JET NOTES
Reports have circulated that John Abraham is on the verge of coming to terms with the Jets and reporting to camp, but yesterday one of his agents disagreed.
“I don’t know where that’s coming from,” Rich Rosa said.
Rosa and Tony Agnone represent the Pro Bowl defensive end, who held out the entire training camp looking to receive a long-term deal with the team.
“We’re stumped,” Rosa said.
The agent said he doesn’t know when Abraham will get to the Jets, but doesn’t expect anything to happen in the immediate future.
“We’re no closer now than we were a couple of weeks ago,” Rosa said. “It’s frustrating for us, but it’s more frustrating for John. He’d be there tomorrow if he got assurance that they wouldn’t slap the franchise tag on him next year.”
That is the crux of the problem. Abraham has been offered a one-year franchise-tender deal worth about $6.7 million but wants a long-term contract instead.
“If they agreed to that, it would be over, but until then, he’s still not satisfied,” Rosa said. “I don’t know how upset he is, but he’s in the same position he’s always been in.”
Rosa would not comment on whether he thought Abraham would be back in time for the season opener on Sept. 11 in Kansas City.
“That’s up to John,” Rosa said.
Herman Edwards remained confident Abraham would be ready.
“As long as he doesn’t miss the bus to Kansas City, he’ll play,” Edwards said. “As long as he passes his physical, can put his hand on the ground and rush the quarterback. When he gets here, he gets here.”
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Edwards and his team have said they don’t expect anything unusual to happen when the Jets play the Giants tomorrow for the first time since their brawl-filled practice earlier this month.
“Nothing happened in Albany,” Edwards said. “There were a couple of incidents that marred a good practice session. There were some hits you didn’t like. There is no player, in professional football, in my opinion, that goes out and intentionally tries to hurt a guy.”
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CB Ty Law returned to practice yesterday after missing both sessions Tuesday with a stomach ailment. He is expected to make his preseason debut tomorrow . . . QB Chad Pennington is expected to play the first half tomorrow . . . The Jets claimed rookie LB James Kinney yesterday. Kinney, a free agent from Missouri, was waived by the Jaguars on Monday. Kicker Xavier Beitia was cut yesterday, effectively giving the job to rookie Mike Nugent.