Jets notes: Thomas on schedule, plus Mangold talks waxing

For Bryan Thomas, just being able to run alongside his teammates is a feat in and of itself.

The Jets linebacker, who had Achilles surgery last year, was beaming in the locker room Wednesday as he spoke about his latest “milestone” – keeping pace with his teammates during drills.

“It was like a celebration out there,” Thomas said with a smile.

During the rehab process, he started off running on the sidelines. But now, he says, he’s able to keep up with his teammates during their estimated 70-yard drills. Thomas also said he’s hitting the times set by the training staff.

“I’m happy about that,” he said. “So now I can talk a little crap.”

Thomas said he’s expected to be back by training camp in Cortland, N.Y. – which starts July 26. “Right now I’m on schedule,” he said. “And the schedule says for me to be out there for training camp.”

But the linebacker cautioned that he won’t know for sure if he’s 100 percent until he’s able to withstand the physical contact.

“Hopefully I’m able to pretty much do everything,” he said. “It’ll be the first time in pads and then I have to see how that goes. Now you have other bodies pushing against you. It’s easy to push those dummy sleds, but now when you’ve got somebody applying force to you. We have to see how that feels.”

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Kenrick Ellis remained tight-lipped when approached by reporters about his upcoming trial.

The defensive tackle repeatedly said “it's a legal issue” when pressed about malicious wounding felony charge that stems from an April 2010 incident while he was at Hampton University. The trial date, which was pushed back three times, will begin Thursday with a pre-trial hearing in Hampton, Va. The jury trial will start Tuesday. Ellis, a native of Jamaica, could face up to 20 years in prison if convicted and reportedly deportation because he's a permanent resident and not a U.S. citizen.

The 6-5 Ellis – who said he’s down 10 pounds to 335 – allegedly broke the nose and jaw of a man who swung a baseball bat at him.

The Jets, of course, were aware of Ellis’ legal troubles when they drafted him 94th overall in 2011.

“Any pick has risk,” general manager Mike Tannenbaum said on draft day, though he wouldn’t discuss Ellis’ situation specifically. “We did a lot of research on the player. Based on all the information we have, we’re comfortable taking him. Maybe his risk is more than others. But if we didn’t feel like there was a path to have him be successful here, we wouldn’t have taken him.”

Ellis recorded five tackles in five games (including two starts) last year.

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Nick Mangold said he had tickets to the Jimmy Fallon show Tuesday night and about two hours before taping, someone from the show called to ask if he wanted to be featured in their “Wax On, Wax Off” segment.

“And like an idiot, I said yes,” said the Jets center, who was paired with an audience member from New Jersey who just happened to be a Giants fan who didn’t know the answers to categories like “Lithuanian Prime Ministers.”

If you haven’t seen a clip of this, you should. Mangold’s got good comedic timing – and a super-high threshold for pain.