The heat was still on this afternoon when the Jets came out for their second full-squad practice of the day — and second of the day on the grass field behind Cortland Stadium — around 3:50 p.m.
As WR Chansi Stuckey tweeted before going out:
Practice #2 of a two-a-day. Going to get better.
A little more than an hour later, it was over. The session seemed to be mostly red zone-oriented, with a lot of teaching and short work.
The big news for the Jets and their fans was that center Nick Mangold returned to work. Mangold, who had been sidelined with a knee injury since Aug. 9, returned to the middle of the first offensive line and worked the entire practice. Kris Jenkins also did individual drills for the second time today.
As for big plays, a few worth mentioning: CB Rashad Barksdale came up with a nifty pickoff as the third defense turned over the third offense. QB Erik Ainge, under pressure, threw high for WR Huey Whittaker, with the ball bouncing off his hands and then off Barksdale's hands before the free agent pulled the ball in as he tiptoed along the sideline.
And Kellen Clemens, with the twos, made an emphatic 19-yard touchdown pass in 11-on-11s. Clemens rolled right ahead of the defense's pursuit, then bought time before firing a strike to Wallace Wright in a crowd at the goal line.
Sweet Sixteen
It's not a huge alteration to the stats from Friday's Jets-Rams game, but on the other hand it is a significant chunk of yardage.
Erik Ainge's fourth-quarter sack by the Rams' Eric Moore was originally scored a 19-yard sack. But upon further review, the ball bounced forward before it was batted backward 3 yards behind the line.
Scoring rules state that on a sack that results in a fumble, if the ball is batted, the sack yardage ends at the spot of the bat and any additional ball movement is loose-ball yardage.
That also means that the calculation of scrimmage yards ends at the spot of the bat. So instead of minus-19 yards of offense, the Jets suffered only minus-3 yards on the play. Thus their total offense for the game rose from 340 to 356. And their preseason offensive ranking also improved from 10th to eighth as a result.
Not terribly important in the NFL scheme of things, but instructive of the ripple effects of a simple scoring change.
Practice Schedule Notes
We have times for you if you're planning to attend Saturday's open practice back at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center in Florham Park, N.J.
Gates Open — 9 a.m.-2 p.m.
Special Teams — 10:30 a.m.
Team Stretch — 10:50 a.m.
Practice — 11 a.m.
Practice Concludes — 12:30 p.m.
These times are subject to change, so check the camp schedule on newyorkjets.combefore heading to Saturday's workout.
