<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>http://www.nypost.com/seven/07272007/sport..._cannizzaro.htmBACKUP RB HOUSTON LEAVES JETS FOR PERSONAL REASONSBy MARK CANNIZZARO July 27, 2007 -- On a day that Curtis Martin said his official goodbye to the NFL, the Jets also lost running back Cedric Houston, who left the team for undisclosed personal reasons yesterday. Barring an 11th-hour change, the Jets, too, will begin today?s first training-camp practices (8:45 a.m. and 5:45 p.m.) without their top draft pick, cornerback Darrelle Revis. As of last night, Revis was still not signed to a contract. The former Pittsburgh star defensive player is said to be seeking a five-year deal, and the Jets are believed to be insisting on him signing a six-year deal, which makes more economic sense to them. Should Revis not be in this morning?s practice, it will mark the first time since 1997 that the Jets have had a rookie holdout because of a contract dispute. Former Jets linebacker James Farrior, who now plays with the Steelers, was a contract holdout, the only one since Mike Tannenbaum came to the Jets in 1997. One player who will be at practice today is disgruntled left guard Pete Kendall, who?s dissatisfied with his $1.7 million salary and has been very publicly vocal about his displeasure. It was widely speculated that Kendall would hold out, but he would be subjected to a possible $14,000 fine per day missing if he decided to stay away. In other news, the Jets yesterday signed free agent wide receiver Chris Davis, a 5-10, 180-pounder out of Wake Forest, where he caught 62 passes for 721 receiving yards and four touchdowns in four seasons. The quitting from the team by Houston is curious considering he?d been somewhat productive in his two seasons with the Jets. Houston rushed for 374 yards and five touchdowns with a 3.3-yard average last season. His role, though, was certain to be diminished this year with the addition of Thomas Jones and the emergence of Leon Washington last year. Houston was a sixth-round draft pick in 2005. He rushed for 676 yards and seven touchdowns and gained 109 receiving yards on 15 catches in two seasons with the team. The fact that his name already has been eliminated from the roster on the team?s web site is a sure sign that Houston is not returning to the team.</div>Houston was kinda being phased out of the plans anyways, but he was solid depth. I'd hope the Jets would welcome him back if he wants to come back, but if they don't I'm sure he could latch onto another team in no time. As for Revis, I'm not too concerned, if it's a holdout based on the length of contract, one of the sides will budge soon, and if not, maybe the Jets will give him a little extra money in a compromise.By the way, Kendall is in the house, per the Daily News.<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>CAMP CRANKY: Disgruntled Jets guard Pete Kendall, threatening a training-camp holdout since last month, reported on time yesterday to Hofstra, sources said. Two players didn't show up: Unsigned first-round pick Darrelle Revis and veteran running back Cedric Houston, who left the team for personal reasons, the club announced. As of last night, the Jets were still in negotiations with Revis, a highly regarded cornerback from Pitt, over the length of the deal. If Revis (14th overall pick) isn't on the field today for the start of two-a-days, he'd be the Jets' first late-arriving first-round pick since 1997.Kendall reported under his existing contract, which runs through 2009. Unhappy with his current salary ($1.7 million), he demanded a new deal or his release. The Jets, refusing to buckle, gave him neither. Kendall will be an unhappy camper, which could create a distraction in Eric Mangini's second camp. Kendall and Revis are represented by the same agent, Westchester-based Neil Schwartz, who declined comment.</div>
Early reports out of camp are that Kendall is dogging it, clearly just there to not get fined 14K a day. Mangini went so far as to have him work out with the Second Team Line and staying in the rookie dorms. This is gonna end ugly, Jets are too stubborn to just release him and let him win.
Camp Day 1<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'>And Away We Go!By Tom RockOn this first day of training camp, the Jets are enduring a two-a-day ? as in two headaches. Pete Kendall dropped another demand to be released and made it crystal clear he is unhappy to be at camp through both his words and his actions in practice (he was at the end of most lines during agility and skill drills and distanced himself from the pack of players during reps). Meanwhile, first-round draft pick Darrelle Revis was a no-show as the Jets were unable to ink one of their draft choices for the first time since 1997.It?s not exactly the Strife of Strahan, but in the otherwise quiet world of the Jets this is what passes for controversy. Curtis Martin is gone for one day and the whole franchise goes up in smoke!Of course neither situation is more than a passing distraction. Kendall will in all likelihood be released ? probably as soon as every other team in the NFL has stocked up on o-linemen ? and Revis will be here eventually. Mangini made a joke about kids liking to go to camp and this is camp for grown-ups minus the ghost stories. Just don?t expect all of the Jets to join in on the campfire songs each night.The first practice went well in that no one was seriously injured. Otherwise, it was a pretty sloppy affair with bungled handoffs, botched snaps, dropped passes and lost breakfasts (yes, Leon Washington heaved up his Fruit Loops after running a penalty lap, but at least he had the decency to do it off to the side of the field and not at the hashmarks where the players were working).A few notes: Tim Dwight and Matt Chatham, both placed on the PUP list with foot injuries, did not dress but were on the field for the morning workout. At one point Dwight looked very much like a coach with a rolled up sheet of paper in his hand giving instructions to Brad Smith and Wallace Wright during special teams work.WR Jesse Pellot-Rosa, the basketball star from VCU who was signed by the Jets after a tryout, was dressed in full uniform but unable to participate with what looked like a cast on his left hand. Maybe he injured it while dunking. Or he took a hard foul in a pickup game. It can?t be comfortable for a player who really needs to prove his worth to be locked down on the sideline. The sooner Pellot-Rosa gets on the field, the sooner the Jets can make a fair assessment on him.Interesting that the first real pass of training camp with the full offense was from Chad Pennington to ? Justin McCareins. If you?d have asked anyone at the end of last season (including probably McCareins) if they thought he?d still be here at the start of training camp, they would have laughed. Now he seems poised to be a big contributor. He even passed the running test yesterday!Shaun Ellis jumped around like a rookie after he playfully stripped the ball from Thomas Jones in one drill. The big guy looks quicker and leaner. Some folks told me he usually shows up to camp with a little paunch around the middle. I?m not sure if that?s been his past M.O., but it?s certainly not the case this year.When the Jets went starting offense against starting defense, it was Ellis, Dewayne Robertson and Kimo von Oelhoffen up front, Bryan Thomas, Jon Vilma, Eric Barton and Victor Hobson at linebacker, Andre Dyson and David Barrett at corner and Kerry Rhodes and Eric Coleman at safety. Basically the same as last year. Hank Poteat had the only interception of the morning, picking a pass from Kellen Clemens.Brad Smith switched to a red jersey mid-practice and started taking snaps with the QBs. <u>Mangini said later that Smith is now considered to be a QB who can play some WR, as opposed to last year when he was a WR who could play some QB (and even started one game at tailback if you recall).</u> Mangini said Smith is in the mix for the backup and third-string QB positions. It?ll be interesting to watch how that plays during camp.WR Laveranues Coles dropped a deep pass from Chad Pennington. TE Chris Baker made a nice grab along the sideline at the end of practice.<u>And Mangini said that RB Cedric Houston will likely not return to the team, or to football. He said he was moving on with his life after two NFL seasons in which he showed occasional glimpses of adequacy for the Jets but always struggled with badly-timed injuries and never found his niche.</u> He probably wouldn?t have been much of a factor on this team this year with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington taking the bulk of the snaps, but he seemed like a good guy. Good luck, Cedric.</div>
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (david81 @ Jul 27 2007, 01:30 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>Bad day for the Jets it seems...</div>Well Kendall being a bitch was kinda expected, but Revis not signing yet and Houston deciding to suddenly leave the team isn't great news. Granted, I don't expect a long holdout from Revis and Houston wasn't expected to play a big role anyways.
I don't think Kendall's worth that much more than 1.7m anymore, but he definitley deserves more than that.
<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (Capt. Comeback @ Jul 31 2007, 09:26 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}></div><div class='quotemain'>I don't think Kendall's worth that much more than 1.7m anymore, but he definitley deserves more than that.</div>It's more on the principal there, he re-negotiated and signed his deal last offseason and has like 3 years remaining on it. He should have to honor his contract. The Jets have made it a policy that they don't re-negotiate contracts unless they are in a contract year and they're going to hold to it otherwise other players would likely want the same deal where they can re-negotiate their contracts at any time they feel their outperforming their contract. If it means that we have to lose Kendall in the process then so be it.
