"I was just pretty much sitting around and waiting," Gholston said.

That won't be a problem anymore, as Gholston figures to be very busy the rest of the summer. Gholston's five-year, $32.5 million contract was finalized early on July 25, allowing him to practice for the first time later that afternoon.

"I'm definitely a step behind," Gholston said after his first practice. "It's just something you deal with and I'll do some extra studying."

"He's got a little ground to cover here, to make up," coach Eric Mangini said. "We'll be focused on that and we'll make sure we get him up to speed as quickly as possible and see what he can do."

--The likelihood of the Jets pulling off a Brett Favre trade seems to be going down. Reports have said Green Bay is looking for a first-round pick in exchange, and although the Packers likely will have to scale down from that request, the Jets organization believes in building through the draft and may not want to surrender a high pick for a quarterback who will be 39 in October. A source close to the situation indicated that the chances of a trade are not very good.

--Rookie running back Danny Woodhead was waived-injured by the Jets one day after being helped off the field during July 25's practice after suffering an injury to his left knee. Woodhead rushed for an NCAA-record 7,962 career yards at Division II Chadron (Neb.) State.

Before the Jets made the announcement, coach Eric Mangini said, "Nothing is certain, but I'd say it's not looking good for him to be back anytime soon."

Because he was waived-injured, Woodhead can be claimed by another team. If he isn't, it's possible that he could come back to the Jets and possibly be placed on injured reserve, if this indeed is a season-ending injury. Defensive back James Ihedigbo (fractured wrist) was waived-injured last year, but rejoined the team and spent the season on injured reserve. He is back in camp this summer, again competing for a roster spot.

--Even as the Jets keep one eye on the Brett Favre saga, they obviously still are coaching up the quarterbacks on the roster who haven't retired in the last few months.

On the third day, both Chad Pennington and Kellen Clemens threw several passes out of bounds when nobody was open one day after the coaching staff had talked to the quarterbacks about this.

"Sometimes you've just got to cut your losses," coach Eric Mangini said. "The play didn't work, and you throw it out of bounds and you punt. ... It's a lot better than the alternative. You have to train yourself to do that. You have to train yourself to weigh the risk-reward, and if it's too much risk for the reward ... just sail it out of bounds. What I liked (Saturday) is both those guys did that."

Clemens did throw his third interception in three days in the morning session, although it wasn't his fault. Laveranues Coles juggled a pass and cornerback David Barrett snagged the rebound.

--Chris Baker deviated from the Pete Kendall script on the day the Jets opened training camp. The disgruntled tight end, still on the physically-unable-to-perform list with a back problem, didn't blast the Jets as he did during minicamp and seemed optimistic about his situation. Baker is seeking more money this season; he is scheduled to make $683,500.

The seventh-year veteran indicated that in recent days, his agent, Jonathan Feinsod, has been talking with general manager Mike Tannenbaum. "At least they're talking," Baker said, "and that's a good thing, as opposed to a month and a half ago, when there wasn't much of anything."

Baker also said that being placed on the PUP list wasn't a punitive move by the Jets.

"If they did something like that," he said, "I would tell you guys (media) that."

Both Baker and coach Eric Mangini indicated they expect Baker to be back on the field soon.

--As promised, coach Eric Mangini shortened practices on the first day of camp, and intends to keep them that way throughout. The Jets' first two practices clocked in at one hour and 54 minutes, and 1:50. Mangini's practices in his first two training camps averaged 2:23.

Players were happy about it, obviously.

"He's throwing us a bone," receiver Laveranues Coles said, "and we don't want to make him upset. So right now I'm excited about it."

When asked if this would make him more popular with his players, Mangini responded, "I wasn't running for Mr. Popularity, but I thought it would be effective. I think the important thing for us to understand, and I keep talking about it, is tempo and finish. We've got to be able to get things done in a more concentrated amount of time."

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I'm used to it. There was always talk about it every year. Brett will stop whenever he feels like he's ready. Who knows what's going to happen? I never even wanted to try get into the guessing game. I won't even talk about it." -- TE Bubba Franks, on the rumors swirling around his former teammate, Brett Favre.

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