Rookie quarterback Mark Sanchez and the Jets agreed to terms on a contract, something that both parties have stated they wanted to do well before the possibility of a training camp holdout came up. Terms of the deal weren’t immediately available, but the Daily News reports the deal is for five years, with $28 million in guarantees.

That is a lot of money for the rookie. Sanchez was the fifth overall pick of the draft, and is currently competing with Kellen Clemens (who makes a heck of a lot less, with $445,000 in base pay last season) for the starting spot.

The Jets aren’t paying Sanchez that much to sit. Even if Clemens wins the starting job (which he he would if tomorrow was the start of the NFL season) there is no job security with such a highly compensated backup. Those numbers alter this competition.

News of the contract came after the Jets player availability window between the morning and afternoon practices. But Sanchez did address today’s practice.

“I felt like I took command in the no-huddle situation,” Sanchez said. “We did a lot with personnel changes today and we looked good. The balls were there. We will clean up some things and improve everyday. I missed Wallace (Wright) on a deep comeback that I should have got him on. I let it go a little early, but it was a good route and I will get him next time. Guys are making great plays and the offensive line is doing really well.”

Sanchez said the rookies will be around next week as well while the veterans are heading out this Thursday for a break before training camp begins.

The Jets made a few other moves today, including resigning punter Reggie Hodges and cutting Eric Wilbur, a rookie from Florida signed as a free agent.

Meet Jets coach Rex Ryan this Sunday at Nassau Coliseum at the Nassau County Spring Family Festival from 1 to 6 p.m. The caveat: you will have to listen to a pitch about Verizon since Ryan will be at the Verizon booth.

Rex Ryan may have only been the Jets coach for a few months, but he is wasting no time putting an imprint on his new team.

He brought along linebacker Bart Scott, whose acerbic comments can be heard half a football field away. Practice is louder and bolder, and in the locker room players – thankfully for scribes like us – aren’t nearly as guarded with their words.

Neither is Ryan.

Last week he said he wouldn’t be kissing New England coach Bill Belichick’s Super Bowl rings. Today he responded to linebacker Channing Crowder’s reaction that Ryan was “going absolutely nuts.”

“I don’t know this Channing Crowder,” Ryan said. “All I know is that he’s all tatted up so I guess I ought to be nervous about him. He’s right about one thing. I’m a first-time head coach, but I’ve been around the game all my life. I’m no different than I’ve ever been, it’s just that more people are listening.”

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If you want to know where Ryan gets his candor, look no farther than his father, former Jets coach Buddy Ryan. The football patriarch was on site as his son led the first mandatory minicamp of his head coaching career followed his son to the podium to talk about what he saw. Buddy Ryan, now 75, was particularly impressed with the Jets offensive and defensive lines and said you nearly “guarantee yourself a Super Bowl if they stay healthy.”

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Getting back to the Jets coach, Ryan said he was just leading in the style that suited him, and had a lot of confidence in his team. He said if that if his was of expressing himself bothered anyone like Crowder, who sarcasticly told the South Florida Sun Sentinel that Ryan was the OTA Super Bowl winner, that was too bad.

“I think he’s wrong,” Ryan said. “I think You do win in June. You win with your preparation. If I was younger, I’d probably handle him myself. He’s a good player and all that kind of stuff and it is fun to ruffle some feathers. I’ve got no problem doing that. I’m confident in our football team. I’m confident in myself, the players, the coaches and the entire organization. That’s why I say the things I say. I make no apologies for any of those types of things.”

In Ryan’s very first press conference he made an allusion to the Super Bowl, and has said he believes you have to develop that kind of mindset. And Ryan leads by example.

“He wears his emotion on his sleeve and it’s good for us,” S Kerry Rhodes said.

“He let’s us know that we shouldn’t be afraid of saying what we want and that’s to win a Super Bowl,” first-round pick QB Mark Sanchez said. “It’s my first year and they’ve already ingrained that in me.”

In this audio clip, Sanchez answers that question posed by ESPN’s own Sal Paolantonio.

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In other news: If Wallace Wright was the unofficial offensive player of the day, then Eric Smith was the unofficial defensive player of the day. The safety had three interceptions today working with the second team defense. Bart Scott intercepted a Kellen Clemens pass, which is likely to only make him more swaggerlicious as this minicamp goes along. (That’s Ryan’s term btw, not mine.)

Unofficial stats, Clemens was 4-for-10 in the second practice and Sanchez was 8-for-15, both with an interception. It was a good day for Sanchez, although Clemens had a beautiful touchdown pass to Jerricho Cotchery in the middle of the end zone.

Keep reading below for the detailed a.m. practice report, where visiting Buddy Ryan made a Namathian prediction about the upcoming season. Yes, we have audio of that. Afternoon practice is open to the public. And now, your p.m. practice…

That’s it for the pm practice. Sanchez gets a rep with the first team and completes pass to Thomas Jones. Kellen TD pass to Cotchery. #NFL

Bart Scott intercepts Clemens and then Eric Smith gets his third INT of the day getting between Sanchez and Clowney. #NFL

J’Nathan Bullock made the catch of the day off Pizzotti. One-handed, onto his body in the end zone. #NFL He’s got ups.

Watching the Jets wides. Wallace Wright and Brad Smith have looked good. Clowney needs to make up some ground. #NFL

About to head out to the outdoor turf field for the p.m. Jets practice at Florham Park. This one is open to the public. #NFL

After making a few really beautiful catches in practice, including a 15-yard slant from Mark Sanchez, the Jets chanted wide receiver Wallace Wright’s name. It was a good start for Wright, who is competing with David Clowney, Chansi Stuckey and Brad Smith to nab Laveranues Coles’ starting spot opposite Jerricho Cotchery.

Here’s audio of Wright in the locker room, the players chanting his name while he’s talking are Dustin Keller and Stanley Daniels, among others.

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There’s a lot going on today at the Jets practice facility in Florham Park. Woody Johnson and Rex Ryan’s father (and former Jets coach) Buddy Ryan were on hand. I’ll have more on this later but the senior Ryan had the quote of the day when he followed his son at the podium this afternoon. He said he watched the practice and was impressed by the defensive and the offensive lines his son is working with.

“I think you damn near guarantee yourself a Super Bowl if they stay healthy,” Buddy Ryan said.

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Clearly, Rex Ryan’s verbal confidence is genetic.

The quarterbacks both threw some good passes. Sanchez seemed to do better with the reads, but Clemens is still quicker and more efficient with four years in the system. Sanchez was intercepted by S Eric Smith.

Jets signed LB Craig Kobel a free agent and cut LB Nate Harris and DL Brian Schaefering.

Leon Washington addressed reporters for the first time since coming back to the team. He said he wanted to be a fair value for his contributions, whether the NFL and NFL Players Association amend the collective bargaining agreement or don’t. The running back missed about three weeks and was upfront about why he returned. He missed it.

He said the Jets and his agent had a discussion and agreed that Washington was worth more, and he is back as part of a good faith negotiation. Washington didn’t back away from the possibility that he would hold out during training camp if his contract situation isn’t resolved.

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The afternoon practice starts at 3:45 and is open to the public. The morning’s was called due to rain but the skies around here are pretty clear for now.

PRACTICE THIS MORNING IS CLOSED TO PUBLIC DUE TO WEATHER.

“I think you damn near guarantee yourself a Super Bowl if they stay healthy,” Buddy Ryan on Jets. (So that’s where he gets it!) #NFL

“My thing is I’m not intimidated by him or anyone else, period,” Rex Ryan on his Belichick comments. #NFL

Paul Raymond runs out of his shoe but misses a pass from QB Chris Pizzotti. And that is it for Jets am practice. #NFL

Jets PR said Kobel is LB, I’ll check after practice…

Kellen beautiful 40 yard fade to Brad Smith, over the shoulder catch, 11s. Nicest of the day. #NFL

Jets S Eric Smith picks Mark Sanchez in a break from 11s. #NFL

Jets signed LB Craig Kobel, free agent. Cut LB Nate Harris and DL Brian Schaefering #NFL

11s Kellen starts out with a sweet 15 yard cross to Keller. First series he was 2 for 2, handed off to Leon good route, TJ got stopped. #NFL

Cotchery just made a gorgeous 15 yd catch with Lito on him like a glove. Sanchez threw that one, route drill 1 on 1.

“I’m sorry about the rain but maybe this afternoon,” Woody Johnson mingling with fans on the fieldhouse balcony. #NFL

@BobGlauber You aren’t here? I wondered why I felt less annoyed than usual! (JK Glaub!)

Buddy Ryan is here watching #jets practice. #NFL

Stretching is underway in the Jets fieldhouse. Leon and Thomas are here, but the rain is gone. #NFL

Just checked the hour-by-hour forecast for Florham Park on weather.com, and it says T-Storms this afternoon. #Jets #NFL

#Jets morning minicamp practice is closed to the public due to the rain. #NFL

UPDATE 8 a.m. Tues: The Jets morning practice is closed to the public due to the rain. No decision yet about the afternoon but if you check the hour-by-hour on weather.com, it does not look promising.

The Jets will have both practices of the mandatory minicamp Tuesday open to the public. The parking will be near but not inside the Jets facility, but there will be signs to guide you. One important caveat, if it rains there will be no public access to any practices moved to the indoor facility. Tuesday practices are at 10:15 and 3:45.

The Jets practice in Florham Park. Their website has directions or pop 190 Park Ave. in your GPS.

This week the Jets will have their mandatory minicamp, and I plan to be out there and Tweeting (simulcast on the blog) if I can do it in conjunction with the softball regionals I’ve been assigned on Tuesday and Wednesday. I’m just hoping the softy games are late enough and I can do both.

The Jets have a few issues going into camp.

1. Kellen Clemens versus Mark Sanchez. Clemens is clearly trying to be the role model for Sanchez that Chad Pennington was for him. He’s taken Sanchez aside after some wretched throws and given him pointer, and last week Sanchez seemed to have the routes down a little bit better.

It’s awkward because Jets brass and a lot of fans want Sanchez to start. He’s the marquee guy, the shiny draft pick and Clemens is … not.

2. Thomas Jones and Shonn Greene. The running backs are all there, but now trade rumors have begun swirling around Jones. That might get Jones a contract extension—it worked when he signed with the Jets and is pretty standard in those cases—but does it make the Jets better?

Greene may look like the same kind of back that Jones is, but he is a rookie. Can you really pop a rookie RB and QB into Rex Ryan’s system and get the same results you’d see from Jones and Clemens? It’s a little soon to tell, but that’s risky proposition.

3. Vernon Gholston. The 2007 first-round pick has been a secondary issue as Ryan revamped the defense and brought in the chatty Bart Scott. Ryan has praised his DE, but is Gholston really getting better? Five open practices should give Jets fans a better idea of when he will make a difference.

Feel free to add your own camp questions. I’ll do my best to geet more information on it and post it here this week.

FInally, Brett Favre. He’s not a camp issue, but ESPN reports that he had his right shoulder scoped last month. Favre had said he didn’t want to play again if it required surgery.He had this to say after the loss to the Dolphins in the final game of the season:

“Whether or not it would require surgery that is something else I would have to weigh on whether or not first of all I would want surgery,” Favre said. “Second of all, if I need it, would I play or not? It’s one of those things. I’m 39, I don’t want to have to have a bunch of surgeries to continue playing.”

Or at least to continue playing for the Jets. Clearly Favre is creating a path to return to the NFL, and it looks like the Vikings specifically. If this were an episode of “Dallas” at least you could pretend last season was a bad dream.

As we all know, Kerry Rhodes, David Clowney, Chansi Stuckey and Jay Feely are Twitter regulars, while Dustin Keller and Nick Mangold do it often enough that they’re still technically in the game.

But not everyone is so enamored of the new social media.

Eli Manning is one of them. The Giants quarterback and his brother Peyton both had impersonators on Twitter and Eli had one on MySpace, and it wasn’t cool with him. The fake Eli tweeted that he was having a good time at the Pro Bowl.

“That post was harmless,” Manning said today by phone, “but they could get into some more details…”

And then not so harmless.

“Nothing good can possibly happen with it,” he said.

Both Mannings have been getting the word out that the Twitter accounts aren’t theirs, so that fans don’t think the thoughts are their own. So would Eli ever consider setting up his own account so that he could drown out the poseurs with his own voice?

“I’m not ready for that,” Manning said. “I try to keep my personal life to myself.”

Leon Washington was back at practice this morning, a day after being at his fiance Charity’s side as she gave birth to their son, Noel.

Rex Ryan said Washington made the right decision to be there, and that he wished he’d made the same one when his wife had their second child. Instead, Ryan was… at an OTA.

“Every time it’s his birthday, my wife gives me a different look, so I think he made a great decision to be there,” Ryan said. “I was at an OTA when my youngest one was born. It was a stupid decision, a ‘young coach’ move obviously (laughing). I was in Arizona and that year my dad got the head coaching job, so we were fielding questions on nepotism all the time so I never wanted it to show favoritism. That was probably my biggest regret in coaching, that I missed my second kid being born.  Anyway, great move by Leon being there.”

Rick Carpiniello and I are hosting a live chat at 1 p.m. today on the Rangers. That’s an ice hockey team that plays in a league called the “NHL.” If you have any interest in sports played on skates (other than roller derby) head to http://www.LoHud.com/protalklive.

See you there!