CORTLAND, N.Y. -- The New York Jets reported for training camp with high hopes -- and without perhaps their best player.
All-Pro cornerback Darrelle Revis is holding out while locked in a contract dispute with the team. And there's no telling how long he might stay away.
"Darrelle and his family were extremely deliberate with the decision-making process," Revis' agent, Neil Schwartz, told The Associated Press on Sunday. "Obviously his actions speak far louder than words."
Revis didn't show for a conditioning test Sunday morning at the Jets' training facility in Florham Park, N.J., and officially became a holdout when he missed the team's first meeting at 5:30 p.m. in Cortland.
Not good news for a team with its sights set on a Super Bowl.
Schwartz and agent Jon Feinsod said both sides worked until the last minute to get something done. General manager Mike Tannenbaum said the Jets offered long-term and short-term deals, and a face-to-face meeting, and all three were denied.
"The lines of communication are open, and we remain committed to finding a solution that makes sense for him and makes sense for us," Tannenbaum said. "The two things that we've all agreed upon is that Darrelle has outplayed his contract and it needed to be addressed, and he has three years to go on his contract."
Said quarterback Mark Sanchez: "Revis is doing what he feels he needs to do, and the team is going to do what they feel they need to do. Other than that, I don't know too many details about it. We'd love to get him back as soon as possible."
Revis is set to make $1 million in the fourth year of his six-year rookie deal, making him one of the lowest-paid defensive backs on the team this season. He wants to be the NFL's highest-paid cornerback, a distinction that belongs to Oakland's Nnamdi Asomugha, who signed a three-year, $45.3 million extension last offseason.
Tannenbaum, saying he's "an eternal optimist," added that the main disagreement between the sides is in total compensation.
"That is the threshold issue we have," he said.
By holding out, Revis will be fined $16,523 for each day he's not with the team and waived a clause in his contract that would have guaranteed him $20 million over the last two years of his deal.
"He's a great player, the best corner I've ever been around," coach Rex Ryan said. "So, certainly, I'm disappointed. I really thought, in my heart, he would be signed by now and we wouldn't be having these conversations."
Revis said in May that both Tannenbaum and Ryan told him they believe he should be the league's highest-paid cornerback. After all, Revis was coming off a season in which he routinely handled opponents' top receivers and finished second in NFL Defensive Player of the Year voting. Revis also said the Jets promised him that his contract situation would be taken care of by training camp.
Revis sat out a few plays in minicamp, saying he was lightheaded at the time, but the negotiations also played a role in him sitting.
In his absence, first-round pick Kyle Wilson -- who signed a five-year, $13 million deal late Saturday night -- will see time with the first-team defense, along with Antonio Cromartie and Dwight Lowery.
"I think we have three solid guys here, and some other guys who can step up and fill in for his loss," defensive tackle Kris Jenkins said. "You have to understand, he's a great player and a player of that magnitude, he will be missed. But, we have some great guys backing him up and they're going to do what they have to do."
All-Pro center Nick Mangold also is looking for a contract extension, but unlike Revis, he showed up on time for camp.
"We decided it would be best for me to be in camp," Mangold said. "That's the decision we made, and we're moving forward."
Mangold is making $3.3 million entering the final year of his rookie deal. He said he wasn't bothered to hear that both Ryan and Tannenbaum recently were given contract extensions while he waits for his.
"They're working down the totem pole and they'll get to me in a couple of years, I guess," Mangold said with a laugh. "You don't try to read too much into it because then you become paranoid."
Also Sunday, the Jets' fourth-round draft pick, running back Joe McKnight, passed a conditioning test that he initially failed.
Wide receiver Santonio Holmes was given a later mandatory report date of Wednesday so he can attend to a family matter. Holmes wrote on this Twitter page this week that his son was in the hospital, but it was uncertain if that was the reason for the delay.
Meanwhile, Jenkins (hamstring) and backup quarterback Kellen Clemens (calf) were placed on the active physically unable to perform list. Both downplayed the injuries and said they would be OK.
"This is how the quarterback position breaks down in my opinion right now," Clemens said, "If your name is Mark, you're safe. If your name isn't Mark, then who knows?"
Copyright 2010 by The Associated Press
