08/07 — Eric Mangini didn't waste any time waiting for questions on that 99-yard TD march to end today's morning practice. In his opening remarks at his midday news conference, the head coach told everyone how his putting the ball at the offense's 1-yard line was tied into Jerry Rice's visit over the weekend and Super Bowl XXIII. Check back on Eric Allen's blog on the morning practice for Mangini's remarks on "The Drive."

In other matters, the coach talked about Justin Miller. He didn't go into detail about Miller's leg injury, sustained in the second half of Sunday's Green & White Game at Fordham, but he did paint it as a "challenge" for the third-year corner/kickoff returner.

"Justin's approach to everything has been continuing to improve. Now he's working to get back as quickly as he can," Mangini said. "It's just another challenge, and how he meets his challenge will be another part of his growth. I don't know how it's going to go. He's going to work at it and he'll get back as quickly as he can."

Andre Dyson was back in the thick of the defense, but Mangini said the distribution of first-defense plays among Dyson, Miller and David Barrett "have been pretty comparable."

"Andre had the one rough play in the scrimmage the other day," the coach said. "Both touchdowns by Kellen's group could have been avoided by better communication. One play was between the corner and the safety, the other was between two corners. Any mistake you see in any game can point to a communication breakdown many times. Anytime the ball is thrown on the corner, the assumption is it's the corner's fault, but it could be any number of things."

Mangini also threw a compliment in the direction of a former NFL corner that both Jets and Patriots fans came to know.

"After the play is in the books, there's nothing you can do about it. But you can do something about the next play," he said. "Otis Smith to me had one of the shortest memories ever. That's what was great. It didn't matter if he got beat. The next play he'd come out and challenge the same way. That's the mark of a lot of successful players: compartmentalize and move on."

Mangini also mentioned that RB Leon Washington has been excused today for personal reasons and that WR Justin McCareins, who had a "get out of practice" pass in the bank, has opted to use that pass for the afternoon/evening practice, when the Hempstead heat index could still be hovering close to 100 degrees.