07/30 — Eric Mangini had several housekeeping items at the top of his daily news conference today as usual, but one of those notes was a very important and heartfelt one for the Jets head coach and his family.

Tonight in Hartford, Conn., Mangini's hometown, his family is hosting the Carmine Mangini Memorial Picnic at St. Elizabeth House. That's the transitional housing facility that Eric's late father did a lot of work with more than two decades ago.

"The reason it's today is it's the anniversary of his passing," said Mangini, who lost his dad 21 years ago. "In talking to my mother about it, it's always a tough day for her and the family, but my thinking is it's a celebration of his life, not his passing. What better way to celebrate than to get the family together and do something for other people?"

Mangini explained some of the things that Carmine used to do for St. Elizabeth House.

"He used to get together with guys from his office. They'd go over and put on these cookouts in the summer for the residents at the facility," he said. "It was something I got involved in — I was young at the time but I helped him bring stuff over for the cookout. He'd put together clothing drives, toiletry, socks, just different things the shelter needed."

Mangini won't be there in person — he's got to prepare the Jets for the two-a-day training camp practices scheduled for Thursday at Hofstra — but his presence will be felt, especially if any of the 100 or so in attendance stood next to the industrial-strength four-burner grill that the coach just purchased for the facility.

"Eric bought us a new grill, so I'm assuming we're having hamburgers and hotdogs," said Sister Pat McKeon, a Sister of Mercy and the executive director of the Mercy Housing and Shelter Corp. that runs the St. Elizabeth House program. "We've been using half-barrels to cook for years. Now we've got this gorgeous gas grill that will cook 42 hamburgers at a time. It's a good one."

Sister Pat has read the stories that Eric Mangini has told, on newyorkjets.com and elsewhere, about how much of what he does as a football coach was informed by what his father taught him. And it struck her that much of what St. Elizabeth House does as a calling is similar to what Mangini does for a living.

"A lot of what we do is really coaching people out of homelessness," she said. "Folks have to be ready to do the hard work. We call our staff recovery specialists, but we could call them recovery coaches just as easily."

Mangini encourages everyone to pitch in and become a recovery coach.

"We don't have anything set up where people could donate items, but if you just remember those people in need, help them out, even if it's something small," Mangini said. "There's a pretty dramatic difference between where a lot of us are and where a lot of other people are in terms of their luck and their situation. In honor of my dad, if you can help someone else, that would mean a lot to me personally."

Leon Washington's "Day Off"

It was a tough transition for Mangini from talking about his commitment to his father to talking about the developments on his team, but he talked about football matters as well at the top of his news conference.

One news item: Leon Washington won't be practicing today. No, Leon's fine, but as the Jets' overall off-season award winner, he earned his "certificate" from Mangini to take one camp practice off, and that practice is today, just as D'Brickashaw Ferguson's off day for taking the strength award was Tuesday.

"Leon was able to distinguish himself in what I think was our most competitive off-season," Mangini said. "You try to have a competitive element in everything you do. For him to stand out the way he did in the off-season, I think it's a very good indication and reason why you're seeing him have the camp he's having. I think he's having an outstanding camp so far."

Versatile Burgess

Rudy Burgess, who was a WR when he was cut by the Chiefs, will be looked at as a defensive back with the Jets. That's not a crazy stretch because Burgess did it all at Arizona State, as we mentioned in Tuesday's late transaction blog.

"Rudy's got good speed, good transition, good strength," the coach said. "He's played more receiver than defensive back, but I wanted to look at him there from more of a versatility perspective. Is this a player who can play on teams, give you some depth on offense and defense? That gives him the best chance to make the team, to have that multiple role. In the preseason games we can possibly do both with him."