08/10 — The Jets are less than an hour away from kicking off their 2007 preseason schedule against the Atlanta Falcons, and there's a little touch of October in the August air. After a day-long rain, the precip has stopped but the clouds are low and it's actually on the chilly side for the second preseason opener of the Eric Mangini regime.

This is my first time attending a Jets game in the Meadowlands pressbox not as a member of the media. And my perspective has changed — literally. After being aligned around the 20-yard line of the West end zone as a 13-season beatwriter, I'm now positioned at the 42, when I'm in the box. But with my staff pass, I went down to the field to observe the pregame preparations by the guys in green and the guys in black.

The Jets did their usual warmups, with Mike Nugent kicking and hitting from all ranges and Ben Graham testing the breezes from both sides of the field. The wind didn't seem as bad from field level, with the red strips on the goalpost tops not rippling nearly as energetically as the flags at the top of the stadium.

It was interesting to watch Chad Pennington, dressed in sweats and shorts, working to perspiration throwing a variety of passes to Jerricho Cotchery. There was a bit more of a crowd on the field than there are when you see those solitary Peyton Manning/Marvin Harrison pregame sessions in the RCA Dome, but the impression is similar.

Atlanta came north without Michael Vick, of course, and there was no early evidence of any sign-holders outside the stadium preparing to protest the quarterback, who's been charged with running a dog-fighting ring and is not participating in the Falcons' camp, in absentia.

But John Abraham is back in his former East Rutherford "office" of his first five NFL seasons. Abe was schmoozing with Shaun Ellis and Bryan Thomas before going through his warmup routine prior to his probable series or two trying to sack Pennington in earnest before he and the first-teamers retire for the evening.

Also on the field, more than two hours before the game: the New York Jets Flight Crew, brushing up on some of their routines before they make their debut closer to kickoff. Remember that they'll be in their warmup gear for this game and a week from tonight vs. Minnesota before they don their new uniforms for the season opener against New England.

My plan for tonight is to provide live blog items throughout the game and after the postgame locker room session. We're going to try a few different approaches this preseason and see what you like. Tonight I'll be constantly updating one long entry, separating the quarters by subheads. In the coming weeks we'll try separate blogs by halves and then by quarters and see if they are more or less popular in the Green blogosphere.

We're about 25 minutes from the Jets' kickoff to the 2007 preseason schedule. Talk to you soon.

First Quarter

We're off and running, and for my first in-game blog observation, I would be remiss if I didn't mention Mike Nugent's opening kickoff. His minicamp and training camp KOs did not seem to be a mirage. Nugent angled his kick nicely, bouncing it at the 1 and through the end zone. Hopefully the first of many touchbacks to come.

The Jets offense took over after Leon Washington allowed a Michael Koenen punt to go over his head for a touchback. And that meant it was Thomas Jones time.

The muscular tailback made his Jets debut and coordinator Brian Schottenheimer put No. 20 to work immediately. The Green & White's first play was a handoff to T.J., who bounced it outside for a 5-yard gain. He carried the next three plays as well. But after one first down, the Jets broke out a third-and-5 package that featured Brad Smith as the shotgun QB handing off to Leon Washington, who was smothered for a 4-yard loss. First drive: five plays, one first down, no passes, and a hang-'em-high Ben Graham punt.

One of the highlights of the Jets' second offensive possession was No. 66. Pete Kendall, who started the game riding the bike on the sideline while Adrien Clarke started at LG, was in for the second series. And Kendall blocked Falcons under tackle Jonathan Babineaux on successive Jones runs, the first of which got another first down. But for the second straight drive, the best thing was the way it ended, with another inside-the-20 punt by Graham and his cover team.

What about the defense? Eric Barton was flying. The linebacker put a hit on Joey Harrington in the pocket on the Falcons' first drive. And he had a couple of fine fly-to-the-ball tackles on the third possession. But then Harrington picked on Kerry Rhodes on two big plays and Jerious Norwood busted through a hole when Atlanta C Todd McClure neutralized NT Dewayne Robertson. In the last minute of the first quarter, it was Falcons, 7-0.

Second Quarter

Then it was deja vu all over again. Remember Leon Washington's first big play as a Jet. It came in the second preseason game last year, when he answered the Redskins' second-quarter touchdown with an 87-yard kickoff return TD. Well, Leon answered the bell again. After several minus plays at tailback and on punt returns, L.W. busted an 86-yard return to the Falcons' 8.

Kellen Clemens came in and led the Green & White on a tying 8-yard TD drive. Jones scored it after a fade pass from Clemens to Brad Smith — a play the Jets have been working on meticulously all camp — drew an end zone pass interference. And in case it sounded as if there wasn't much passing for the Jets, well, there wasn't. Pennington left the game after two drives without having thrown a pass. And Clemens' one pass was nullified by penalty, so heading toward the midway point of the second quarter, the Jets had no passes and no passing yards but a 7-7 tie.

The second units came in from here, and Jets fans were treated to the first stick by their second-round pick. LB David Harris, showing the combination of quickness and hard hitting that has been on display in Hempstead, closed quickly on WR Laurent Robinson in the open field, holding the Falcons' pass play to 3 yards. 

Leon continues to electrify, this time with a 28-yard KO return to the Jets 37, then an 8-yard run for a first down, showing some exciting micro-cuts that seem even crisper than he was at his crispest last year.

Brad Smith, the third Jets QB in four drives, also looked good — when he was tucking the ball and running. He did that twice for 17 yards. But he seemed to have trouble finding receivers, because both runs came off of scrambles. And then there was some punt-team trickery with Smith as the upback getting the snap and not able to find Stacy Tutt before he was hit and the ball fluttered incomplete.

The Green & White's first completion of the night was a Clemens air-out to Justin McCareins for 42 yards. A flag was thrown, and first impression was that McCareins pushed off. But on the replay, it appeared that Falcons CB Allen Rossum drifted into McCareins briefly, and the flag was on him, so the catch stood.

K.C. continued his hot hand with four more completions, including the scoring dart to TE Sean Ryan after the two-minute warning. The initial call was incomplete, but the officials reversed after a huddle to a TD. Then because the play came after the two-minute warning, a review was called from the booth. Ref Terry McAulay, wasting no time even with the new HDTV replays ordered by the NFL, announced the play stood and the Jets had their first lead of the 2007 season at 14-10.

Of passing interest: The replay official for this game is Earnie Frantz. You may remember Earnie as the official who signaled touchdown on Vinny Testaverde's last-minute, fourth-down keeper toward the same West end zone that beat Seattle, 32-31, late in the 1998 regular season.

Third Quarter

Before Brad Smith took the third-quarter kickoff for 46 yards, the first-half stats came out. The Jets lead, 14-13, despite being outgained from scrimmage, 207 yards to 138. This is nothing new. The Green & White has had fewer yards in 17 of their last 18 preseason games. And their record in those games was 12-6.

Thomas Jones ended his night with eight carries for 27 yards and a touchdown. His 3.4 yards per carry weren't far off from his 4.0 career average or his 3.9 career preseason average. And Chad Pennington had a 0-for-0 passing game. This was the first game in 90 games as a Jet (60 RS, 5 playoffs, 25 preseason) that Chad had no completions in a game, whether starting or coming off the bench.

Chansi Stuckey showed his stuff on the opening drive of the second half. Kellen Clemens continued to QB and led the offense half the field to a perfect end zone throw for Stuckey, who was being guarded by rookie CB Tony Franklin, who had his back to the former Clemson WR the whole time. Stuckey plucked the ball away from Franklin for the score that made it 21-13.

Earlier in that drive, Pete Kendall threw another good block that helped spring Leon Washington on a 25-yard run on third-and-18.

C.J. Mosley made his most visible play of the summer when the DT moved in on rookie RB Jason Snelling after a screen from Falcons QB Chris Redman for a 4-yard loss. Also in on the tackle: David Harris, who's looking early on like he belongs up here.

Clemens has been on fire since the Green & White Game last Sunday. He hit 14 of his first 16 throws, with No. 14 a big-time play, letting it fly while being crushed in the pocket. Waiting all alone in the end zone for the on-target throw was Sean Ryan, who came up with his second TD pass of the game, thought about spiking the ball, then handed it to the back judge. That put the Jets up, 28-13, which is the score they took into the fourth quarter

We started brainstorming who was the last Jets TE to catch two TD passes in a preseason game. Could've been Johnny Mitchell, Jerome Barkum ... records are elusive. But Ryan is the first Jet player to have TD catches since Leon Johnson as a rookie vs. Baltimore in 1997. Here is the list of Jets preseason two-TD scorers since 1992:

Fourth Quarter

Danny Ware made a little bit like Leon Washington when he darted this way and that and burst into the second level for a 26-yard run. On the same drive, Clemens, still in the game, continued to stand in the pocket. Under heavy pressure up the gut by DE Nic Clemons, Clemens put a ball in the vicinity of WR Frisman Jackson, who made the circus catch by controlling the ball as he landed on his back for a 20-yard gainer.

Nugent, who missed a 52-yard field goal try wide left toward the East end zone in the third, converted from 29 yards midway through the fourth to put the Jets up, 31-16. And his six kickoffs went for a touchback, 1 yard deep, to the 4, 7 and 3, then 1 yard deep again.

With the corner position in need of fortification, two Jets backups came up with second-half plays. Drew Coleman had the deflected interception that started the Jets' fourth TD possession. And Manny Collins, the former Rutgers CB who was signed early in camp but has looked comfortable, made a nice open-field tackle.

With Marques Tuiasosopo finally coming in as the Jets' fourth QB with six minutes to go, Clemens' final line was announced: 16-for-22 for 174 yards and three TDs, all of which totes out to a 135.2 passer rating. Fine night for last year's second-rounder.

I'm going to leave my post and head down to the locker room. I'll return with a postgame wrapup as soon as I can get back upstairs. I'll leave you with this halftime quote from Atlanta DE John Abraham:

"It was nice coming back to my old house. It was good seeing some of my old teammates. But tonight was like any other game. The Jets caught us off guard at first because they were running the no-huddle and running the ball with Thomas Jones. We didn't really get to see what our pass rush looked like. But we didn't give up any big plays, so we have to be happy about that."