"In his first season with the Jets, LaDainian Tomlinson appreciated the trip to upstate New York for training camp last summer. The veteran running back felt his new teammates unify and bond in the small town of Cortland, N.Y. - and worries the team-building may not come so easy this year, as the lingering NFL lockout has forced the Jets to stay home at their Florham Park facility, if and when camp begins.

"I think it will be more of a challenge, yes," Tomlinson said today in Times Square, at a promotional event for USA Network's new TV series "Necessary Roughness," which premieres tonight at 10. "Guys have more access to things that they really know: bigger city, their homes, whatever. So that will be more of a challenge. Whereas in Cortland, we were all we had, so we kind of had to stick together."

Tomlinson, entering his 11th season and second with the Jets, recognizes as a veteran he'll have to play an active role in building camaraderie by organizing team events like bowling or movie nights.

"Just because we're here doesn't mean we can't still do things together," Tomlinson said. "It's still training camp, so we've got to make sure we build that team first."

The Jets are coming off their second straight appearance in the AFC title game, momentum they hoped to build off this season. But the lockout imposed by owners more than 100 days ago has kept players and coaches apart and wiped out the offseason training program, organized team activities and mini-camps.

"It is frustrating, because we expected to build on what we did last year, and the way you do it is being around each other again and starting back up and going through the offseason workouts," Tomlinson said. "But at the same time, I think we have done enough to keep us in tune to the playbook, to that camaraderie we have as a team. So I'm not terribly concerned as if we were one of the teams who haven't done anything.""