By Ken Berger

Mangini had a little edge to him today in his press conference, which is no surprise considering how sloppy yesterday's practice was. This morning's work was better, but Mangini made it clear that through four practices, the team as a whole hasn't quite grasped what he wants.

This is going to take some time. For the players' sake, they better figure it out pretty quick.

"Yesterday the heat took away from the focus, and it can't," Mangini said. "It can't. I thought they responded well this morning and I thought the focus was good. The question is, now can they build on this practice this morning and start stringing good practices together?"

Mangini seemed agitated when he outlined once again his system for evaluating the players in practice.

"Do you know what to do? Are you doing the things that you're coached to do? And are you the same guy every day?" he said. "That’s what I want. I want you to know that’s how you're being evaluated and that it’s as clear as possible to them.

"These things are very important to me," Mangini said. "They're very important to me because they're important to the success of the team. It’s important that everybody understands these things very clearly. They're not going away."

One thing that is not going away is the requirement to do a lap when a player makes a mistake. Yesterday, the entire offense had to take two.

"If you're doing something that is going to hurt the team, then you go somewhere else -- like around the field -- and think about it and keep going," Mangini said. "And it’s going to keep happening."

Asked what would happen if a player refused to take a lap, Mangini said, "I don't think it's in anybody's best interests to find out."

Mangini praised Jerricho Cotchery today, calling him the "most outstanding player in our offseason program." It was Kellen Clemens' turn with the starting offense, and he looked sharp for the most part. Through four practices, Mangini has finished one complete rotation with the QBs and said it will continue without changes.

Running back Cedric Houston continues to run hard and show good quickness when used in the featured tailback role.

The highlight of the morning practice was 5-8, 180-pound receiver Tim Dwight de-cleating 6-4, 299-pound nose tackle on a toss-crack with Leon Washington as the ball carrier.