E-Boland & Gang Green

By Ken Berger

Friends and countrymen, it appears that we will have to seriously revise our expectations for the depth and quantity of information I'll be able to deliver to you out of minicamp this weekend.

You're all curious about how various draft picks and undrafted rookies looked in drills. Unfortunately, reporters were permitted to view only 45 minutes of one practice today, and that time included none of the team drills. We didn't see anyone line up in 7-on-7 or 11-on-11, so I can't even tell you who's working where or how they are handling their assignments. These guys can touch toes with the best of them, though. That I know.

It's more of the same tomorrow, when we get to watch 40 minutes of the morning practice. The afternoon practice will be closed. I'm not sure what the big secret is -- and the funny thing is, I'll never know.

To me, limiting what reporters can view in a minicamp practice is not only unfair to the fans who want information on their team. It's unfair to the players, too. If we report that a player dropped a ball in individuals or stumbled in an agility drill, how would we ever know if he he caught three touchdown passes in the more important team drills? No wonder players think the media are unfair.

I can tell you that Mangini seemed at ease on the field in his first practices as a head coach, even participating in some of the drills and raising his voice a couple of times. He was equally at ease in his first news conference alone (without GM Mike Tannenbaum), and genuinely seems to be trying to give the writers some useful information. He's a good guy who cares a lot about football, and I'm as convinced as ever that he's going to grow into an excellent head coach. He just has a plan -- not to give out specifics about anything that could be construed as remotely competitive -- and he's going to stick to it.

Just to make sure everyone's on the same page, there are no veterans participating today or tomorrow. This camp is strictly for rookies and first-year players. There were 40 players in camp -- 10 draft picks, 14 free agents, and 16 tryouts.

The list of undrafted free agents signed by the Jets was made official today, so here it is:

DL Darrell Adams (Villanova), DT/OT Tui Alailefaleula (Washington), WR Maurice Avery (Memphis), DE/LB Craig Bailey (Nevada-Reno), T Ed Blanton (UCLA), LB Michael Brown, Jr. (Howard), LB Blake Costanzo (Lafayette), P/K D.J. Fitzpatrick (Notre Dame), WR Deqawn Mobley (Texas A&M), RB DonTrell Moore (New Mexico), DT Brennan Schmidt (Virginia), S Jamie Thompson (Oklahoma State), LB Will Thompson (Georgia) and QB/WR/RB Stacy Tutt (Richmond).

The players invited for tryouts are:

DB Omowale Dada (Washington State), QB John Davis (N.C. State), DE Tearrius George (Kansas State), DB Rolando Humphrey (Southern Methodist), DB Jovon Johnson (Iowa), LB Anthony Jordan (Toledo), TE Joe Kowalewski (Syracuse), DB Pierre Lee (Virginia State), OL Kevin McAlmont (Western Carolina), LB/DE James Parrish (Kent State), DL Sam Segond (Rutgers), C E.Z. Smith (Penn State), TE Brian Watje (San Jose State), LB Bryan White (Virginia), and WR Wallace Wright (North Carolina).

My observations will have to be limited to what I learned from the locker-room period. A few things I found interesting:

* Brad Smith, the Missouri QB who is working at WR, is nonetheless wearing a QB's number -- the No. 16 that used to belong to Vinny Testaverde.
* John Abraham is gone, but both of his numbers are still here. Third-round linebacker Anthony Schlegel is wearing No. 56, and seventh-round defensive tackle Titus Adams is wearing No. 94.
* Schlegel and Nick Mangold, both of Ohio State, will be engaging interview subjects. When Schlegel was at Air Force before transferring to Ohio State, he wanted to be  a combat controller -- the person who coordinates ground strikes in a military air conflict. When minicamp is over, Mangold goes back to Ohio State -- and back to reality. A 9:30 a.m. physics class awaits.
* Fourth-round RB Leon Washington has a  vice grip for a handshake.  I can't see him fumbling. Actually, if he were to fumble this weekend, I wouldn't be able to see it anyway.

By the way, Jet Boo is the runaway winner in the "name this blog" contest. I'm just not sure if "Bergermeister Meisterblogger" is going to get past management.

Back tomorrow. Tomorrow's another day.