08/04 — Chris Baker had no idea he was going to practice this morning. He got up early, moved to Weeb Ewbank Hall, then received the change of schedule.

“The last two weeks I’ve been coming over here at 6:30 in the morning. I spoke to the guys and they said, ‘OK, you’re up today.’ And I said, ‘OK, let’s go.’ ”

Baker, who hadn’t worn pads since last December, had been slowed by a back injury. But the 6’3”, 258-pounder was happy to get the green light as he made his practice debut.

“They wouldn’t let me back out here if I wasn’t in shape. It’s just different getting on the field and getting the pads on again,” he said.

In addition to Baker’s on-field arrival, veteran WR Laveranues Coles (thigh) returned to practice after missing a few days of action. Linebackers David Harris and Jason Trusnik were joined by RB Jesse Chatman on the sideline as strength and conditioning coach Sal Alosi put them through a workout.

After a couple of weeks with Alosi, Baker feels he’s in tip-top shape for the rigors of camp. He credited the Jets’ strength team for helping him with his core and his flexibility.

“It’s focus work but it’s something I needed — to strengthen my core and things like that," he said. "It’s tedious, but at the same time it was a necessary thing. I’m glad I did it and I feel a lot better. It’s probably the most flexible I’ve ever been in my career, so that’s a really good thing for me.”

After expressing his displeasure with his contract in the spring, Baker said his mind is entirely focused on football. It was a reiteration of his statements on day one of camp.

“I’m not going to talk about the contract today,” he said. “I’ll let my people and [Jets management] handle that, so I’m just working on getting back on the field.”

With Baker in the fold, the Jets have an interesting quartet at tight end. Rookie Dustin Keller, who took a ton of reps in this morning's session and continues to impress; veteran Bubba Franks, and third-year pro Jason Pociask give the Jets more versatility at the position than they’ve had in quite some time.

“We have the ability to run two and three tight ends,” Bake said. “It’s really a good group of guys we have, guys who can bring a lot of different things to the offense, and I think it’s going to be a lot of fun.”

The familiarity with OC Brian Schottenheimer’s complex system is a big plus for Baker. He missed 13 practices, but there is still more than a month before the regular season commences.

“I am fortunate that this is my third year in the offense. We’ve added a few wrinkles, but I’ve been through that process the last two years,” he said. “I feel real good with the offense and where it’s at, and I’m just trying to expand some of the things I can do for the team.”

Practice Thoughts

In 7-on-7 action, S Kerry Rhodes made a terrific read of a Chad Pennington pass intended for Keller. The instinctive Rhodes deftly made the pass breakup and received congratulations from his defensive teammates. Moments later in team action, Rhodes once again disrupted a Penny-to-Keller connection. What a smooth, instinctive player, and Rhodes is oh so fun to watch.

CB Dwight Lowery is going to be a good pro corner, but he read inside on a David Clowney pattern and Kellen Clemens took advantage. Clowney got too much room up the sideline, Clemens threw a pretty long spiral and the result was a beautiful 40-yard TD pass. ... Clemens also made a nice read on a defensive pressure, finding Keller on a hot route, and the TE raced downfield for a would-be score.

Pennington went to WR Wallace Wright in team and it appeared they were going to be celebrating a long-distance connection. But Wright, perhaps bothered a bit by CB David Barrett, couldn’t haul in the pass that went through his hands. ... Kenwin Cummings isn’t going to grab any headlines, but the rookie OLB from Wingate has a knack for being around the ball and shared a would-be sack of Erik Ainge with DT C.J. Mosley.

Clemens avoided a David Bowens pressure and threw a good toss to Chansi Stuckey. Stuck leaped and came up with the reception for a nice gainer. ... The man most benefiting from Chatman’s absence? That would be Musa Smith, as the former Raven gets a lot of work with the reserves. ... As we stated before, LC was in full pads but he was limited and did not see many reps in team.

When people evaluate Pennington, they don’t often give him his due in respect to ball handling. It’s something he’s worked hard on during his career and he’s become a master at it. On two occasions, he helped set up long ground pickups with his play action. Defenders get so used to his ball fakes that perhaps they start to backpedal instead of recognizing run. Both Jones and Leon Washington had long runs in team as Penny gave them the ball and then continued his drop.

Closing Situation

Head coach Eric Mangini is preparing these guys for everything.

At the close of today’s 2-hour, 8-minute practice, he gave the offense the ball at its own 1-yard-line with 2:15 on the clock and a 26-20 advantage against the defense, which had three timeouts remaining.

Pennington, who again worked with the ones, gave the ball to TJ on first down for a couple. The two-minute warning followed and Schotty then caught the defense by surprise, running up the gut with veteran FB Tony Richardson for a first down. The defense eventually held after three consecutive runs, brining Ben Graham on for a punt with a minute remaining.

Kevin O’ Dea’s coverage team didn’t let Leon Washington get loose and Clemens came on the field with 47 seconds left. Down six and with the ball at his 35, he needed a touchdown to win and he had no timeouts left. On second down, Clemens forced a ball into Wright and CB Drew Coleman came up with the pick to end practice.

That’s a great drill for everyone. The first offense attempts to get a first down and kill the clock, and the first defense strives to pin the O deep and preserve time. Then the second-team offense has to go in major hurryup/desperation mode (no need to harp on Clemens’ pick because he was trying to make something happen when the defense knows what’s coming) while the second defense just had to close the door.