Well, it's August.  It's hot, sticky, humid and disgusting out.  What does that mean?

The NFL season is about a month away.

Teams started their training camps this week.  Five weeks of two-a-days, holdouts, injuries, fights in practice and preseason games.  The goal for the Jets in 2007 will be to improve on a 10-6 finish in 2006 and a wild card berth.  Overcoming obstacles is part of the game and the Jets have already had their share.

Here's what's been going on in Jets Land in case you missed it:

First-round draft pick Darrelle Revis is a holdout.  The corner from Pittsburgh wants to sign a five-year deal, but the Jets want to lock him up for six years.  Doesn't seem like that big of a deal, right?  Well, welcome to the wonderful world of NFL finance.  One year can be huge and could make the difference between a minimum salary contract and a multimillion dollar deal.  Revis and his agent are willing to sign a shorter contract with a smaller signing bonus in return for a quicker entrance into the free agent market.  Sadly, contract disputes are part of the game.  Revis is missing important reps in camp, but I suppose the positive is that he's not coming in to play quarterback or running back.  Every day missed at that position really hurts the team.  Still, the rookie needs to get into camp.  One scary note -- Revis' uncle is former NFL player Sean Gilbert who once held out for an entire year.

Cedric Houston left the team.  The third-year running back decided his heart wasn't into playing football and walked away.  Houston wasn't going to get a ton of playing time with the addition of Thomas Jones from the Bears during the off-season, but his departure weakens the running back corps.  Houston showed glimpses of promise during his Jet career and actually ran for over 100 yards in a game against the Packers last season.  But hey, if your heart isn't into it, then it's time to leave.  There are some things in life you can half-ass, but I don't know if football is one of them.  You could get killed out there.

Right Guard?  Pete Kendall is really just serving time in Jets camp.  The disgruntled left guard believes the Jets should increase his salary since he agreed to take a pay cut last season.  The Jets don't want to set a precedent.  It looks like a no-win situation for both parties, but the Jets are really going to miss Kendall's football skills and leadership abilities.  The Miami Dolphins have been sniffing around and the Jets would be damned if they're going to allow Kendall to simply walk away to Miami.  There's a slight possibility that both camps could resolve their issues, but I wouldn't hold my breath.  

The real right guard.  And here's why the Jets don't want to renegotiate with Kendall or anybody else.  Starting right guard Brandon Moore staged a "mini-walkout" on Tuesday in protest of his salary.  Moore is entering 2007 as the senior member of the Jets offensive line and wants his contract to reflect that.  Remember when football meant playing football?  Honestly, I really can't go overboard on football players wanting more money.  If there's one sport where contracts should be guaranteed, it should be football.  These guys are really just one play away from selling insurance for the rest of their lives.  Which, in a sense, is ironic since the reason their contracts aren't guaranteed is because insurance companies won't insure their contracts.  It's a vicious cycle!  Anyway, I don't expect Moore to miss a lot of time.

The Jets will open up their preseason schedule on Friday night against the Atlanta Falcons.

Goal number one should be to avoid any injuries.