--Fourth-round pick Dwight Lowery, a cornerback from San Jose State, and fifth-round pick Erik Ainge, a quarterback from Tennessee, signed with the Jets, meaning only two of their six draft picks remain unsigned. Ainge's contract terms weren't disclosed, but it's believed to be a four-year deal.
--Coach Eric Mangini invited the Jets' beat writers in for what the Jets called 'Learning Defense with Eric Mangini,' an informal but very serious three-hour course in defensive terminology and applications. Of course, in such a short time it wasn't possible to get too deep into the defensive playbook, but writers were able to get a look at numerous defensive answers to specific offensive formations.
The defensive playbook was quite thick and complex, with 48 pages merely on offensive terminology in a thick, oversized binder. There was also a handout dealing with the one defense the media members were supposed to learn. It was a 3-4 front with zero coverage, i.e. a five-man rush with five players in man coverage plus a safety handling the "deep middle."
Mangini seems like quite a teacher, and he certainly knows his subject. Just like he does with his players, Mangini put one of the writers on the spot every once in awhile. Fortunately for the media, The Turk was not in the room, or they would've been asked to turn in the playbooks well before the three-hour session was over.
--The New York Mets honored six former Jets before their game against San Francisco on July 8, calling it Jets Night. The Jets played at Shea Stadium from 1964-83 before moving to Giants Stadium. This is the Mets' final season at Shea before moving to a new stadium next door, Citi Field.
The former Jets on hand were CB Randy Beverly, RB Emerson Boozer and C John Schmitt from the 1968 Super Bowl champions, as well as WR Wesley Walker, DT Marty Lyons and LB Greg Buttle.
Walker, a transplanted Long Islander who now is an elementary school teacher there, admits now he wasn't very happy when the Jets bolted Shea. Their last game there was a 34-7 loss to Pittsburgh on Dec. 10, 1983.
"I hated" the move, he said today, but noted that the organization, through then-coach Joe Walton, told the players to toe the party line about the move to Giants Stadium.
"We were told certain things we couldn't say," Walker recalled. "We were always told to say the right thing. ... When you're not allowed to say what's on your mind and say what you really felt, that's what bothers me." He laughed ruefully as he recalled seeing interviews of himself in which he said the move from Queens to New Jersey was "great."
QUOTE TO NOTE: "Whether we like it or not, we are an image to the public and we have to present ourselves in a presentable way, a role-model type of way. That's the territory that comes with it." -- CB Dwight Lowery on being a pro football player
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