By Tom Rock
Okay, things have calmed down long enough here for me to update the blog. It’s been a fairly crazy morning, as you can imagine, dealing with the Jets trade of Pete Kendall to the Redskins for a fourth-round pick in 2009. The trade took shape late last night and was/is contingent on Kendall passing a physical in Washington. Kendall had been sidelined by a shoulder injury in recent days. Imagine if that derailed this deal and he was sent back to the Jets? Now THAT would be a story!
Anyway, Mangini confirmed the trade at his morning presser, but he had little else to say about it. He wouldn’t say which team initiated the talks, which started fairly recently. He wouldn’t say what the Jets were getting in return. And he wouldn’t say that Kendall was traded more for being a PITA to the organization than for his on-the-field play.
We were able to watch the first 30 minutes of practice today, and the Jets did almost everything in their power not to put together a full offensive line during that period. It did look as if Jacob Bender was playing at the starting left guard spot, though. Mangini said Bender, Adrien Clarke or Wade Smith would likely play there for now, though he did not rule out bringing someone else in to take over. The league requires teams to slice their rosters down to 75 players by Aug. 28 and 53 by Sept. 1. They’re probably hoping there are a few serviceable guards to pick up from the pile.
Another note from practice: Justin Miller started the workout with full participation, running and jumping and even dancing. This after he worked on cutting and back-peddling yesterday. Still, when practice really started to kick into gear, Miller retired to the exercise bike. Andre Dyson, another Jets cornerback who has been sidelined by injuries lately, looked very slow and limpy while going through some drills. I’m not sure either one will play on Saturday night, but if I had to pick one to be ready it would be Miller.
We go out to talk with the boys in a little while. Plenty of folks want to talk to Bender. I think the entire offensive line was requested. I’ll be back with some updates this afternoon.