Leon Washington is back with the Jets, but he couldn’t be at today’s OTA. Washington was instead at his fiance’s side for the birth of Noel, a little boy whose name is Leon spelled backwards.

On the field, rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez said he felt this was his best practice as a Jet. There weren’t a lot of terrific long passes thrown, but there weren’t a lot of mistakes, either. From either quarterback. Kellen Clemens, whose wife went into labor at the end of last Thursday’s OTA, had a little more success with the short passing game.

“I’m right where I want to be right now,” Clemens said. “When we first started offseason workouts I planned out where I wanted to be and the necessary steps to get there. I am right on pace right now. I will continue to work until the end of minicamp and then I have a separate plan for those few weeks off. I think things are looking good for me and for the team. We are moving in a very good direction.”

Once Clemens was in the shower after practice, Sanchez snuck a Gymboree gift box into the other QB’s locker.

RB Thomas Jones was on the field but didn’t come into the locker room for the second straight week. A fellow member of the offense said it was because he probably didn’t want to answer the same questions over and over.

Jones looked strong in practice, pounding the ball up the middle or slipping through the gaps. Rookie RB Shonn Green had his moments as well and impressed coach Rex Ryan, but once attempted a fake that didn’t work and prompted LB Bart Scott to say, “Just send a text message, Rook!”

Scott talked up Ryan’s style of coaching, saying it allowed a player to be himself on the field.

“You can’t have someone that says you can’t celebrate and you can’t be happy or talk trash,” Scott said. “Whatever you do, do it. (Rex Ryan) gives us the environment to do that. Everyone here is from different places so you should embrace the different personalities. Nobody wants to be a robot.”

He had a funny response when asked if that meant he wouldn’t play for former Jets coach Eric Mangini. He said a no comment and then added that we all knew what he meant.

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That clip would prove, in any court of law, that Scott is smarter than any one who covers him.

LB David Harris, who had stitches in his lip and some dentistry to save his teeth after being hit in the mouth by Jim Leonhard’s helmet last week, was not at practice. (Harris was on the sideline last week, out of the play.) Ryan said that Harris wouldn’t be in any contact situations for a few weeks.

Yesterday’s obligatory collision was when Ahmad Carroll ran over DB coach Dennis Thurman guarding a wide out during a route drill. Thurman stumbled over and then did an ultra dramatic flop, showing his sense of humor was intact, and probably the rest of him as well.

Lastly, those of you who follow Jay Feely on Twitter know what an avid golfer he is. Alas, Feely did not win the Jets annual golf outing on Tuesday and claims that poor putting cost his foursome. I talked to Nick Mangold, who witnessed the whole thing, to ask if Feely could survive on the roster after such a defeat.

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Mangold, whose group also beat Feely, said that lucky for the kicker, the biggest trash talkers weren’t at the tournament.

Lastly, David Clowney is having a football camp in Florida this weekend. A lot of his friends from the Jets will be there to support him. The wide receiver said he’s doing it so that kids where he grew up can have opportunities he never got.

Update: Jets waive DT/LS Anthony Harris.