08/27 — Reporters had access to the New York Jets locker room today for the first time since minicamp, and the early magnet that attracted about 10 reporters plus a JetsTV camera crew was LB Andre Wadsworth.

Someone asked the one-time DE and third overall pick of the draft trying to return to the NFL as a linebacker after sitting out the past six seasons if the Jets' first announced wave of eight cuts gave him pause to think about his bid.

"To me, the battle's already been won," said the irrepressible Wadsworth. "To come back from the injuries and surgeries I've had, come to camp and not miss one practice? The battle's been won. I learned a lot about myself."

Wadsworth repeated something he's said before, that the process has taken a lot longer than he expected. "But," he said, "it's going pretty well right now."

He also said if he doesn't survive the Green & White's cutdown to 53 players by Saturday, he'd look for new colors.

"Any team that wants to give me a shot or an opportunity, I'll continue to do it," he said. "But I won't beat a dead horse as well."

DE Michael Haynes, like Wadsworth, is a fellow survivor. He sat out only last season, not the last six, but he also has a great approach to how he views the unknowns surrounding his immediate future.

"Really, there's no point in having a bad outlook," Haynes said as he finished dressing for practice. "The only thing that does is make things worse for you. You never quite know how everything's going to work out, so you have two options: Keep working hard or just hang it up.

"And if none of us wanted to be here, we wouldn't be here."

Practice Time

The media are on the in-season schedule for practice, too, watching only the first 30 minutes, which means stretching, special teams work and some positional drills before the blow horn sounds.

A guest who returned to practice today after spending a few days with the team during camp is Lomas Brown, or LB, as the linemen have gotten to know him. The former Pro Bowl tackle will no doubt be offering advice and counsel to the O-linemen as they prepare to play at Philadelphia on Thursday night before opening the season Sept. 9 vs. New England.

Perhaps it was the warmth of the late-August Long Island sun that helped with the compression of the footballs, but Ben Graham seemed to really be nailing his punts, hitting several 5.0-second hang times.