Revis is happy to be out of the spotlight

Darrelle Revis couldn't have been less conspicuous. In fact, if you didn't know any better, you'd have thought Revis was a street free agent just trying to make the team.

This was a few minutes after the Jets faced the Texans Monday night. Revis had just finished getting dressed and was gathering his belongings. The greatest cornerback in the game was all by himself, with reporters gathered instead around quarterback Mark Sanchez to discuss his comments about wanting to fight coach Rex Ryan after being threatened with a benching last season.

Revis left the locker room, his carry-on bag in tow, and headed for the team bus.

Rewind to a year ago, and Revis was just about all anyone was talking about. And he wasn't even with the Jets, having been in the midst of a contract holdout that wasn't resolved until less than a week before the season opener.

And now?

"Just another training camp, just a different situation from last year," Revis told me as he left the locker room and headed through the stadium tunnel. "It's good to be in camp, but the contract situation, that had to be dealt with, and I did that."

Revis' holdout was the single biggest topic of conversation during last year's training camp, and his absence created some intense moments for players, coaches and administrators. But there was an unanticipated side effect of the holdout, something that surprised even Revis. Once the contract -- a four-year, $46-million deal -- was finalized, he reported to the team several pounds overweight.

Not even six quarters into the season, Revis suffered a hamstring injury that lingered for the remainder of the year. Even with the injury, he was first-team All-Pro and helped the Jets get to their second straight AFC title game.

"That weight was a problem coming in a little heavier, because usually you lose pounds during training camp," he said. "That was my situation last year, and that's what I had to battle and fight through."

But Revis showed up to camp noticeably thinner this year, and he has had a terrific run so far. Which is surely a scary thought for receivers.

Ryan has been a huge fan of Revis since the day the coach walked in the building after the 2008 season, and Revis has done nothing to disappoint him. In fact, Revis has elevated his game considerably in his two years under Ryan.

"He's the Tom Brady and Peyton Manning of defensive backs in this league," Ryan said Thursday. "He's the best I've ever been around."

In an interview on NFL Network in June, Ryan said, "One day we're going to say that this is the best Jet in the history of the New York Jet franchise. I believe that. And I think we're going to also see him in Canton one day."

Can't say I disagree. And that's saying something, considering the company Revis would have: Joe Namath, Curtis Martin and Don Maynard are all in the mix, with Namath and Maynard already in the Hall of Fame and Martin headed there one day soon. But as long as Revis stays healthy and productive -- and stays a Jet, which will be no small accomplishment considering his previous contract demands -- he'll be the one at the top.

Revis isn't thinking about all that, though. "I'm just playing," he said. "It's my fifth year, and I can't go off past accomplishments, so I've just got to keep playing."

And winning, which is something Revis thinks this team will do. "I feel real good about this team," he said. "There's always going to be a lot of changes every year, and you have to just go with what the big boys -- [GM] Mike [Tannenbaum] and Rex -- say. They're going to put the best team out there that they can."

That starts with Revis, the best Jet on this team, and possibly any Jets' team in history.