice flew in from the West Coast just for the event, and Mangini joked Saturday that he tried to talk the game's greatest receiver of all time into coming out to practice. And not just to speak. "I don't know how you hear someone like him speak and not come away with something," Mangini said. "It's always valuable." Insider Fantasy Tip I'm not breaking this news, but newly acquired running back Thomas Jones is perfect for the Jets offense. I still don't know how Chicago gave him up in trade for the modest price of flopping second-round picks with New York. The guy runs hard at all times, picks up the blitz with gusto, catches the ball out of the backfield, and rarely fumbles. And Pennington pointed out the other day, he puts the play-action pass back into the Jets game plan. If you can draft him, do so. Jones is going to put up some numbers in New York this season, and the Jets are going to ride his strong shoulders a long way. Camp Confidential Last year at this time, the Jets looked destined for a last-place finish in the AFC East, and all anyone wanted to write or talk about was the youth of head coach Eric Mangini and general manager Mike Tannenbaum, the team's grueling training camp, and the uncertainty at quarterback, where Pennington was coming off two injury-shortened seasons. What a difference a year makes. Not to mention 10 wins and a playoff berth. The Jets look as solid this year as they did shaky in the summer of 2006. Nobody's focused on the age of Mangini and Tannenbaum any more, and Pennington started 16 games for the first time in his career, winning the Comeback Player of the Year award. Jets camp is still part boot camp, but when you get the results, everybody climbs on the bandwagon. The Jets have set the bar pretty high, and in the New York market especially, success can be a tough act to follow. But I like the relentless way Mangini and Tannenbaum let go of the past and continue to forge ahead. That became the Jets' team mentality last season, and it serves them so well in again trying to climb the AFC East mountain that the Patriots have dominated for most of this decade. "Nothing that happened last year really matters," Mangini said. "What happened in the past has no bearing on this year. You don't worry about what you've done, you worry about what's ahead.'' When some coaches throw that at you, it just doesn't sound believable coming out of their mouths. But with Mangini, I don't get the feeling he spends energy worrying about the bar being set too high, or whether or not the job is too big for him. The man coaches with blinders on at all times. But the good ones usually do.
