Milliner Ready to Join Jets Camp After Ending a Weeklong Holdout CORTLAND, N.Y. - Soon after the N.F.L. draft in April, Antonio Cromartie requested that the Jets load some video clips of another cornerback onto his iPad. It was game film of Dee Milliner, the team's top pick, and Cromartie wanted to analyze it. Those clips have been Cromartie's best on-field view of Milliner for the last three months. Unable to participate in the Jets" off-season program after a shoulder surgery, Milliner staged a weeklong holdout that ended Sunday night when he agreed to a four-year contract worth $12.66 million. Cromartie and the Jets can resume evaluating Milliner on Wednesday, when he is expected to practice for the first time. "He's got to earn it, like everybody else," the defensive coordinator Dennis Thurman said. He knows that, we know it. We don't just give anybody anything in this league. You have to earn it. Do we expect him to be involved and highly competitive to be a starter? That's our anticipation. But we'll see. Missing three days of full-squad workouts did not damage Milliner's standing on the team, but the Jets hardly wanted negotiations to drag out further. They expect Milliner to compete with Kyle Wilson for - and ultimately claim - the starting spot opposite Cromartie that was vacated when the Jets dealt Darrelle Revis to Tampa Bay four days before the draft. They took Milliner with the first of two first-round picks, creating comparisons to Revis. "We'll see what type of player Dee is," Coach Rex Ryan said. But Dee Milliner's never going to be Darrelle Revis. He's going to be Dee Milliner, and I think that's going to be good enough. Good enough, in Ryan's mind, will be a shutdown cornerback who can neutralize the opposition's top receiver. That role will fall this season to Cromartie, who embraced it after replacing an injured Revis last season. But the Jets expect Milliner to evolve into someone who is a bit more than good enough. They drafted him No. 9 over all, captivated by his cover skills and willing to overlook his five operations: right knee, sports hernia, tibial stress fracture and both shoulders, including the torn labrum that required surgery in March. However satisfied the Jets were with Milliner's progress, they were merely hopeful that he would show up Monday in peak physical condition. Cromartie said he spoke with Milliner once or twice to remind him, and Milliner said he spent much of the last six weeks running and training at Alabama. He said that he was "very much" in shape, but that he would let his trainers decide when he was ready to go "full-throttle." "I've been watching and learning," Milliner said. I just haven't been on the field. Cromartie will play a vital role in Milliner's transition and development. He is the senior member of the Jets" cornerback unit, which he called the deepest of his tenure, and he has helped several younger players improve their technique and watch film more efficiently. One area that Milliner said he must focus on is studying receivers" tendencies, a Cromartie specialty. "I hope that's what Dee will take from him," Ryan said of Cromartie. But Dee's got to get out there. Once he gets out there, you've got to stand on your own two feet first. The Jets were more excited than relieved that Milliner finally signed. With financial terms and contract length dictated by the collective bargaining agreement, there was never a concern that Milliner would miss a few weeks, as Revis did during his rookie holdout in 2007. The primary obstacle delaying Milliner's arrival was a disagreement over so-called offset language, which the Jets favor as an organizational policy. That language allows the Jets to recoup money on the off-chance they release Milliner before the end of his contract. In 39 games at Alabama, Milliner, listed at 6 feet and 201 pounds, recorded 6 interceptions and deflected 36 passes. He was considered the best cover cornerback in the country last season as a junior, allowing only 13 completions while defending 22 passes, tied for the most in the nation. Milliner's versatility appealed to the Jets: he is adept at man-to-man and zone coverage, and he can play inside or outside. "There's always an adjustment to playing at this level, even though he was in the SEC conference, played on as big a stage there is in college football," Ryan said. There's guys that can step up immediately. Sometimes, it can take a little longer. The Jets" hope is that it will not for Milliner. They seemed pleased with his comprehension and retention during classroom sessions, and Thurman said that the Jets used much of the same terminology that Alabama did. "As far as the mental part of it, he's very sharp," Thurman said. We feel like if he's done any studying at all, he should come in and be fairly close to where he needs to be.