08/15 — Eric Mangini had nothing definitive, but a lot that was suggestive, about the Darrelle Revis contract situation at his midday news conference today that just concluded.

"We're pretty close, but we'll kind of see how it goes here," the Jets head coach said when asked if there was an agreement between the Jets and the representatives for the 14th overall pick of the draft. "I'd love to tell you definitively, but that's where we are."

Yet for those who are hearing alarm bells, it's not time to panic. Mangini spoke about his emotions at having his first-round pick close to taking the field

"We're excited about having him here. Obviously, drafting him where we drafted him, knowing the person he is, that's why he's here. On the flip side, I didn't send Mike [Tannenbaum] out for any party hats and noisemakers. It'll be good to get him out there, but he's got a lot of work to do."

And Mangini said Tuesday night that while he didn't speak to the player, he did talk with the player's mother.

"That was great. She was fun to talk to," Mangini said. "I know she's going to push him hard, too. A guy like Darrelle with his character, that comes from the support of his family and from spending time with his mother. You can easily see how he became the young man he is."

So at the moment there is no announcement, but there's no reason to believe that the optimism expressed Tuesday night by GM Mike Tannenbaum and agent Neil Schwartz has been misplaced.

On a few other matters, the coach wasn't ruling his several injured players, headlined by RB Thomas Jones, in or out of Friday night's second preseason game against Minnesota in the Meadowlands.

"I think with that whole group, it'll come down to where they are right up to game time," Mangini said. "It's very similar to a regular-season game. We'll go through that same process because that's important for the medical staff, the players and the coaching staff. We'll try to simulate that process because you have a lot of gameday decisions on injuries during the regular season. It's just like then. We'll be smart about it, try to make the best decisions."

Similarly, asked about his quarterback rotation for the Vikings, he said: "I haven't finalized that. Brian [Schottenheimer] and I like to sit down later in the week, as close as possible. We'll talk through the reps, how we want to see different combinations of people. The other thing that affects that is the flow of the game."

In other words, no announcement yet of how he wants to use his QBs. But asked if he thought Chad Pennington will get to throw his first pass of the preseason schedule, the coach said, "I don't know ... I think it's a possibility."

Practice begins in 15 minutes. We'll let you know if a player wearing No. 24 in green takes the field with the rest of the Jets.