CORTLAND — The cornerback holdout was a lot shorter for the Jets this time than it was when Darrelle Revis missed all of training camp in 2010.
The team and first-round pick Dee Milliner agreed to a four-year, $12.66 million contract last night that will have Milliner in training camp today.
Milliner, who was selected No. 9 overall, missed the first three days of practice as his agent and the Jets haggled over contract language. A source said, the Jets prevailed on the contentious issue of offsets — allowing a team to recoup money if the player is cut and signs with another team — but will pay Milliner the bulk of a $7.588 million signing bonus by mid-October.
Milliner is expected to start at cornerback, taking over for Revis. The biggest question mark with Milliner is his health. The Alabama product had shoulder surgery in March and was unable to practice with the Jets in the spring. Milliner is expected to report to SUNY Cortland today, but he may not be able to practice immediately.
* Practice was delayed by a few hours yesterday after a storm that included lighting struck the area.
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The team had practiced for about 25 minutes when they were told to leave the field. They were able to practice later in the day when the weather improved, but it raised a question about having training camp here where there is no indoor field. The Jets have an indoor field at their headquarters in Florham Park.
Head coach Rex Ryan pointed out this is the first time they have had this problem in four years at Cortland. He also said the team would have stayed on the field in heavy rain if there had not been lightning.
“We have great facilities here,” Ryan said. “You want to have some practices in elements, but lightning, obviously, is not one of those elements we’re looking to have a practice in.”
* RB Chris Ivory (hamstring) remains unable to practice. The hope was Ivory would practice yesterday, the Jets’ first in pads. Instead, they held him out.
“We’re going to proceed with more caution than just throwing him out there,” Ryan said. “Could he play if it was a game? I’m not sure. That might be a possibility, but right now we just want to try to get him back to close to being 100 percent before we put him out there.”
When asked how he feels, Ivory said, “Ready.”
But the back, who the Jets acquired in a draft day trade with the Saints, acknowledged the team is being smart.
“It is [frustrating], but if I’m going to be out there I want to make sure I’m going to be ready to go,” Ivory said.
* RB Joe McKnight had a migraine in the morning and was not on the field when the Jets originally began practice. He recovered in time to go through the team’s walkthrough and the rescheduled practice in the afternoon. But McKnight did not look good during the practice. He was doubled over at times and drew the wrath of the coaches.
* WR Braylon Edwards and TE Kellen Winslow did not practice. The Jets are being very cautious with the veteran duo and may have feared having them practice on the wet turf or it is part of their training camp plan to rest them.