The Jets caravan is getting ever closer, and so is training camp.
The team left the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center shortly after noon today and as I write they are somewhere on Route 380 or Route 81 heading north to Cortland, N.Y.
But to give visitors to newyorkjets.com the first taste of camp, Eric Allen and I placed a call to wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery while he was enjoying the countryside on one of the team buses. The purpose: to bring you our first installment of "Jets Two-Minute Drive: Summer Edition."
EA is polishing up the interview right now — Jerricho was talking over the noise of his fellow happy campers on the bus — and we'll have that audio for you as soon as we can on our home page. Here are some soundbites from J-Co:
On head coach Rex Ryan's message to the team before the busride began: "He restated to us that our goal is to win the Super Bowl."
On the fan and media buzz that the Jets need to add another veteran wideout: "Yeah, we do feel a little slighted. We feel we have the wide receivers on this team to get the job done."
On his and the offense's friendly message to the Jets' attacking defenders that they'll be going up against beginning Friday at 8:15 a.m.: "We're going to let them know on the first day that they're not going to be pushing us around."
I asked Cotchery where he was on the journey to Cortland, if he remembered seeing any town names on road signs or even if he saw a house recently: "I don't know where we are," he replied, "but I just saw a Waffle House. I love eating at Waffle House."
Eric and I will be chatting with Damien Woody as well for a separate Jets Radio show, and then we'll drive over to the player dorms in a short while to greet Ryan and the players as they jump off their buses and breathe their first Cortland air. So check back with us a few times tonight to get the first words on Jets Training Camp '09.
