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Teague likely to miss camp with broken ankle


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Jet Teague likely to miss camp with broken left ankle

By Len Pasquarelli

ESPN.com

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Veteran offensive lineman

Trey Teague, who signed a two-year contract with the New York Jets as an unrestricted free agent in April and was projected as the team's starting center, will likely miss the opening of training camp and perhaps the start of the season with a broken left ankle, ESPN.com has learned.

The injury occurred last week, during an organized team activities (OTA) session, when a teammate fell on Teague's lower left leg. First-year coach Eric Mangini acknowledged Thursday that Teague had a left leg injury and that he would miss the three-day minicamp that concludes Saturday, but team officials did not divulge the seriousness of the situation.

With Teague sidelined, rookie Nick Mangold of Ohio State, the latter of the Jets' two first-round choices two months ago, worked with the first-unit offense the first two days of minicamp. Universally regarded as the top center prospect in this year's draft, Mangold could join fellow first-rounder D'Brickashaw Ferguson in the starting lineup. The former University of Virginia star and the fourth player chosen overall this year, Ferguson has been working as the No. 1 left tackle.

Jets officials indicated when they selected Ferguson that he would be an immediate starter. The consensus on Mangold was that he might need a little longer to move into the lineup and that Teague would provide a veteran, stabilizing influence for the interior of the line for a year or two. The Jets in March released six-time Pro Bowl center Kevin Mawae, who subsequently signed with Tennessee, for salary cap purposes.

The other projected starters on the offensive line are left guard Pete Kendall, right guard Brandon Moore and right tackle Adrian Jones. Having two rookies among the starting offensive linemen is rare in the NFL, but Ferguson and Mangold were the highest-graded players in this year's draft at their respective positions.

Mangold was a three-year starter at Ohio State, an excellent technical blocker and solid athlete. Some scouts rated him the second-best overall line prospect, behind only Ferguson, in the 2006 draft pool.

The heretofore durable Teague started at center for the Buffalo Bills in each of the past four seasons. His addition in April was seen as a major step toward solidifying a blocking unit in flux. Teague, 31, is a tough interior blocker, a solid technician and a savvy player who can make all of the blocking calls on the line.

In his four seasons with the Bills, the eight-year veteran missed only four starts, all in '04 when he suffered a strained left knee. A former University of Tennessee star, Teague entered the league as a seventh-round choice of the Denver Broncos in the 1998 draft. He began his career as a left tackle, but injuries limited him to just 18 games and four starts in his first three seasons. Teague finally earned a spot in the lineup in 2001, starting all 16 games at left tackle, and then signed with the Bills as a free agent in the spring of 2002.

For his career, Teague has appeared in 94 games and started 80 of them.

Len Pasquarelli is a senior NFL writer for ESPN.com.

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Mangold was a three-year starter at Ohio State, an excellent technical blocker and solid athlete. Some scouts rated him the second-best overall line prospect, behind only Ferguson, in the 2006 draft pool.

You MUST love this. The two top (possibly) rated linemen in the same draft!

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You MUST love this. The two top (possibly) rated linemen in the same draft!

what are you talking about??? Don't you know we could've used the picks on a hollywood qb who's arm is no better than pennington's and a fat runningback with an attitude problem...they don't need Olinemen!

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He learned from Mumbles, all right.
Ya think? Hope so. I really don't need to know how he's doing in June anyway. That's just me, tho. Never had a problem with the Tuna Helpers shooing the media away. They can't help us on sunday anyway.
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Tough break losing Teague's veteranship but I've wanted Mangold to start at Center and have Teague be the guy whose backing up and teaching Mangold along the way so this should help that progress indeed.

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Wally Pipp comes to mind for me-I want to see what the kids can do right away.I've always been a firm believer in learning on the job,I've always done it as a musician.How about Adrian Jones having a year at LT going over to the right side-that's gotta help and Pete Kendall brings the Mawae-type veteran smarts AND more importantly leadership back with him.Brandon Moore is the one guy I'm not crazy about but who knows maybe we'll be alright with him at guard.I'm excited about the kids we drafted Nick and D'Brick

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Mangold was a three-year starter at Ohio State, an excellent technical blocker and solid athlete. Some scouts rated him the second-best overall line prospect, behind only Ferguson, in the 2006 draft pool.

You MUST love this. The two top (possibly) rated linemen in the same draft!

Commitment to Excellence! The last time an NFL team drafted the highest rated OT and the highest rated C was two years ago when the Raiders drafted OT Robert Gallery, the highest rated OT, 4th overall and then drafted C Jake Grove the highest rated center with their second pick in that draft.

Raider fans LOVED it, then hung Davis in effigy for passing on Ben Roethlisberger because he had solved his QB problem by signing free agent Kerry Collins. Jets sign Patrick Ramsey before the draft enabling them to solve their QB problem and pass on Matt Leinart. Looks like Tangini is following the Al Davis model, not the Bill Bellichek model. Lets see what Matt Leinart does before crowning this Raider like draft a success.

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So far, I love what Mangini has done. This reminds me of the Soviet Union stating their President had a cold and a few days later he was dead.

LOL it IS quite a change -for the better from the idiot we had last year.I'll never get over seeing him IN THE FRIGGIN PAPERS declare what our main objective was going to be henceforth;"we're gonna try and get Curtis his thousand yards"why not just fax over the gameplans on Friday nights-idiot

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