It's the most wonderful time of the year ... well, if you're a football coach, it's at least one of them.

Here's how poetically head coach Eric Mangini waxed at his afternoon news conference about the Jets rookie minicamp that opened with two practices today:

"All the hard work we put in as an organization into the draft, so many people working on it throughout the whole off-season — really thro… More

The Jets' rookie minicamp is under way. The draft choices, undrafted free agents and tryouts had meetings this morning, then went out for a morning practice that was not open to the media. The first access reporters will have to the Jets newbies will be during a 45-minute locker room session that begins soon after noon.

I won't wait that long to provide the list of the 10 undrafted free agents. T… More

Just to let you know we haven't forgotten that we have a rookie minicamp upon us, I can report to you that the rookies — six draft choices headed by first-rounders Vernon Gholston and Dustin Keller, 10 undrafted free agents and an unspecified number of tryouts — have been filtering into Weeb Ewbank Hall during the day today. The newest members of the Green & White have a team meeting with head coa… More

Jared Newberry wasn't one of the newsy stories at the recently concluded weekend rookie minicamp, but he caught the coaching staff's eye since he was one of five tryout players at the camp to be signed and the only one of the five with pro experience.

The linebacker spent time on three NFL teams' practice squads, with the 49ers last year and in 2005 with the Titans and Patriots. So of course with… More

It's rare but not unheard of for Eric Mangini to get to a news conference late, as he did Saturday afternoon. Twenty minutes after his scheduled 4:25 p.m. start following the afternoon practice at the New York Jets' rookie minicamp, he took to the podium with a mea culpa.

"I'm sure you're shocked," he told reporters, "but practice went over. I apologize for that."

Mangini seemed pleased to get b… More