Sunday, August 05, 2007 PLAYER PROFILE Manny Collins Cornerback Manny Collins was working out at Rutgers with several of his former teammates, including Terry Bynes, when he finally got the call he had been waiting for. "Patience is a virtue," Collins said yesterday in his second practice as a Jet at Hofstra. Collins, who started last season, went undrafted and hadn't received much interest from NFL teams. He tried Canada but that didn't work out, either. "This is a perfect opportunity," Collins said. "Beautiful. It's close to home, a good football team, a good coaching staff. My family is so happy. We feel so blessed. You just put it in God's hands and go from there." Collins, 5-10, 190 pounds, caught coach Eric Mangini's eyes on his first day at camp on Thursday. "We put him right into the fire ... and he did a good job, good quickness, competed well," Mangini said. "That's the classic example of okay, opportunity knocks. He didn't have the amount of work that these other guys had but he did a nice job of adjusting on the fly, taking advantage of opportunities. "So now we're working with him to get him up to speed as quickly as we came." This season, Rutgers is ranked in the top 25. And Collins, a Plainfield native, is one of the players who helped build the program from scratch. "It always feels good to start a foundation," Collins said. "All my old teammates are keeping my posted. I know those guys are going to take it and run with it. Now we have a foundation. Later on, we're going to have a mansion." ... WHO'S HOT: WR Laveranues Coles and LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson have been quietly having strong camps. Coles is catching everything and Ferguson looks good in one-on-one passing drills. ... QB Chad Pennington looked sharp. WHO'S NOT: Backup QB Kellen Clemens continues to have a so-so camp. ... TE Joe Kowalewski got into a fight with LB Cody Spencer in Thursday's night practice and it landed him in Mangini's doghouse. Mangini called Kowalewski's actions "ridiculous" and "selfish." Rice pays a visit Future Hall of Famer Jerry Rice spoke to the team on Friday following a team cookout at Hofstra on the Jets' day off. It was a surprise visit by Rice and it had a lasting impact on several players. "It's a privilege to listen to a guy who played 20 years in the league," WR Justin McCareins said. "He's the ultimate professional. ... Mostly, he talked about his practice and his off-season habits. He talked about how he was never late for a practice, how he would sit in on special teams meetings to show the guys just how important that stuff was." WR Jerricho Cotchery said Rice was his idol growing up and the player he patterned himself after. He recalled a radio interview in which Rice told him he liked his style of play and on Friday, Rice acknowledged Cotchery when Cotchery told him who he was. ... QUICK HITS: The Jets yesterday signed rookie free agent LB Jerry Mackey (Syracuse), who is the great nephew of Hall of Famer John Mackey. ... No news on the Darrelle Revis hold out. It has stretched to nine days and 12 practices. ... G Pete Kendall took reps with the second team all practice for the first time yesterday. ... LB Victor Hobson excelled in off-season boxing exercises run by trainer Teddy Atlas and it has helped his game, said Mangini. ... INJURY REPORT: DE Bobby Hamilton (shoulder) returned to practice. ... LB Matt Chatham (foot) and WR Tim Dwight (foot) remains on the PUP list. DEPTH CHART: The Jets' kicking game has rarely been in better shape. K Mike Nugent, a surprise second-round pick in 2005, is having a good camp coming off a breakout year last season when he hit his final 18 FGs, the second-longest streak in club history behind Pat Leahy (22). P Ben Graham appears to be in mid-season form. __________________
