iPodgate and Rookie Wrap-Up

Rex Ryan told us today that he talked to Santonio Holmes last night about the iPod incident and here is a summation of the story:

Holmes was on a flight from Newark to Pittsburgh. He fell asleep with his iPod. As they were getting ready to land, the flight attendant woke him up and asked him to turn off the iPod, which he did. However, he left the ear buds in his ears.

When the flight attendant walked by again, she asked him again. He told her that the iPod was off. Even took the ear buds out so that his seat mate could confirm that it was off. End of story. Except, for some reason the airline called the police. So, when the plane landed and Holmes disembarked (he was NOT escorted off the plane) he was asked to wait for the police to show up. When they did, they asked him a couple of questions, told him to make sure to turn his iPod off in the future and that was that.

Now, the question as to why conflicting information is coming out of the Allegheny County Police Department is a little strange. And even more strange, this is the email - verbatim - that they sent yesterday:

"As previously reported, Santanio Holmes was NOT removed from any airplane (4/29/2010). He was asked to remove his Ipod (at one point), in which he complied. There is no further information to report."

Spelling and grammar errors belong solely to the Allegheny County Police Department.

I'll let you know if we hear anything else on this. Lord I hope we don't.

The temperature has hit 90 degrees here in Florham Park, which ought to make this afternoon's rookie mini-camp practice delightful. However, the person who may most be dreading it is running back Joe McKnight.

I would venture to say it hasn't been one of McKnight's better weekends. Yesterday, during the morning practice he was dehydrated and had a bad case of the nerves, which led to some calf cramping and...some vomiting.

He has also dropped more than a few balls, but that might be attributed to his weakened condition. As Rex Ryan said yesterday, "Joe McKnight looked great...when he wasn't throwing up."

Today wasn't much better. Although the former USC standout maintained his...composure, he was sent out of several drills, seemingly from overheating. Trainers continually applied cold compresses to his head and neck.

McKnight was not available during the media period after the first practice. We are hoping to speak with him after the second practice.

Cornerback Kyle Wilson looks good. I've overheard the coaches praising him. Ryan has already said he will be the starting nickel. They are also working him out as a returner along with a host of others.

Vladimir Ducasse is working exclusively at left guard - he will compete for the starting spot at that position with last year's sixth round pick Matt Slauson. Interestingly, per Mike Tannenbaum and VP of College Scouting Joey Clinkscales, Rob Turner, who the team has been pretty high on has been officially relegated to being the back-up center, which sounds like he won't even be given the chance to compete for a starting spot. Turner was an undrafted free agent. Ducasse and Slauson are Draft picks. Think that has anything to do with it? Hmmm.

Ryan has lauded FB John Conner along with the rest, but no one is safe from the head coach's sense of humor. "The thing you've got to get over is that he has no neck."

There are also numerous undrafted free agents and tryout players. Among them is Don Warren a safety from the University of Michigan who many thought would be drafted. The Jets had him on their board and Ryan said he was "probably the best player left" when the draft ended.

Ryan has also been talking up linebacker Cory Reamer from Alabama. Reamer told me that the they ran a similar defense at Alabama and the concepts are similar so it's been a bit of an easier transition for him. I would be surprised if Reamer is not offered a contract at the end of the weekend.

The Westchester Family Servies Star Gala

I'll be out at Jets rookie mini-camp tomorrow and will update on that. However, I had the great pleasure of attending the Westchester Family Services Star Gala tonight honoring Brandon and Mara Steiner. You know Brandon - he and his brother Jim run Steiner Sports.

Brandon and Mara have done some great work on behalf of this agency which helps families in Westchester County through a wide variety of services.

Jets greats Marty Lyons and Joe Klecko were there along with a bunch of Giants including Carl Banks, Lawrence Taylor, Joe Morris and Otis Anderson. On a personal note I met my hero Bucky Dent, but that's another story. (And I grew up a Mets fan!)

A separate honoree was Ray Rice formerly of New Rochelle High School and Rutgers and who of course now plays for the Ravens. He was honored with the Spirit Award for his work and gave a terrific speech, which he spoke without having written anything down. Very impressive.

I also met a few kids who play for New Rochelle High School, many of whom are going on to play in college, hoping to follow in Rice's footsteps. I listened as one of them, David Thomas, who plays running back, was given a a lot of great advice by none other than Joe Morris. How about that experience for a high school football player?

A live auction was held and one of those items was a pair of seats from Yankee Stadium. You can still buy a ton of these and other mementos by going to www.steinersports.com.

Getting Ready for Rookie Mini-Camp

The Jets announced their list of undrafted free agents today. These players will join the 2010 Draft picks at this weekend's Rookie Mini Camp. In addition, another group of tryout players will also be on hand. Forgive the formatting, I'm having issues figuring out how to get it to work correctly.

Undrafted Free Agents:

Kevin Basped LB 6-4 254 Nevada Sacramento, CA

Keith Buckman OG 6-5 321 North Dakota State Belfield, ND

Jeff Cumberland TE 6-4 249 Illinois Columbus, OH

Brian Jackson CB 6-0 198 Oklahoma De Soto, TX

Jason Lamb DE 6-4 284 Baylor Richardson, TX

Broderick Stewart LB 6-4 232 Vanderbilt Newnan, GA

Matt Stommes OT 6-6 311 Minnesota Richmond, MN

Charlie Tanner OG 6-3 305 Texas Austin, TX

Don Warren S 5-11 195 Michigan Long Beach, CA

Ernest Williams DT 6-0 281 Pittsburgh Monessen, PA

Tryout Players:

Alex Brink QB 6-2 211 Washington State Eugene, OR

Marcus Burton LB 5-11 258 Colorado Channelview, TX

Mickey Dean RB 5-9 225 Arkansas-Pine Bluff Little Rock, AR

Marcus Ezeff S 5-11 196 California Santa Rosa, CA

Philip Kirkland WR 5-10 190 Bethune Cookman Quincy, FL

Marlon Lucky RB 5-11 216 Nebraska Dallas, TX

Wesley Lyons WR 6-8 233 West Virginia Pittsburgh, PA

Donye McCleskey S 5-11 209 Indiana State Dayton, OH

Damon McDaniel WR 5-10 201 Hampton Virginia Beach, VA

Michael Owen TE 6-2 249 Syracuse Riverhead, NY

Erik Pedersen LB 6-0 230 Portland State Rancho Palos Verdes, CA

Mark Petro PK 5-9 180 Hillsdale Rocky River, OH

Jesse Rack TE 6-3 238 Buffalo Maspeth, NY

Cory Reamer LB 6-3 231 Alabama Hoover, AL

Brooks Rossman PK 6-1 175 Kansas State San Diego, CA

Brashton Satele LB 6-0 241 Hawaii Mililani, HI

Albert Toeaina OT 6-5 329 Tennessee San Francisco, CA

Simi Toeaina NT 6-2 307 Oregon San Francisco, CA

Eric Ward QB 6-1 215 Richmond Atlanta, GA

Anthony Wiseman CB 5-9 186 Maryland Silver Hill, MD

FYI - The Toeainas are cousins, not brothers.

Jets Draft Food Festival

I'm not sure if the Jets are trying to kill us or are just showing off, but our third meal of the day has just arrived. This one is a compilation of hot hors d'0euvres including three chicken wing selections (plain, Buffalo and BBQ), some dumplings and fried mushrooms. Those are accompanied by a fruit plate, brownies, chocolate chip cookies and chocolate-covered strawberries.

Lunch was a full hot dog bar with four or five topping choices. AND we had breakfast with several entree selections, bagels and pastries.

Last night we had mussels in marinara and home made pizza. Thursday night was some Italian entrees followed by mozzarella sticks, a cheese platter, fruit platter, vegetables and chocolate chip cookies. I am also fairly certain I am forgetting something significant.

GM Mike Tannenbaum joked on Thursday that it was a 2,000 calorie night. 2,000? I think that's probably the tip of the iceberg.

Lots of changes

I don't generally get a lot of satisfaction out of saying "I told you so," and even less so in this case. As one of my sources told me might happen over a month ago, the Jets have released Alan Faneca.

That in itself is interesting, but additionally, it says no one else in the league was willing to put up the money it would have cost to take over his contract, given his advancing age.

While Faneca has not been the player he was earlier in his career, he served as a strong component to the Jets offensive line and was a terrific resource for the younger linemen. He is enormously well-liked and respected by the locker room as a whole and his fellow linemen in particular.

To add insult to injury if you're a Jets fan, the team traded Leon Washington to the Seahawks for what amounts to a fifth-round pick, which they used to draft RB/FB John Conner from Kentucky.

Washington is a huge loss for the team. I guess they were too nervous about his recovery from his broken leg. However, I wouldn't bet against the guy.

On a lighter note - I texted one of the team's starters shortly after all of the above activity asking if he had time to talk. His response, "Am I still a Jet?"

Round two - Vladimir Ducasse

Day two is in the books. Have you heard that one enough yet? Quiet Draft so far for the Jets, and by quiet I mean GM Mike Tannenbaum has not made a trade. Must be losing his mind. He and VP of Scouting Joey Clinkscales were quite anxious to get out of tonight's presser quickly in order to run back up to the War Room in an attempt to make something happen - it didn't.

So, after grabbing CB Kyle Wilson last night, the team went back to offense, selecting lineman Vladimir Ducasse out of the University of Massachusetts. Ducasse is an interesting story. He's originally from Haiti, arrive in the United States as a sophomore in high school after his father sent he and his brother to stay with relatives in Connecticut.

Ducasse attended Stamford High School in Connecticut and although he knew absolutely nothing about football in Haiti (he played basketball there) he approached football coach Kevin Jones and said in broken English, "I want to play."

He slowly made a name for himself and was recruited by several colleges before settling on UMass. It was then in his junior year there that he started attracting interest from NFL scouts and realized a pro career might be in his future.

The most interesting part of this selection (and this truly qualifies as burying the lede) is Clinkscales said in tonight's press conference that Ducasse would be competing for "the" starting job with Rob Turner and Matt Slauson. Uh, what starting job would that be exactly? One has to think the handwriting is on the wall signaling Alan Faneca's departure.

See you tomorrow.

Some first round anecdotes

Due to pilot error last night (and we'll just leave it at that) I was unable to blog. I'm back now. So, three hours in, the Jets got their man. One can only imagine the scene in the War Room when it was confirmed that Rex Ryan would add yet another standout corner, Kyle Wilson from Boise State, to his roster.

Of course GM Mike Tannenbaum had to do his due diligence so as the clock ticked down during their allotted time, he still fielded a few calls from other teams. Tannenbaum described the scene. "Rex was breathing down my neck, 'would you just turn the card in already?' So we had a little drama there."

You can just picture it.

Both Tannenbaum and Ryan, along with VP of College Scouting Joey Clinkscales, had a spring in their step as they walked into the press room to address the assembled media. Although a slightly wild-eyed Tannenbaum looked around and said, "Does anyone know the last few picks?" Alas, since we had all scrambled to our computers after the Jets pick, no one was able to help him out.

For Wilson, this is coming home. The 22-year-old is from Piscataway, NJ, a 30-minute drive from the Jets facility in Florham Park. In fact, Wilson took the call from Rex Ryan sitting in his family's home in Piscataway.

Interestingly, shortly before the call from the Jets came in, Wilson was on the phone with the Vikings. "I don't know if they were trying to hold me on the line, but I got a call and then somehow the phone hung up. Then, I got another call and I ended up talking to Rex Ryan and it was a whirlwind at that point."

Now it's onto rounds two and three. With last night being a bit of a lightning round, we can only hope the same for tonight.

My hunch is the Jets still add another couple of defensive players - it would seem a pass rusher might be coming soon.

Completely unrelated - huge kudos on the food spread provided last night. The Jets truly outdid themselves. Am watching tonight's selection making its way in. Excellent.

Get your souvenirs...

As the dismantling of Giants Stadium continues, pieces are being divvied up that fans can purchase. So, if you want to hang on to something tangible, and refrained from carting out your seat after the final game, now you can bid on them at auction. Everything from seats to pieces of the turf are going to be offered - some of it signed by players who played there, Giants included. The Play Like A Jet sign, that was over the equipment room is just one example of a variety of other things you will find.

The auction is being run by Steiner Sports. Anyone who is interested can log on to www.steinersports.com, see all the items available and make a bid. The bidding will close on April 25th.

As Brandon Steiner says, "How cool is it to be able to sit in a seat from Giants Stadium in your office or home. To own those chairs or a piece of the turf or goal post, is special for every Jets and Giants fan."

From what I understand, Jimmy Hoffa's remains are not on the list.

Hello Cortland - Hello Holmes

So, it's back to Cortland we go. We knew it was coming and today it was made official, the New York Jets are going back to SUNY Cortland for 2010 training camp. According to the story on newyorkjets.com the school and the town of Cortland in central New York will host the Jets for the next three years with the option to extend it to a total of five.

As they did last year, the team will also hold some training camp practices at their former home of Hofstra University on Long Island as well as in Florham Park, NJ the site of their current facility.

And since the Jets have become excellent multi-taskers, in addition to announcing training camp, for good measure, they signed a Super Bowl MVP. However, one with a less-than-shiny past.

Wide receiver Santonio Holmes is now a member of the Jets. The Jets acquired him from the Pittsburgh Steelers for the paltry sum of just a fifth round pick. Holmes has had his share of troubles off the field, which was the reason for the bargain basement pricing. Recently, he was accused of hitting a woman in the face with a glass at a bar. Those charges seem possibly not to be true. However, Holmes has been suspended for the first four games of the 2010 season for violating the NFL's substance abuse policy. In 2008 he was arrested for marijuana possession. In 2006 he was charged with domestic violence although the charges were later dismissed.

Said General Manager Mike Tannenbaum today, "We felt like the price was reasonable and the risk was reasonable. We're excited to have Santonio, we think he's dynamic playmaker."

As for Holmes, who said he was "very shocked" by the trade, he was polite and responsive to all questions during today's telephone press conference, repeating different versions of the phrase, "I'm accountable for my actions" several times.

A source familiar with Holmes and his circumstances told me today, "He's not a bad guy. His problems are self-made."

Holmes himself added, "I definitely want to come in and be one of the leaders on the field and off the field."

Time will tell.

Off-season doings and...the new stadium

Busy day today - started at 9:00am in the Jets locker room, which the team has opened to the media for a couple of hours once a week for the next couple of weeks prior to the official start of OTAs (Organized Team Activities).

Players are in for what are considered voluntary workouts and according to LaDainian Tomlinson, participation has been 100%.

Jason Taylor was in the building, possibly taking a physical. We did not see him...

The players floated in and out between workouts and a variety of meetings.

As a whole, everyone appeared refreshed from their off-time and various vacations. Damien Woody's wife may win the award for best spouse. He told me that as the AFC Championship game against the Colts was winding down and the outcome was becoming clear, she got on the phone with their travel agent and booked two tickets to Jamaica for the very next day so that her husband could get some much needed rest and relaxation. She even flew in her mother to take care of the Woody's six children.

And how is he now? "I feel re-energized," said Woody.

A couple of other guys had different vacations. James Ihedigbo, David Clowney, and Vernon Gholston went to Haiti on behalf of Ihedigbo's "Hope Africa" foundation (Ihedibgo's family is from Nigeria) to try to do their part in assisting the victims of the earthquake. They showed me some pictures, which were amazing.

For Ihedigbo, it was a humbling experience. "Wow, culture shock," he said. "You get so accustomed to things in the U.S. and what they showed on TV was just a small part. That didn't do it justice. There were whole communities living in camps."

Other guys talked to me about this being the first step toward the 2010 season. With the trade of Kerry Rhodes, Eric Smith will now compete with Ihedigbo and the newly-acquired Brodney Pool for the starting spot at safety. His focus right now is honing his communication skills - during games being able to translate what he has seen on film and alert his teammates, a key component to taking on that starting role.

Braylon Edwards is enjoying a drama-free off-season and still thrilled to be in a new place - literally and figuratively - in his career. "The biggest thing is being in an environment like this where I can just focus on football," he told me. "I can focus on learning the game and getting better. Every day you ask yourself, 'Did we work hard enough today to win the Super Bowl?'"

In unrelated news, Edwards has grown an extremely full beard.

Danny Woodhead, who has some strange beard growth happening, is just excited to not be rehabbing as he was last year following the knee injury that sidelined him for the entire 2008 season.

Once the open locker room period was over, it was a mad dash to the new Meadowlands Stadium for a tour. Those of you who can afford tickets will find it a noticeable upgrade to Giants Stadium.

All of the permanent features, seats, carpeting, etc. are in gray and brown tones. All of the club and suite seats - the actual stadium seats, not the seats inside - are padded similar to what you would find in a movie theater. Mark Lamping, the president and CEO of the New Meadowlands Stadium Company was our tour guide and gave us all the highlights.

There are about one-third more restrooms - close to 1300 total. Men's rooms still outnumber women's rooms but the differential is less than in the old stadium. Lamping seemed mildly amused and surprised that there was such thorough and detailed questioning on this topic.

All of the signage throughout the facility is electronic, which allows the background color to be changed dependent on whether it's a Jets event, Giants event or something else.

Flipping the stadium from one team to the other is now slightly more complicated, requiring a minimum of 12 hours. Both endzones as well as the center decal must be swapped out, along with all the other signage, including the concession stands.

What fans will see immediately upon entering are the four Jumbtrons positioned in each corner of the stadium, so that every seat in the place will have a full view of at least one.

And, if you can afford a ticket for The Commissioner's Club, all I can say is, wow.

Marty Lyons & Joe Klecko to Help Honor Brandon Steiner

All Jets fans know Marty Lyons and Joe Klecko, as members of the famed "Sack Exchange," and they are considered two of the best defensive linemen to ever play for the New York Jets. Lyons is also known now as part of the Jets radio broadcast team, providing color analysis.

However, both also spend a great deal of time and effort supporting charitable causes. On Thursday, April 29th, Lyons and Klecko will be on hand at the Family Services of Westchester STAR Gala at the Glen Island Harbour Club in New Rochelle, NY to honor Brandon and Mara Steiner. Brandon Steiner is the CEO and founder of Steiner Sports Marketing and Memorabilia.

Family Services of Westchester, which is more than 50 years old, offers a variety of social and mental services to families in Westchester County.

Lyons and Klecko will join other sports celebrities including Lawrence Taylor (Giants), Ozzie Smith (Padres/Cardinals), Earl Monroe (Knicks) and Dwight Gooden (Mets/Yankees).

Roy Firestone will be master of ceremonies. Among other sports figures expected to attend are, Tiki Barber (Giants), Joe Morris (Giants), George Martin (Giants), Carl Banks (Giants), Mookie Wilson (Mets), John Starks (Knicks), Anthony Mason (Knicks/Nets) and Carl Duhon (Knicks).

Tickets are $300 per person and include dinner, dancing and an auction. Special VIP tickets are available for $750 each, which include a special VIP cocktail reception prior to the dinner. Junior VIP tickets are available to children under the age of 18 for $450, but must be accompanied by an adult.

Tickets can be purchased by contacting Deborah Wilson at 914-937-2320 x116.

See you there!

Free Agency update

Free agency continues to pick up steam as the Jets sign LaDainian Tomlinson. The future Hall-of-Fame running back, drafted in 2001 by the San Diego Chargers had started and played in all but one game in his career, up until 2009 when injuries sidelined him for two games.

In 2006 Tomlinson was named league MVP.

Although Tomlinson will serve as a back-up to Shonn Greene, the team clearly expects a significant contribution from him. In addition, as one Jets player told me, "Tomlinson is a team-first guy. Thomas Jones was a me-first guy."

The Jets have now shored up a couple of positions with the addition of Tomlinson and his former San Diego teammate, cornerback Antonio Cromartie.

After cutting Lito Sheppard and Donald Strickland, I would expect to see the Jets target another corner in the Draft. I would think they would be looking at wide receivers too.

Someone to keep an eye on - Alan Faneca. The 12-year veteran is getting close to the end of his career and he has an enormous contract. If Faneca doesn't decide to retire in the next few weeks, the Jets could look to trade him around the Draft. Offensive lineman Rob Turner could likely transition easily in the left guard spot, especially given the fact that the other four linemen are all returning. However, he would probably have to compete with Matt Slauson for the job.

Odds and ends - in addition to Kerry Rhodes being traded to the Cardinals, and free agent WR/ST Wallace Wright signing with the Panthers, LB Marques Murrell, also a free agent who played mostly on special teams has signed with the Patriots.

Nothing new on the James Dearth or Leon Washington fronts.

The really big news of the day (pun intended), is the fact that Rex Ryan underwent lap-band surgery yesterday. He has tried a variety of ways to lose weight in the past, including starting a liquid diet on the first day of training camp last year (because he apparently needed a bigger challenge than simply his first training camp as a head coach). I'm sure Ryan will be the first one to provide regular updates on the procedure and the specifics of his weight loss.

Kerry is A Cardinal

Well, just one day after GM Mike Tannenbaum said the safety Kerry Rhodes would remain with the Jets "unless something changes," something changed. Last night the Jets shipped Rhodes to the Cardinals in exchange for two Draft picks - a fourth round this year and a seventh round in 2011.

It is difficult to say that this is a surprise. Rhodes had been at odds with the team and was benched in mid-season due both to his perceived attitude and performance.

His lack of interceptions this season were also a significant source of concern to the coaching staff.

Nicknamed "Hollywood" by his teammates, there was also a perception both among the staff and the players that football might not be Rhodes' priority, when stacked against his off-the-field projects and events.

As one player told me, "If do your job well, those things (movie roles, magazine layouts, etc.) will come." Rhodes' choice to chase those things while playing were seen as splitting his focus and taking away from his performance.

The team has some options at safety. Eric Smith, who the team tendered last week and who filled in well for Rhodes when Rhodes is benched, remains on the team, as done James Ihedigbo who continued to show improvement through the season as well. However, it wouldn't be a surprise to see the team go after this position in the Draft and another trade or free agent pickup is never out of the question.

Antonio Cromartie's Fresh Start

Antonio Cromartie was introduced to the New York media today during a conference call. Both he and GM Mike Tannenbaum referred to this as a "fresh start" with all the usual optimism.

Regarding his tackling Cromartie said, "I have not been the best tackler at times in my career. That's something I'm truly working on this offseason."

And then regarding the topic people really want to talk about, his off-the-field issues, he has been named in a reported five different paternity suits over the past couple of years.

"I have seven kids living in five different states," he admitted today. "I made some wrong decisions my first two years in the NFL. Now I have to take on the responsibility of being a father to my kids."

As far as those paternity suits and the accompanying child support issues, "Those things are being taken care of as we speak," he said, "and they are being handled in the right way."

The good news for the Jets is that Cromartie will play out the last year of his current contract so no big investment until they see what they're getting. As for Cromartie, he better play well if he's going to get a new contract that will pay him enough to take care of all those kids.

And It Begins

So, the free agency period has begun. I must admit, the whole thing makes my head spin. Thank you to MG and JW for clearing up some a few nagging questions I had about some of the rules.

Following the release of Thomas Jones that was announced earlier in the week, the first big move of the day, although not at all unexpected, was the release of Lito Sheppard. He's truly a great guy, but had a couple of really bad games that, together with the money factor, just didn't bode well for him.

I would think the Jets will be looking long and hard at first-round cornerbacks come April.

The team has tendered a bunch of players. I'm just going to give you the list, along with the compensation that the Jets would receive in the 2010 Draft if they decide not to match another team's offer and let that player go. They have seven days to make the decision once an offer is made:

Leon Washington - 2nd round pick
Braylon Edwards - 1st and 3rd round picks
Kellen Edwards - 3rd round pick (this is due to the fact that the Jets already have Leon equal to a 2nd round.
Brad Smith - 2nd round pick
Wayne Hunter - 3rd round pick
Eric Smith - 3rd round pick
Drew Coleman - 6th round pick
James Ihedigbo - Right of first refusal. (If another team gives him an offer that the Jets don't want to match, the Jets will not receive any compensation for him.)

The free agents are:

Howard Green
Marques Murrell
Wallace Wright

Unrestricted free agents are:

James Dearth
Marques Douglas
Jay Feely
Ryan Fowler
Ben Hartsock
Larry Izzo
Tony Richardson

The Jets can sign as many restricted free agents as they like. The rules for unrestricted free agents as far as the Jets are concerned, are that they can't sign one unless they lose one.

Hard to say at this point how everything is going to go. I know the big question is Leon Washington and his agent put his chances at returning to the Jets as 50-50. We'll see. That would be a big loss.

The Jets signed long snapper Tanner Purdham a couple of weeks ago, so that could signal the end of the James Dearth era, but he's beaten out other guys before.

I would expect to see Tony Richardson return.

Nick Folk, who most recently kicked for the Cowboys was recently signed, but I think this is more for mini-camp and training camp competition for Feely.

The talk about Larry Izzo after he was placed on Injured Reserve with a neck injury was that he might retire. Nothing has been said about that one way or the other at this point. Special Teams coach Mike Westhoff loves Izzo, and rightly so, the guy has had an outstanding career, but it might be time for him to be done.

I'll keep you posted as things happen or as I hear them.

Thomas Jones to Be Released

As expected the Jets have just announced that they will release running back Thomas Jones on March 5th (Friday). Jones joined the team in 2007 after three years with the Chicago Bears. He was drafted in 2000 by the Arizona Cardinals where he spent three years before moving on to Tampa Bay for one season. He led the AFC in rushing in 2008.

Jones was due a $3 million roster bonus next week.

Here are the statements from GM Mike Tannenbaum and Coach Rex Ryan regarding Jones' release:

It is still possible that the team will re-sign Jones at some point.

Statement from New York Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum:

“We have informed Thomas Jones and his representatives that we will release him on March 5. Thomas joined us three years ago and has been a productive, passionate leader both on and off the field who has served as a positive influence for our younger players. We were fortunate to acquire Thomas and wish him the best.”

Statement from New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan:

“When I got here Thomas immediately became one of my guys. He had one of his best years last season – might have been his best. I have a tremendous amount of respect for him as a player and a person. As I said the other day, this is one of the tough decisions we had to make for our organization.”

Sanchez scheduled for surgery

Back from my disappearing act with the news everyone has been waiting anxiously for...OK maybe not anxiously. In any case, Mark Sanchez will have surgery on his left knee tomorrow at Morristown Memorial Hospital in New Jersey to fix the patella tendon.

Two of the Jets team doctors, Elliott Hershman and Kenneth Montgomery, will perform the procedure on the 23-year-old quarterback. Montgomery, who has been with the team for 11 years is the team's head physician and orthopedic surgeon. Hershman, the team's orthopedist has been with the team for 24 years. He is the vice chairman of orthopedic surgery at Lenox Hill Hospital and Chairman of the NFL's Injury and Safety Panel.

No specific information is available yet as to how long Sanchez may be in the hospital, although normally this is an outpatient procedure.

In addition, still waiting for confirmation as to whether he will rehab in Florham Park or elsewhere. (Elsewhere probably being home in California.)

Apology Du Jour

I look away for five minutes and Rex Ryan is off giving the finger. Am I the only one who laughed? Of course, it was inappropriate, but there's no way Ryan meant it as anything other than a spur-of-the-moment joking response.

All I have to say is...can't we all just get along?

In any event, it has provoked the obligatory apology from him and statement from GM Mike Tannenbaum, which both follow:

Statement from New York Jets Head Coach Rex Ryan

“It was stupid and inappropriate. I wouldn’t accept that type of behavior from one of the coaches or players and it’s unacceptable from me. I apologize to the Jets organization, the National Football League and NFL fans everywhere.”

Statement from New York Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum

“Rex showed extremely poor judgment and his conduct was inappropriate. He knows he was wrong, has apologized and we have accepted his apology. Any other actions regarding this incident will be addressed internally by the organization.”

Not Jetting Anywhere....

The name of this blog today is NotJettingAroundAnywhere. I know you don't care, but I'm really bored, so I'm going to tell you about what's going on. I've been sitting in the Indianapolis Airport since 8am in the attempt to get on my 9:25am flight back to NYC. Still here and it's now 1:25pm.

Apparently the winds in NY are so bad that LaGuardia has been completely shut down. Although I wouldn't know first hand. I believe what I'm being told.

In the meantime, as a result, the New York Jets press corps is scattered throughout the Midwest and East Coast. I'm happily ensconced at Gate B23 with Tom Rock and Bob Glauber of Newsday. Glauber is actually an interloper as he is supposed to be on a flight to Philly that is going out of Gate B10. Except that flight's not going anywhere either.

Jenny Vrentas of the Star-Ledger is at Gate B9, but she's afraid to go too far away from her gate, lest something exciting happen, like a departure.

Judy Battista of the Times is somewhere in another terminal entirely. We are communicating via Twitter.

The Jets cleaned out their lockers this morning. Couldn't tell you what happened. Rex Ryan is giving his end-of-year press conference at 4pm. Clearly, I won't be there either.

It's Over

In the first half it looked like the Jets might just have figured it out. The second half proved that wrong. And at the end of the day, Peyton Manning is simply someone with a talent on a whole other level.

With the loss of RB Shonn Greene and CB Donald Strickland, and a hobbled Bart Scott things shifted against the Jets. There was also the matter of the pass rush that seemed to disappear.

The locker room was a very quiet place. A lot of the players were having trouble focusing on how good of a season it was, but acknowledged that they probably would be able to down the road. The most intriguing comment came from Braylon Edwards who said the team came out with a different attitude in the second half than they did in the first. I asked him what specifically he meant by that and he deferred, saying he didn't want to speak for anyone else.

Unfortunately, Thomas Jones was yet again, a total no-show. He was not in the locker room at all this entire week leading up to the game and was not there after the game today either. Otherwise I would certainly have liked to have brought you his thoughts.

Mark Sanchez was disappointed but also trying to look at the positives, what the team accomplished this year and looking ahead to next season.

Punter Steve Weatherford was in the most upbeat mood. He said "I'm a glass half full guy. Plus, everybody in this room is incredibly blessed."

More later. In the meantime check out the Rapid Reports and a story on the pass rush that will be up on CBSSports.com shortly.

Welcome to Indy!

May I first and foremost give a hearty thank you to the most well-behaved Jets fans I have been around. AirTran Flight #891 out of LaGuardia yesterday - 150 seats, at least 130 of which were filled with Jets fans wearing all sorts of team regalia. Not one J E T S chant (until deplaning). It was the cherry on the sundae since not only did the flight take off on time, we landed almost 30 minutes early. Yes. 30 minutes. EARLY. I plan to fly to Indianapolis on a regular basis now. (And this made up for the 35 minutes I spent standing on the TSA line in my socks.)

Thanks to Tom Rock of Newsday who was on my flight and drove me to the door of my hotel in his spiffy red PT Cruiser rental.

Also, a big shout out to my seatmates, Bill and his 11-year-old son Peter from Pelham, NY. They are Colts fans. Bill is an Indy native and like father like son. Bill and I had a nice chat, while the very well-behaved and polite Peter played some games on Dad's iPhone. Like winning the lottery.

Next up, I met a friend I hadn't seen in none-of-your-business years at a fun restaurant called Scotty's - Ted Karras, now the head football coach at Marian University. They hired him in 2006 to build the program from scratch and the team has already had two winning seasons. He was accompanied by his defensive coordinator Marty Mathis. We had a blast. Nothing like connecting with old friends and I'll now be following Marian closely.

Then it was on to dinner with my CBS cohort Clark Judge and writer Ron Borges. They tricked me into ordering a hamburger the size of a hubcap. I have a photo of the bun, unfortunately the hook up for my camera is at home. Keep checking back. By the way, Clark ordered a salad. This did not deter me from ordering an equally large piece of chocolate cake, which was the soul mate I have been waiting my whole life for.

Now it's almost game time. My gut still says Jets win. We'll know for sure in a few hours.

Woody Johnson Reflects on 2009

Speaking to the media for the first time since the Jets entered the playoff race and the death of his eldest daughter, 30-year-old Casey the very next day, Jets owner Robert Wood (Woody) Johnson IV said simply, “This has been a brutal couple of weeks for me.”

However, Johnson is working hard to balance his personal loss with the stratospheric rise of his football team. Knowing there is nothing he can do to change what happened with Casey; Johnson has divided his focus into two worlds – personal and professional. Yet all of those disparate emotions came to a head when Coach Rex Ryan handed Johnson a game ball in the locker room following the Jets win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wildcard game.

“When I got that ball, that was too many things that hit me at once,” Johnson said shaking his head.

Johnson decided to attend the game because he felt that if he expected his players to play after some of their own personal losses (which several have experienced this season), he should expect the same thing of himself.

Now as things continues to move forward at hectic pace, Johnson reflected on the road that has brought the team to this point and almost all of it begins and ends with Rex Ryan. From the moment Ryan arrived for his first interview – 30 minutes late and coming off a loss in the AFC Championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers - the team knew it had its man.

“When Rex came into the room, it was obvious to us that this was a guy that deserved a shot,” Johnson recalled. “[With his family history] he’s been a coach longer than his years.”
Immediately the entire culture and atmosphere of the team changed as everyone embraced their new head coach’s buoyant and open personality, as well as his leadership abilities. Ryan’s assertion in his opening press conference that the team would be meeting the President of the United States because they would win a Super Bowl with him at the helm was met internally with excitement and awe.

In this new era of openness, Johnson has found himself mingling with fans in the post-game parking lot getting their feedback, most of which he said is positive – at least to his face. He has enjoyed these interactions, getting what he called the “flavor of what’s going on out there.”

“We’ve finally got the light that we work for our fans and we want to tell you everything,” he said. “Our foibles, our successes, the fans deserve all of that.”

The one bit of unpleasantness that has hung over the organization this year is the matter of the PSLs, better known as Personal Seat Licenses. This has put fans in the position of having to buy not just tickets, but the seats themselves; in essence, buying the right to buy the tickets.
Johnson said he understands some of the opposition, but on the other hand points out that fans can now own these seats for the life of the stadium and that the price is “reflected in what the stadium cost.” He also indicated that the team has seen a surge in purchases starting in December.

With the biggest game in a decade looming on the horizon, and a possible Super Bowl appearance so close they can almost touch it, Johnson is anticipating big things. “In 1998, I was watching [the AFC Championship game],” he said, and then paused. “I think we’ll come closer this year.”

And where has Johnson put that very meaningful game ball? It is in the possession of his three-and-a-half year old son, who may be young, but according to his father, already seems to understand the meaning behind it and treats it with loving care.

Woody Johnson Reflects on 2009

Speaking to the media for the first time since the Jets entered the playoff race and the death of his eldest daughter, 30-year-old Casey one day later, Jets owner Robert Wood (Woody) Johnson IV said simply, “This has been a brutal couple of weeks for me.”

However, Johnson is working hard to balance his personal loss with the stratospheric rise of his football team. Knowing there is nothing he can do to change what happened with Casey; Johnson has divided his focus into two worlds – personal and professional. Yet all of those disparate emotions came to a head when Coach Rex Ryan handed Johnson a game ball in the locker room following the Jets win over the Cincinnati Bengals in the Wildcard game.

“When I got that ball, that was too many things that hit me at once,” Johnson said shaking his head.

Johnson decided to attend the game because he felt that if he expected his players to play after some of their own personal losses (which several have experienced this season), he should expect the same thing of himself.

Now as things continues to move forward at hectic pace, Johnson reflected on the road that has brought the team to this point and almost all of it begins and ends with Rex Ryan. From the moment Ryan arrived for his first interview – 30 minutes late and coming off a loss in the AFC Championship game to the Pittsburgh Steelers - the team knew it had its man.

“When Rex came into the room, it was obvious to us that this was a guy that deserved a shot,” Johnson recalled. “[With his family history] he’s been a coach longer than his years.”

Immediately the entire culture and atmosphere of the team changed as everyone embraced their new head coach’s buoyant and open personality, as well as his leadership abilities. Ryan’s assertion in his opening press conference that the team would be meeting the President of the United States because they would win a Super Bowl with him at the helm was met internally with excitement and awe.

In this new era of openness, Johnson has found himself mingling with fans in the post-game parking lot getting their feedback, most of which he said is positive – at least to his face. He has enjoyed these interactions, getting what he called the “flavor of what’s going on out there.”

“We’ve finally got the light that we work for our fans and we want to tell you everything,” he said. “Our foibles, our successes, the fans deserve all of that.”

The one bit of unpleasantness that has hung over the organization this year is the matter of the PSLs, better known as Personal Seat Licenses. This has put fans in the position of having to buy not just tickets, but the seats themselves; in essence, buying the right to buy the tickets.

Johnson said he understands some of the opposition, but on the other hand points out that fans can now own these seats for the life of the stadium and that the price is “reflected in what the stadium cost.” He also indicated that the team has seen a surge in purchases starting in December.

With the biggest game in a decade looming on the horizon, and a possible Super Bowl appearance so close they can almost touch it, Johnson is anticipating big things. “In 1998, I was watching [the AFC Championship game],” he said, and then paused. “I think we’ll come closer this year.”

And where has Johnson put that very meaningful game ball? It is in the possession of his three-and-a-half year old son, who may be young, but according to his father, already seems to understand the meaning behind it and treats it with loving care.