09/17 — Reggie Hodges is the Jets' new punter.

Head coach Eric Mangini announced the signing of Hodges to replace Ben Graham. Hodges worked out Tuesday and the Jets announced they had waived Graham on Tuesday evening.

"With Hodges, we had a high grade on him coming out of college," Mangini said of the former Ball State punter. "We follow those guys based on their college grades to see how they've progressed. He's been to a couple of preseason camps and also worked some of these independent kicking clinics. We follow them pretty quickly.

"With Reggie, we've been watching his development over time and we've been pretty pleased with it. He came in yesterday and had an outstanding workout. Not that I've been to that many punter workouts, but it was pretty impressive."

If Hodges' name has filtered into your subconscious, it's OK. He's been around since he was a sixth-round draft choice of St. Louis in 2005. He had 41 punts for the Rams and Eagles that season, providing his only pro stats: a 37.4-yard gross and a 32.2 net.

But his skills intrigued three more teams before the Jets signed him. He was in the Colts' training camps in 2006 and '07, was with the Seahawks this summer, and was on the Patriots' practice squad from Sept. 4-7.

"Reggie gives us some flexibility with kickoffs, PATs and field goals — he's functional in both those areas," Mangini said. "He has the ability to throw the football, which gives us some opportunities in terms of fakes."

Mangini said Hodges will also be the new holder for the Jets placekicker, be he Jay Feely or, when healthy, Mike Nugent.

As for Graham, the coach again talked about one of the most excruciating parts of the NFL head-coaching business.

"Releasing Ben was extremely difficult for me. It's always the most difficult part of this job," he said. "You develop relations with players over time. I have a strong memory of being in Australia, in a Geelong cow paddock, with Ben's girlfriend at the time who's now his wife, pouring rain, one football. It's amazing what he's done to this point, totally changing sports, having the success he's had. But I just thought at this point it was the best thing to make the change."

With one spot open on the practice squad, Mangini announced the signing of another punter — Waylon Prather, who formerly kicked on the same San Jose State team that rookie CB Dwight Lowery played for in 2006.

"That's another situation," Mangini said, "where we've followed this player, monitored this player. He's another really athletic guy who has some potential to develop over time."