Sanchez shows sign of improvement- News from today's mini-camp

Thoughts and observations on today's afternoon practice:

This practice belonged to Mark Sanchez, who continued to prove that pre-draft questions about his arm strength were off base. He doesn't have a Brett Favre arm, but he can get it 30 yards in a hurry. Working with the second team, he completed eight of 15, but there were two drops (David Clowney and Brad Smith, the latter on a well-thrown fade in the end zone). Sanchez did have an interception, but that pass appeared to go off Clowney's fingertips. Rough day for Clowney, obviously.

Kellen Clemens was 4-for-10, with an interception. The pick came on a pass that was batted at the line, and grabbed by LB Bart Scott, who made a diving catch. Clemens finished on an upbeat note. In a red-zone drill, he fired a 9-yard laser to Jerricho Cotchery in the back of the end zone. It was a situation play: Ball on the 9, eight seconds left. Clemens stayed patient and found his man.

Based strictly on today's two practices, I'd say the two quarterbacks were relatively even, neither one really shining. But Sanchez seems to be making gradual progress. As Cotchery told me, "The game is slowing down for him."
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Backup S Eric Smith had a career day, with three interceptions. He also picked off RB Leon Washington, who took a direct snap. Wildcat formation, anyone? Smith will be the No. 3 safety, backing up Kerry Rhodes and Jim Leonhard.
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Former Rutgers DLM Jamaal Westerman, now playing inside linebacker at 265 pounds, continues to earn praise from Rex Ryan. Westerman is an undrafted free agent who, barring an upset, will make the team. "We think he's got a future for us," Ryan said. "The way he's going, it could be sooner than later." Another Rutgers kid, Brandon Renkart, is working as a nickel linebacker. He's there before David Harris, who took stitches in the mouth from a freak collision recently, is sitting out of team drills.
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Still no Bubba Franks. The veteran tight end is recovering from a knee injury and won't be ready until training camp. The Jets are dangerously thin at tight end, although Jack Simmons (6-4, 246), a rookie free agent from Minnesota, continues to show up in the passing game. Dustin Keller is having a very good offseason.
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An estimated 800 spectators showed up for the public practice. Weather permitting, both sessions tomorrow will be outdoors and open to the public. The first practice starts at 11 a.m.

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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.

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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.

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Some notes from practice today:

Sanchez Still Searching ? Although he had a decent day and Cimini thinks he has ?better arm strength? than Kellen Clemens, it?s his mistakes that will hold him back. Sanchez threw some bad passes that were picked off. Until he can get those mistakes under control, he?s not likely to get the job.

Plaxico Prognosis? ? Plax is working on his plea deal, but the Jets haven?t backed off the interest in him. Ryan said there?s been no updates, but didn?t say talks had ended ? basically they want to see what happens first.

Not Just for Special Teams Anymore ? Beat reporters noted the sudden appearance of Wallace Wright on offense. Wright has been a standout on specials for years, but his job is always going to be insecure if he can?t contribute on offense as well. Sanchez and he seemed to have developed a good rapport ? now let?s see if it continues ?

The Defense Is Looking Good ? From what I gather, between all the interceptions, pass breakups potential TFLs, it seems that the defense is gathering steam. I can?t wait to see how the unit looks once preaseason starts. We?re still three months from the start of the season, but I?m getting very excited to see this unit.

 

That's good if he can play both effectively, since we are extremely thin at LB depth (as we are in nearly every position except RB and maybe secondary)