07/23 — And that brings me to the last of my AFC East Trends blogs, the Jets on the uptick. Despite the disappointments of last season, there are a number of positive areas to revisit on the eve of the 2008 training camp: the production of players such as Jerricho Cotchery, Kerry Rhodes, David Harris and Mike Nugent and the fact that the Jets remain the NFL's least-penalized team since, oh, about 1990.

But I want to focus on something I turned up in my off-season research. It has to do with the kickoff returns of Leon Washington and his blockers. We all know that Leon tied for the NFL lead (with the Texans' Andre Davis) with his three return TDs and that he set the Jets' franchise single-season record as well.

But did you know that with his many happy returns, Washington helped the Jets equal an NFL record?

Actually, it's not a record you can find in the NFL Record & Fact Book. It's more of a "distinction," but a very impressive one. The Jets, with their 10 TDs since 2002, equaled the league's mark for most kickoff-return TDs in a six-season span.

Here are the top eight such sixpacks in NFL history, involving four franchises and starting in the mid-Sixties:

The Bears set the mark with the return work of the great Gale Sayers, who took six returns all the way from 1965-67, and got the final four scores from Cecil Turner in 1970.

Turner tied the league season record of four return TDs set by Travis Williams in 1967, and Williams was the man around whom the Packers produced nine return TDs in that same six-season era.

But no one challenged Chicago's kickoff-return position until the Jets started stringing runbacks together on Opening Day 2002, when Chad Morton took two to the house, the second on the first play of OT, as the Jets stunned the Bills, 37-31.

From there, Jonathan Carter had a return TD in 2003 at Indianapolis, then-rookie Jerricho Cotchery first emerged with a return in the 2004 regular-season finale at St. Louis, and Justin Miller had one as a rookie in '05 and two more in '06 when he went to the Pro Bowl.

The common theme to these returns, of course, is Mike Westhoff, who was the Jets' special teams boss from 2001 through last season. Westhoff, who continues to rehab well from his February surgery, has left a tough act for new ST coordinator Kevin O'Dea. But let's not forget that O'Dea, as the Bears' assistant specials coach in '06 and '07, had something to do with polishing Devin Hester's monster-of-the-midway return skills — Hester had 11 return TDs those two seasons, seven off of punts and four on kickoffs.

But that's getting ahead of ourselves. In less than 24 hours, all Jets fans will be invited to watch the returners, kickers, offense and defense in Thursday morning's first full-squad practice of training camp.

Here are the seven other AFC East Trends stories for the last time, in case you missed one:

Week of July 1 — Miami Down, New England Up

Week of July 7 —Buffalo Up, Jets Down

Week of July 14 — Miami Up, Buffalo Down

Monday — New England Down

Postcards from Some Happy Campers

Just to keep you up to date, reporters will be talking with WR Jerricho Cotchery, LB David Harris and CB Darrelle Revis on a conference call at noon today. This interview session is for reporters only, but we'll bring you word of what the three young Jets have to say as they get ready to hit the fields at Hofstra University for the first two-a-days of Capital One Bank Training Camp.

Numerology Department

For those keeping score at home or in the stands beginning Thursday, note that RB Musa Smith, who wore uniform No. 40 during the off-season, has sight-adjusted to No. 32. That's the number he wore with the Ravens, and it opened recently when undrafted free agent Jonathan Zenon was waived. And newly signed Ahmad Carroll will wear No. 42.