Burress being brought up to speed slowly

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Plaxico Burress created a minor stir Thursday, making for a "Where's Waldo?" moment during the Jets' morning walk-through.

Burress wasn't present, leaving many to wonder if his tweaked left ankle had flared up. But Rex Ryan later explained that the wide receiver had been excused for personal reasons, something that was previously planned.

Burress was back in time for the afternoon practice, though he didn't participate in any of the team drills.

Ryan isn't ready to sound the alarm, once again making sure everyone knows the Jets are being cautious with Burress. Sure, he admitted part of the reason they held him out of Tuesday's practice was because of some expected swelling, something Ryan downplayed. But he thinks Burress might get some action in the preseason opener against the Texans at Reliant Stadium on Monday night.

"Yeah. Absolutely, I think so," Ryan said. "Again, we won't put him out there if we think he's at risk, as with any player. But I'd like to see him out there for a few snaps. Obviously, our first groups don't go a whole lot, but I'm expecting him to play."

Ryan has a tough choice, balancing the need to give a player who hasn't been on the field in two seasons some valuable practice repetitions with making sure he's totally healthy before trotting him out there.

Ryan plans on listening to the training staff and playing it smart.

"There is that fine line where you are getting the mental reps and all that," he said. "That's probably the most important right now, where he gets caught up to speed with our system and things, and he's doing great that way. I know it's frustrating to him not to be out there every snap, but he is starting to do something.

"Those ankles, if you don't get it healed, it can be a problem throughout the year. So we are going to make sure that we get him back to where we think he's 100 percent and get him out there."

That's the way Mark Sanchez sees it. As much as the quarterback would love to have Burress in the mix, he'd rather see Burress totally healthy first.

"What Plax and I talked about is as soon as he's ready to go, we just have to hit it hard," Sanchez said. "Taking the extra time to meet, taking the extra time to watch film together. That stuff's paying off right now and now we just have to practice it on the field.

"But there's plenty of time to get things right. I just think the most important thing is we just don't waste the time when he gets back."

Perhaps then the duo can revisit their post-practice high jinks. Sanchez and Burress made a bet on hitting the goal post with a throw and Sanchez failed to connect, forcing him to take Burress out to dinner in Manhattan Wednesday night.

"I figured we'd go somewhere like Mexican so I might get a free meal, so I didn't have to pay," Sanchez cracked. "But he said that was off limits. So I ended up paying."

Mangold day-to-day. Center Nick Mangold suffered a stinger in the afternoon practice during goal-line drills and is day-to-day, according to a team spokesman.

Mangold was buried under a pile of bodies after running back Shonn Greene leaped over the line to score on a 3-yard run on the final goal-line play of the day. He walked off under his own power.