Darrelle Revis makes the tackle against Nebraska
Darrelle Revis made his training camp practice debut today at Weeb Ewbank Hall.
The Jets' first round pick, a cornerback/return specialist from Pittsburgh who signed late Wednesday evening, moved around the defensive backfield a little bit and also caught a few punts from Ben Graham.
"It was exciting. It was great just coming out here and getting rid of the cobwebs, learning new stuff," Revis said. "Coach [Eric Mangini] was putting me in different spots and different places and trying to challenge me. There were positives and negatives today, but I thought I did good today."
A few of his teammates teased Revis with the cold shoulder. Playmaking safety Kerry Rhodes smiled when asked about the reintroduction.
"We acted like we didn't know him. It was all in fun, though," said the third-year safety. "We know he had to do what he had to do for his personal reasons. That's what it is."
Revis saw a lot of action at left cornerback and he also moved to the slot on a few occasions. The 5'11", 204-pound Aliquippa, Pa., native will continue to spend a lot of the time off the field with both secondary coach Mike MacIntyre and his assistant, Jerome Henderson.
"Darrelle has come in with a fantastic attitude, which he has always had," Mangini said. "He has been extremely diligent here in the early days of trying to accelerate the learning process."
The physical process will include getting into football shape. The well-conditioned Revis is back fully practicing in a helmet and pads for the first time since last November. He also hasn't yet worked through the normal soreness that comes with summer camp. But Mangini is a stickler for good mental approaches and he likes what he has seen from Revis.
"What I am sure about is he is extremely motivated and ... diligent is probably the best word I can use because he's here pretty much all the time, studying, working with the coaches, working with the other players that were here to get up to speed," the coach said.
Besides MacIntyre and Henderson, the players are ready to assist No. 24.
"We know he has the talent," Rhodes said. "He can cover and all that stuff, but as far as the defensive scheme, he doesn't know everything yet and he doesn't know all the nuances of the defense. I'm just trying to teach him as much as I can and the other guys are as well. It's not just me."
Revis said his new mates accepted him well and Rhodes appreciated the youngster's lunchpail attitude.
"He came out and did a good job. He didn't do much talking and just tried to get a lot of learning down," the safety said. "He is behind a lot, so he took coaching pretty well and he took constructive criticism pretty well today."
Unlike a couple of months ago during off-season practices, Revis didn't have difficulty fielding Graham's punts this afternoon. His concentration was good and so were the results.
"I was struggling with that in OTAs and minicamp, but I came out here today and I caught all my balls," he said. "I was just focusing and relaxing and not thinking about anything else."
So it was a good, quiet start for Revis. He warmly accepted the razzing from teammates who called him "Rook," "Rookie" and "Big-Time." He liked the atmosphere and was very happy to be back on the field.
"I made a couple of errors today, but I just have to bounce back and correct them in the film room," he said.
In just three weeks, the Jets will host the New England Patriots at the Meadowlands. There was a chill in the air on this overcast late August day, giving us a reminder that fall is right around the corner. Revis has a lot of work to do before then.
