08/14 — The Jets celebrated as if Mike Nugent had kicked a game-winning field goal.

And while Nugent didn’t actually win a game, his 48-yard make at the end of today's session meant no meetings and no curfew for the players tonight. They jumped and danced, hooted and hollered, and exited the premises just as quickly as they could.

Head coach Eric Mangini was in a giving mood because he gave the guys a second chance. He presented three challenges: one of the QBs had to hit the upright with a throw from the 25-yard line; P Ben Graham, stationed at the 30, was asked to get his punt to die inside the 10 without assistance, and Nugent was required to nail a 38-yarder.

If there was one success — no meetings. If there were two triumphs — no curfew. But the Jets came up empty and fortunately Mangini gave Nugent an all-or-nothing boot. With these players downright sick of the dorms and praying for a free night, the pressure almost paralleled an overtime kick in the regular season.

Redemption was sweet and few cars remain in the parking lot as I write early this evening.

“Now I can go hang out. I’m probably going to go see my cousins,” said DE Mike DeVito. “They live down the street [Babylon, N.Y.], so I’ll go see my cousin Joey and hang out in the pool. Hopefully it will stay nice out.” (Unfortunately for DeVito, it just rained something crazy out here.)

DeVito, a 6’3”, 298-pounder in his second season from Maine, has quietly lined up with the first team for a number of practices at left defensive end. Veteran Shaun Ellis is on the mend with a hand injury, so DeVito is getting valuable reps next to NT Kris Jenkins.

“If Shaun wasn’t hurt, he’d be playing against the first team and I’d be playing against the second and third team,” DeVito said. “Then when I’d go in during the regular season, I’d be going against the first team and it’s quite a difference sometimes. It’s nice getting those reps now, getting used to it so when they do need me during the regular season, I can come in and be ready and play at the level.”

A high-motor lineman who was signed by the Jets as an undrafted free agent, DeVito played in seven games in 2007. He finished with 11 tackles, seeing action down the stretch. Now in his second pro camp, he is participating at both LDE and RDE.

“It’s like batting lefty, kind of — not the same extreme but it’s still different,” he said of lining up on the right side. “The blocks are coming from a different angle, so you have to get used to reacting to them in a different way. It’s coming and I feel like I’m getting better at it.”

For his off-season performance, DeVito was voted "Iron Jet." The players were required to vote for a teammate they would want to lift with and DeVito collected the most tallies.

“I’m very honored to have that. The weightroom is how I get it done out here,” he said. “My strength is my asset. If I wasn’t strong, I wouldn’t be able to play. All my game is through power and strength, so I need to be in the weightroom.”

DeVito’s squat of 700 pounds led all D-linemen, but he also worked different areas during the spring.

“My biggest things were my flexibility and my agility, my side-to-side speed and a lot of the running stuff,” he said. “ Most of it was focused on the running and the agility and helping me become a better pass rusher. That’s one of my weakest things out here and in the weightroom Sal [Alosi] helped me out a lot with my hips, side-to-side movement and change-of-direction stuff.”

Like many other players we’ve heard from this summer, DeVito bought into Alosi’s program. He put in the work and he’s seeing the results.

Alosi, DeVito said, “has the whole program down. He just has every aspect of it figured out from the stretching to the soft tissue to the hardcore weights to the chains and the resistance. He’s a great strength coach and I’m very, very grateful to have him as a coach.”

Practice Notes

Brett Favre didn’t throw a lot today and his longest pass was actually picked off by Kerry Rhodes. “That doesn’t count. It wasn’t a game,” said the playmaking safety. … The catch of the day goes to Dustin Keller. Thee rookie TE made a diving grab near the boundary on a strong across-the-field throw from No. 4.

QB Erik Ainge, who saw his most work of the summer, completed a short ball to WR Paul Raymond (the scout team’s Santana Moss) and the rookie took it the distance. … Darrelle Revis is as physical a corner as you’ll see and he made a great support play after Favre dumped a short toss to Thomas Jones.

Rookie WR Marcus Henry took the field again and made a couple of catches. ... Kris Jenkins ran a lap after jumping too early on a snap to Ainge. It appeared Big Jenks was hungry for a QB dinner.

Kellen Clemens found a tight window to hit David Clowney for a TD, but he also threw a poor one intended for Wallace Wright that was picked by Ahmad Carroll. ... The Jets will hold a closed walkthrough Friday and then will host the Washington Redskins Saturday night at the Meadowlands.