07/31 — Today's late practice was a mix of offense vs. defense and then special teams. And it brought us some of the first matchups between the Jets' two first-round rookies.

It was a split decision in the 1-on-1 drills. Dustin Keller beat Vernon Gholston on a reception over the middle. But the former Ohio State linebacker came back and beat the ex-Purdue tight end for a "sack."

Some other observations from the late workout: Drew Coleman made a nice breakup in the back of the end zone of a Kellen Clemens pass intended for rookie WR Marcus Henry.

Brett Ratliff flung a pass toward the sideline and on this one Henry gathered in the deep ball, with S James Ihedigbo in the area.

TE Bubba Franks, after dropping a pass in the morning, seemed to put a pass on the turf at the goal line, but the official working the practice ruled Franks had control of the ball long enough for the touchdown.

CB Hank Poteat made a real nice read to come up and meet Musa Smith in the backfield on a running play for a "tackle" for loss.

FB Tony Richardson took a swing pass and put a jolt into rookie CB Dwight Lowery when the two met on the perimeter.

During a break, a fan yelled out to Jerricho Cotchery, "Hey, Cotchery, 1,500 this year! You're on my fantasy team." No. 89 wore a smile as he walked back to field some punts.

Speaking of punts, Ben Graham was working on his drop punt, that end-over-ender from Down Under that can be difficult to corral. In fact, Leon Washington muffed Graham's first punt, and Chansi Stuckey had a later one go "through the wickets" as well.

Graham was like a machine for a while, hitting four drop punts in a row with nearly identical 4.5-second hangtimes. And the Aussie, working with a few different snappers besides James Dearth, rescued one very high snap, took a few steps to avoid the rush and launched a hurried kick downfield sideways.

Remember that Friday's practice is closed to the public, but Saturday's Green & White Practice is open, is being held at Hofstra's Shuart Stadium, admission is free, and kicks off at 1 p.m.

Coming and Going

The Jets made two more transactions this afternoon, releasing just-re-signed LB Jerry Mackey and re-signing undrafted FA safety Nate Lyles.