Revis Stays On His Own Island

By Peter Schwartz

Well, Hard Knocks has their nice juicy storyline!

Unless you've been on an island (not Revis Island), you know by now that Jets corner Darrelle Revis has decided to hold out from training camp. The Jets reported for duty here in Cortland on Sunday and when they take to the field on Monday, the only #24's at practice will be those jerseys worn by fans.

It's ugly right now.

Jets General Manager Mike Tannenbaum made three offers to Revis in the hours leading up to camp.

1) A long term contract that would make Revis "A Jet For Life"
2) A short term contract
3) A face to face discussion

"All three of those (offers) were rebuffed," said Tannenbaum.

My gut feeling is that Revis will be on the field on Monday night September 13th in the opener against Baltimore. But this is a long way from being over.

Revis wants to be the highest paid corner in the league and wants a hefty amount of guaranteed money. At this point, the Jets don't seem willing to do meet his demands.

To their credit, many of the Jets were diplomatic about the Revis situation when they checked into their dorms at SUNY Cortland on Sunday.

"I support his decision, but you have to understand that there's 53 men on this team," said nose tackle Kris Jenkins. "So, in his absence, we have to step up."

"He's extremely important," said safety Jim Leonhard. "But knowing how hard he works and how bad he wants to be here, I'm not worried at all about Darrelle."

I had the chance to spend a few minutes with Leonhard upon his arrival at SUNY Cortland. Here is my interview with him……

"He's got to do what he's got to do," said center Nick Mangold who also wants a new deal but decided to show up "I don't hold anything against him. He has to do what he thinks is best."

But here's probably the most interesting response from a player on Sunday and it came from wide receiver Braylon Edwards. He was asked if the Revis holdout was going to be a distraction.

"No, I don't think so," said Edwards. "My stance on it is you have to do what's best for yourself. (Revis) missing a couple of days to figure out what's best for his family is what you need to do sometimes."

Does Braylon know something?

A couple of days?

Hmmmm. Maybe Edwards has spoken to Revis about it. Could be nothing but we'll see.

Let's move along to some other Jets stuff.

With Revis out, first round pick Kyle Wilson figures to get some more time with the starters in camp. I had the chance to catch up with him as he reported and here's my interview with him……

Wide Receiver Santonio Holmes has a family matter to attend to, so his mandatory reporting date will be on Wednesday.

Running back Joe McKnight passed his conditioning test and has been cleared to practice.

Both nose tackle Kris Jenkins and quarterback Kellen Clemens have been placed on the active PUP list. Jenkins says he needs to work on his hamstring and expects to be able to practice this week. Clemens says he is day to day. He is suffering from a strained calf muscle.

Speaking of Clemens, he could be on the way out with signing of veteran quarterback Mark Brunell. I caught up with Clemens on Sunday.

The Hard Knocks crew as well as all of the media in attendance had a busy first day at Jets training camp.

Now the fun really starts.

Practices start on Monday. The only question is when will Darrelle Revis be here?

My prediction?

He signs the week of the final preseason game.