NY JETS articles- 8/31/08

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

Newsday-Jets hang on to all four quarterbacks Erik Boland

August 31, 2008

Eric Mangini said it's hard enough for an NFL team to find three quarterbacks it likes. So with the Jets liking all four they had in camp this summer, they decided to keep them all.

"It's unique and it's different, but all four of them are guys that we like," Mangini said of Brett Favre, Kellen Clemens, Brett Ratliff and Erik Ainge occupying spots on the 53-man roster after yesterday's cuts.

Though Mangini didn't say it outright, Ainge, who struggled during camp, clearly helped himself in Thursday's 27-20 victory at Philadelphia, going 10-for-16 for 131 yards and a touchdown.

If the Jets had intended to put Ainge on the practice squad, he first would have had to clear waivers, a risk the Jets were not willing to take.

"I've liked what he's done since he's been here," Mangini said. "I think he's going to continue to get better."

Two of the bigger names released by the Jets were two veterans, LB Matt Chatham and CB Hank Poteat. The others waived: WR David Ball, OL Jacob Bender, WR Larry Brackins, DB Rudy Burgess, RB Jehuu Caulcrick, OL Stanley Daniels, OL Kyle DeVan, OL Nate Garner, DB James Ihedigbo, DL Thomas Johnson, DL Bryan Mattison, OL Matt McChesney, LB Blair Phillips, DL Ropati Pitoitua, TE Jason Pociask, WR Paul Raymond, LB Brandon Renkart and TE A.J. Schable. S Cameron Worrell was placed on injured reserve.

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

BRETT DEFENDS ACTIONS REGARDING PACKERS EXIT

By MARK CANNIZZARO

Posted: 3:44 am

August 31, 2008

Brett Favre wants to make one thing clear: He's not a wishy-washy, high-maintenance, selfish diva who can't make up his mind.

This is the way the Packers, the team he carried on his broad shoulders for some 16 years before the JetsNew York Jets traded for him last month, spun the tale. And this is why Favre has felt the need to defend himself.

With the regular-season opener looming next Sunday, Favre, in a sit-down with the handful of reporters who cover the Jets, talked about this and other topics. The following are highlights from the interview.

* Did Favre make any sort of agreement with Jets GM Mike Tannenbaum to commit to more than one year in New York?

"I'm in a game-to-game mode," Favre said. "My last four years has been season-to-season. When I talked to Mike about coming here we never discussed it. He was just trying to get me to come at first.

"And then, once we knew the deal was going to be done, he would've liked to have a two-year commitment and I said, 'Mike, let me give you the best year I can possibly give you, and let's go from there.' "

* How affected has he been by the public relations hit to his image throughout this process?

"I was getting ripped from every angle," Favre said. "I'm not going to say I didn't get (ticked). But if you sat every one of those (Green Bay) players and coaches down separately and they knew their job was not in jeopardy and you asked them, 'What kind of guy is Brett,' I know what they'd tell you.

"I'm confident in how I've treated people. (Those in Packers management) were throwing daggers to make themselves look like they were in the right."

* How does he feel he treated the Packers?

"I could have told them, 'I'll come back,' even though at the time I didn't want to," Favre said. "But then July rolls around we start camp or whatever and I go, 'God, I need to walk away.' To me, that was worse than saying, 'Guys, if you want an answer right now, I'm not 100-percent committed and because of that, I'm retiring.'

"The day I told (Packers head coach Mike) McCarthy I was going to retire, he said, 'Are you sure?' I said, 'No, I'm not sure, but you want an answer so I'm giving you an answer.' I told him, 'I'm not confident in this decision.' I was second-guessing it from Day One.'

* How does he feel about his decision to come back as a Jet?

"Mike has done a great job of acquiring players, some veteran leadership, some proven guys that I think and he thinks and I'm sure Eric (Mangini) thinks will be quick to gain this chemistry we're looking for," Favre said. "That was really a big seller for me."

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

SPECIAL COACH RETURNING TO SIDELINES

By MARK CANNIZZARO

MIKE WESTHOFF

Key Mangini aide.Posted: 3:44 am

August 31, 2008

On the day the JetsNew York Jets made their final cuts to pare the roster to 53 players, they were poised to make a significant addition to the team.

Mike Westhoff, regarded as one of the best special teams coaches in the NFL, will be back on the Jets' sideline coaching by this week, according to two NFL sources with knowledge of the situation.

"I will definitely have an update for you [tomorrow]," Eric Mangini said, when asked if Westoff will return.

"Nothing is official," one source told The Post. "But it's going to happen."

Mangini recently all but welcomed Westhoff back, citing his value to the team as more than a special teams coach because of his input on personnel and game management.

Westhoff, who was unavailable for comment yesterday, has been awaiting clearance from his doctor to coach again.

He's been in New York recently to see his doctor at Memorial Sloan-Kettering, and it sounds, from Mangini's wink-wink comment, as if Westhoff has gotten the medical go-ahead to return to coaching.

The Jets have said they will retain Kevin O'Dea, who was hired in the offseason to replace Westhoff when the latter was forced to resign last year to tend to medical issues.

O'Dea and Westhoff will work together, and Westhoff also will serve in an advisory capacity to Mangini on personnel matters, game management, etc., as he had before he left.

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

CHATMAN GETS FOUR-GAME BAN

By MARK CANNIZZARO

Posted: 3:44 am

August 31, 2008

All day yesterday, rumors swirled about the status of JetsNew York Jets running back Jesse Chatman, who was thought to be released or traded despite the 180 total offensive yards he gained against the Eagles in Thursday night's preseason finale.

Finally, official word came out early last night that Chatman, who was signed as a free agent by the Jets in the offseason, has been suspended for four games without pay for violating the NFL policy on steroids and related substances. Chatman's suspension began yesterday and he won't be eligible to return to the Jets' active roster until Sept. 29.

"It's always disappointing, but it's a program the league has set up and something I understand and Jesse understands the consequences of," Eric Mangini said last night. "Jesse has had a very good training camp, punctuated by the [Eagles] game. He's disappointed and so am I, but I'm looking forward to him coming back and being able contribute."

Chatman's agent, Brett Tessler, said in a statement, "Jesse never tested positive for a steroid or any other performance-enhancing drug. Near the end of last season, the league claimed he had a diuretic in his system that they said could also be used as a masking agent.

"After spending great time and money defending his innocence, the league made its final ruling and now Jesse has no choice but to look ahead to Week 5."

Without Chatman, the Jets are now left with only two RBs on the roster - Thomas JonesThomas Jones and Leon WashingtonLeon Washington . It was uncertain whether the Jets would sign another veteran, such as Rudi Johnson, who was cut by the Bengals yesterday. Mangini said the Jets will deal with Chatman's absence by using FB Tony Richardson and WR Brad Smith.

*

Among the 21 players cut from the roster to get it to the required 53, were veteran LB Matt Chatham and CB Hank Poteat, two players Mangini has coached for several years.

When reached by phone yesterday, Chatham was at the New Jersey residence he just rented to be close to the team's new Florham Park, N.J. training facility packing the boxes he'd just unpacked.

"I've never been on that side of it," Chatham said. "It's a little weird."

*

One interesting player who was not cut despite an uneven first training camp was rookie QB Erik Ainge, meaning the Jets will carry four QBs on their roster.

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

THE FAVRE EFFECT

EX STARS: 'SUPER' IMPACT UNLIKELY

By MARK CANNIZZARO

QB OR NOT QB: Former Jets quarterback Boomer Esiason (above) said he thinks learning the offense will be the biggest challenge for Brett Favre.Posted: 3:44 am

August 31, 2008

Will this Brett Favre thing work for the JetsNew York Jets ?

The Post spoke to three prominent former NFL stars with heavy New York ties and asked them how they believe the 38-year-old Favre will fare wearing a different shade of green for the first time in 17 years.

"I don't know how well that's going to work out as far as what he can really do to help the Jets, take them to the next level," former Giants defensive end Michael StrahanMichael Strahan said. "Because I just don't see it as an opportunity for that team to go to the Super Bowl.

"I think he's going to bring a spark without a doubt, solidify that quarterback position, but for how long? That's the question. Is it a one-year deal? Two years? Three?

"There are still a lot of question marks out there as to how long he's going to play. I don't know if his impact the first year is going to be enough to get the Jets over the hump, because they are in a very tough division with the Patriots.

Strahan said he is unsure if Favre can bring the Jets a championship.

"The Jets are still in a tough situation, and I don't know if he brings enough. He can come out and have the same year he had in Green Bay last season, which is great. [The Packers] almost made it to the Super Bowl, but they didn't do it. He can do the same thing with the Jets and almost make it but not do it.

"In this business, if you don't win the Super Bowl, then it really doesn't mean anything."

Boomer Esiason, a lifelong New Yorker who played for the Jets, said he "can't wait" to see how the Favre drama unfolds.

"I think it's going to be an unbelievable year," Esiason said. "If he is the guy who played two years ago for Green Bay and is careless and wreckless with the ball this will be an unmitigated disaster. But if he plays half as good or three-quarters as good as he played last year, this will be a resounding success.

"That's makes this thing so fascinating."

Esiason said he has concerns about how quickly Favre will adapt to the new offensive system.

"I think the arm strength is there," Esiason said. "The hard thing for him is learning a new playbook. He's got to learn the Jet language. For 16 years he's been doing it one way. I'm sure the Green Bay playbook he can recite with his eyes closed.

Esiason said he believes its important that Favre can get up to speed with the offense.

"The worst thing that any quarterback can have going into any game is anxiety associated with not knowing," Esiason said. "And there are going to be things that he does not know, because he hasn't done them enough. He has to take a step back simply because he hasn't been with these players and coaches with this playbook.

"But Jets fans should be revved up, because he's one of the great quarterbacks of this era and he's a Hall a Famer."

Steve Young, a Greenwich, Conn. native, Hall of Fame quarterback and ESPN analyst who knows this market and knows the NFL, said he believes Favre "has got a ton" left in his tank physically.

He has other concerns for Favre in this new venture, though.

"The problem - and you heard him say this the last couple years and then when he retired - is he very explicitly tell you that he was tired mentally and emotionally," Young said. "It is a grind emotionally to be one of the better players in the league to handle the expectations, knowing that your team needs to be great. It's not an easy grind and you do wear out.

"I'm hoping this doesn't creep in too early here and start to wear him thin because of the challenge he's facing with a new team and new surroundings.

"Fans are going to love Brett Favre, but he's still has to go perform," Young added. "He doesn't have as much in the bank with the new fan base as he had in Green Bay. I just hope that he has the protection, not from a offensive line standpoint, but from an emotional organizational framework, where when things go south for a while - and they inevitably will - it doesn't swallow him up."

But Young said he believes Favre will be a success with the Jets.

"No question, because he's a resourceful guy and his best quality is putting the ball in the end zone from the 20-yard line, and that's one of the worst qualities of the collective quarterbacks in the league today," Young said. "If [the Jets] can figure out a way to move down inside the 20, he's going to find out a way to put it in the end zone, and that's what wins football games."

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

Favre not giving Pack a passRecounts how Jets wooed him after shabby treatment by Green Bay GM

BY ERIK BOLAND | erik.boland@newsday.com

August 31, 2008

The reason for the tears wasn't the reflexive emotion of wistfully looking back at a long and successful career officially ending.

No, it was something in Brett Favre's mind telling him he might be making a big mistake.

"I was saying to myself, 'I just might be writing my career off right now,'" the Jets' quarterback said of his oft-played retirement news conference March 6.

Which, Favre said in a recent meeting with Jets beat reporters, he was never fully committed to doing.

Favre touched on a variety of subjects during the nearly 45-minute interview, including his most extensive statements to date about his separation from the Packers, the doubts he had from Day 1 regarding his decision to retire and how Jets general manager Mike Tannenbaum wooed him to the Jets at the last moment to conclude the sport's most prolonged soap opera in years.

And while Favre called his Jets experience "a blast" to this point, he made clear that's not how he'd describe what transpired before his Aug. 6 trade.

Favre said when the Packers' 2007 season ended with a loss to the Giants in the NFC Championship Game, he was uncertain about coming back in 2008.

But "that was the same way last year, the same way the year before," Favre said. "I have no reason for this year saying I was retiring as opposed to the last two years. Nothing had changed. In March [the previous two years], I felt the same way. It could have gone either way."

But the Packers' response this offseason was different, especially general manager Ted Thompson, Favre said. Thompson wanted an answer sooner rather than later.

"He told me he'd like to have something before free agency and, obviously, before the draft, and I said, 'It makes sense, but I'm not ready,' " Favre said. "[i said] 'Right now I could care less about football.' "

The 38-year-old Favre said that was not unusual.

"You go and ask every one of those guys who have played 10 years or longer, when do they start to think about playing football again," Favre said, gesturing toward the Jets' locker room. "[it's] when they have to come back. He [Thompson] said, 'We really need an answer.' "

So Favre eventually gave his answer in early March, but with a caveat he said the Packers still haven't acknowledged, instead misrepresenting Favre's mind-set on retirement.

"The day I told McCarthy I was going to retire, he said, 'Are you sure?' I said, "No, I'm not sure, but you want an answer so I'm giving you an answer,' " Favre said, relaying his conversation with Packers coach Mike McCarthy. "I told him that and said, 'Who knows? I may change my mind.'"

A moment, Favre said, occurred sometime in May. He said his next concern was how the situation might play out publicly, which, when it did, he said probably "tainted" what before had been a pretty good image.

"Would it be worth it?" Favre said he asked himself. "I don't know the day, but I woke up and said, 'Hell, yeah, it's worth it.'"

Favre said McCarthy "dropped" the phone when he told the Packers' coach June 20 that he wanted to come back.

He said he was perplexed when, during the conversation, McCarthy said, "Playing here's not an option."

Favre, while not downgrading his replacement, Aaron Rodgers, said the Packers' resoluteness in not wanting him back confounded him. It still does.

"If you were a betting man and you said, OK, who gives us the best chance to win right now?" Favre said. "This is not bragging, but I would think I would. Aaron might play great and then they all look like geniuses, but to not welcome me back, and I'm just assuming, for fear of upsetting Aaron, not only now but in the future, is totally ridiculous. Totally ridiculous."

What ensued allowed Tannenbaum to first monitor the situation from the periphery and then, in the final hours, swoop in and sell Favre, who originally resisted talking to the Jets, on the idea of playing here. Favre said Tannenbaum sold him on the in-the-country setting of the team's new facility in Florham Park, N.J. - "you can hunt by the complex," a laughing Favre recalled Tannenbaum saying - but Tannenbaum's best ammunition was the Jets' roster.

"The bottom line was I wanted to play and I felt like this team had a good chance to win," Favre said.

Tannenbaum wanted a two-year commitment, but Favre demurred.

"My last four years have been season to season," Favre said. "I said, 'Mike, let me give you the best year I can possibly give you, and let's go from there.' To sit here and even think about next year with what's in front of us right now is way premature."

What's been in front of Favre since his first practice Aug. 9 has been learning the Jets' system, which he knew from the start would be his biggest challenge. But he looked comfortable enough in starting the Jets' second and third preseason games, going 14-for-18 for 144 yards and a touchdown.

His off-the-field transition has appeared to be seamless as well. The veteran quarterback can be seen easily talking and joking with his new teammates, who have talked about him being "down to earth," and although they ask him about different aspects of his career, one topic hasn't come up.

"Not once has a guy said, 'Tell us what happened,' " Favre said of his divorce from the Packers. "They may want to know, but we're too busy. And I'm having a blast. It's been hard, but I know I made the right decision."

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

Jets leave Hofstra with nothing but memoriesMark Herrmann

August 31, 2008

There was no remorse the last time the Jets changed facilities. Hofstra looked like the Taj Mahal compared to the place where they had been practicing.

"Peekskill Military Academy. It was awful. The bugs were unbelievable," said John Schmitt, who was doubly glad about the move in 1968 because he had played for Hofstra before he was a Jet.

Hofstra instantly proved magical for him and everyone else in the franchise. That very season, using the plays Joe Namath and Matt Snell and the rest had practiced in Hempstead, the Jets won the Super Bowl and changed pro football. Hofstra has been where the Jets have gathered for every working week ever since.

It is where generations have met, with Bill Parcells working at Weeb Ewbank Hall and Brett Favre inheriting Namath's legacy. It is where they went for refuge, regrouping after The Spike and the Lou Holtz and Rich Kotite eras.

Mark Herrmann Bio | E-mail | Recent columns

So here's to you, Hofstra. Here's to being such a good friend for 40 years.

We all know the score: the Meadowlands is the Jets' home field, Hofstra was their home.

That changed forever this past week when the team officially left Hempstead Turnpike for a fancy new practice compound in Florham Park, N.J. Schmitt, who still lives on Long Island, said they might as well have moved to Wyoming. He couldn't get himself to go to the last practice.

"Coming here every year was like putting on a comfortable pair of old loafers," he said. "I'm sure the new facility is beautiful. The guys deserve the best. But they're never going to have the feeling they had on Long Island."

The Island is poorer for the switch, and so are the Jets. They wanted to move closer to where their games are, which is understandable. Yet they moved away from where their identity and fans are, which is a shame.

"The heartbeat of the team is here," said Sharon Rueter, an eastern Long Island postal worker and season ticket-holder for 29 years who spent four days off going to Jets camp this summer because she knew it would be her last shot. "It breaks my heart."

Hofstra president Stuart Rabinowitz was on the field for the last practice, talking with owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum. "We all felt nostalgic and sad," he said, optimistic that the Jets will come back for a few days every summer for scrimmages and a Jets Fest.

"They have an open invitation," Rabinowitz said. "But we are very, very sorry to see them leave. It was a great two-way relationship."

Ira Liederfarb of Staten Island probably can get to Florham Park easier than he can to Hofstra, and he is sad nonetheless. "For the fans, it never will be the same," said the man who has been coming to practices since his dad brought him from their Sheepshead Bay home 40 years ago.

"I remember going there when there wasn't even a fence around the field. People would bring their folding chairs or they'd just sit on a towel," Liederfarb said, adding that he never will forget the time he got Snell's autograph on a little white football, then brought it to show his grandmother in the hospital, only to have a nurse disinfect it and wipe off the autograph. (Snell signed a ticket stub for him in 2002 when he heard the story.)

You can't make this stuff up, and you can't take it with you.

Don Maynard and George Sauer never ran routes in Florham Park. Hofstra is where Emerson Boozer and John Riggins and Freeman McNeil ran the ball, where Mark Gastineau and Joe Klecko worked so hard to get so tough. Boomer Esiason, Rob Moore and D'Brickashaw Ferguson had homecomings there. Greg Buttle became a Long Islander there. Wayne Chrebet made an unlikely career for himself there, at his alma mater.

This is where Al Toon tearfully announced he just couldn't play anymore. This is where teammates got together and rejoiced to hear Dennis Byrd's happy voice on a speakerphone. This is where Richard Todd stuffed a sportswriter into a locker, where Bill Belichick ended his one-day reign with the most rambling, disjointed monologue in NFL history. This is where Curtis Martin wrapped up a classy Hall of Fame career.

Everyone moves on. Rabinowitz said Weeb Ewbank Hall will be the temporary home of Hofstra's new medical school, and then a permanent biology center. But he wishes the Jets had stayed.

Johnson could point out that New York didn't go out of its way to build him a new stadium. But he's got to know that the Jets always will be the No. 2 team in New Jersey. On Long Island, they were both kings of the hill and part of the landscape. You could see Randy Beverly at Island Garden for a Nets game, Herm Edwards in the next pew at church, pretty much anybody on the roster at a Nassau County restaurant.

Maybe the new digs will help the Jets play better. You just wonder if they've left their soul behind.

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

Favre not a gambler off the field

By Jane McManus

The Journal News • August 31, 2008

Contrary to popular opinion, Brett Favre is not a risk taker.

The quarterback, who was traded to the Jets at the start of August, can't seem to let it ride when he isn't wearing a uniform. There have been times when he has gone with friends to the casinos near his Hattiesburg, Miss., home and headed for the craps table.

"I'd say, 'Hey, OK, pass me over $30,' and every one else has $3,000," Favre said. "I just couldn't do it. I just couldn't put a lot out there.

"But in football, it's different for me."

He is the Marlboro Man in cleats, a graying icon with a Southern drawl and an invisible swagger. When he talks to you, he looks you directly in the eye and holds the gaze. He is accessible and candid in his answers, and has yet to duck a question about his controversial decision to leave retirement behind.

By May, Favre knew he'd made a mistake leaving the game. Packers general manager Ted Thompson came to visit Favre and asked if they could dismantle his locker and send it to him. It seemed like a strange gesture to Favre, and he hinted that he might not have made the final call even then. When the future Hall of Famer officially informed a team official that he wanted to come back to Green Bay, he got a disappointed response.

"You put us in a tough situation," Favre remembered hearing.

It got ugly, fast. Green Bay hired former White House press secretary Ari Fleischer as a media consultant, as the two sides negotiated Favre's return to football. Favre isn't happy about the way he was portrayed.

"I was out there weeding and driving the tractor, and people were calling," Favre said of the time before training camp opened. "(Reporters) were getting all this stuff, and it was one-sided. When I had to talk, I talked, which made (the Packers) mad."

So when Mike Tannenbaum called and started talking about how he could hunt on the land next to the new Florham Park training facility, about how the Jets had landed Calvin Pace and Kris Jenkins and Alan Faneca, about how they'd do everything short of helicopter him over to work every day, Favre started to listen.

"I couldn't get him to shut up," Favre said. "But he sold me."

New York didn't seem to be the first option, given the relationship Favre had with Tampa Bay coach Jon Gruden. The city also has a lot of distractions - read nightlife and clubs - that Favre would like to avoid. He has gone through rehab more than once to treat an addiction to painkillers.

"If I had come here when I was almost drafted, I wouldn't be here today. I really believe that," Favre said, recalling how the Falcons picked him in the 1991 draft, one spot ahead of the Jets. "But I'm in a much better place. I'm able to handle that. I'm here for one reason and that's to play football."

Favre is the biggest thing to hit the Jets since 1965, when Joe Willie Namath flashed into town with his dimples and bad knees. The instinctive way he plays seems out of sync with the highly disciplined approach Eric Mangini takes to the game, but the two seem to realize that a good relationship is mutually beneficial.

Mangini often meets with Favre, and the two sat for dinner last Wednesday, the night before the Eagles game. Clearly, the coach isn't ready to acquiesce to all of Favre's wishes, such as playing in that preseason finale, but Favre didn't even ask Mangini face-to-face once it was clear Mangini wasn't going to do it.

But Favre does get more leeway. He said that Mangini asked if he minded running a lap if he made a mistake.

"And I said no," Favre said. "I'm all for it, whatever it takes."

Yet, it's a question Mangini wouldn't need to ask anyone else, and in an organization that doesn't like to reveal much, Favre is uniquely expressive. He weaves a story of detail and emotion, and can reveal that he couldn't get the general manager "to shut up" without having to choose his words carefully.

He's potentially that good on the field. As long as Favre brings a little magic to a Jets team that went 4-12 last season, he can be as transparent as he wants. As much as he wants to play, he couldn't give Tannenbaum a two-year commitment.

"I'm in a game-to-game mode," Favre said. " ... And once we knew the deal was going to be done, he would've liked to have a two-year commitment. I said, 'Mike, let me give you the best year I can possibly give you, and let's go from there.' I said, 'I've been down this road. At the end of this year, you guys may say, 'Thanks, it was great having you. It just didn't work out, and we'll move on.' I don't know. To sit here and even think about next year with what's in front of us right now is way premature."

It's another risk he's just not ready to take.

Reach Jane McManus at jmcmanus@lohud.com.

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

Questions abound going into NFL season

By Sam Farmer Los Angeles Times

Sunday, August 31, 2008

Pro football isn't just for the young. Not this season.

Look at the way 38-year-old Brett Favre wrenched the spotlight away from the Super Bowl champion Giants in New York. Or how Jeff Garcia, also 38, locked down the starting quarterback job in Tampa Bay. Or the pressure 37-year-old Kurt Warner put on Matt Leinart to win the starting job in Arizona.

Heading into the opening week of the NFL season, there are plenty of age-old questions.

Will the Browns and Saints ever rise?

Will the Patriots and Colts ever fall?

And will Chad Pennington ever truly find a home?

We have the questions and the answers about some of the drama unfolding for Week 1:

Why should Colts fans be as concerned about Saturday as Sunday?

Because Saturday -- Pro Bowl center Jeff Saturday -- will be a spectator when Indianapolis opens against Chicago at new Lucas Oil Stadium. As if Peyton Manning doesn't have enough concerns playing on a tender knee after sitting out the preseason, now he has to break in rookie Steve Justice.

So what's the big deal about switching out centers? He just snaps the ball, right? Tell that to former Raiders quarterback Rich Gannon, whose offense was thrown totally out of whack in the Super Bowl against Tampa Bay after All-Pro center Barret Robbinswent AWOL in Mexico and wound up missing the game.

The knee injury to Saturday, who probably will miss at least six games, could wind up hurting Manning more.

What's perfect about these Patriots?

So far, their offensive line is a perfect mess. Like the Colts, New England has a banged-up star quarterback -- Tom Brady has a bum foot -- and concerns about the men assigned to protect him.

Right guard Stephen Neal is nursing a shoulder injury and for now will be replaced by the promising but inexperienced Billy Yates. Starting left tackle Matt Light missed most of the preseason because of an injury, sitting out all exhibition games except for two series in the finale. And talented backup Ryan O'Callaghan is done for the year because of a shoulder injury.

New England's normally reliable line broke down in the Super Bowl, and there's no indication the pieces are back in place yet.

What's the most interesting Week 1 matchup?

The Jets at Miami. It will be fascinating not only to watch Favre, but to see Pennington go up against his former team. Despite his physical limitations, Pennington knows the Jets better than they know themselves. He's a competitor, and he has looked pretty good this summer.

The Jets know all of Pennington's weaknesses too. They know, for instance, he doesn't have the arm to throw to the outside on the deep outs. They know he doesn't move well in the pocket, and they'll be applying maximum pressure to rookie left tackle Jake Long, the No. 1 pick.

Is there a subplot to the Shawne Merriman story?

Yes. Merriman, who announced last week his decision to play despite two torn ligaments in his left knee, is nearing the end of his contract with the Chargers. In 2009, he'll be in the final year of that deal, and playing for either a new one with San Diego or a blockbuster contract with another team. Studies show that players who undergo reconstructive knee surgery usually see a significant statistical drop-off in their first year back. For Merriman, that first year would be 2009. That's also the contract year for three big-money Chargers: quarterback Philip Rivers, left tackle Marcus McNeill and receiver Chris Chambers. So San Diego might not even have the money to re-sign Merriman.

Maybe that didn't factor into Merriman's decision. Maybe he simply cannot resist his urge to play.

Regardless, the Chargers are firming up contingency plans, this week signing Merriman's backup, Jyles Tucker, to a five-year extension.

When will we know if the Browns are for real?

Right away. They open against Dallas, which should be one of the NFC's top teams. The Browns, coming off a 10-6 season, are looking to move beyond a shaky summer in which they lost all their exhibition games, something they hadn't done since 1972. Injuries played a big part. The offensive line took a beating, and some of Cleveland's star players were reduced to spectators. Quarterback Derek Anderson (concussion) logged only 27 plays, three times more than top receiver Braylon Edwards (cut heel). Both are expected to be ready for the Cowboys.

Who is this season's Super Bowl dark horse?

Don't overlook New Orleans. The Saints can put points on the board, and now they might have a defense to match. It was that defense, remember, that collapsed in last season's NFL opener at Indianapolis.

This off-season, New Orleans attacked the problem by trading for middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, drafting USC tackle Sedrick Ellis, and signing some talented free agents: defensive end Bobby McCray and cornerbacks Randall Gay and Aaron Glenn.

Is Favre building much of a fan base in New York?

Of course he is, starting with the guys on his new team, where idol worship is in full bloom. Some Jets sheepishly admitted they got the jitters talking to him the first time.

Favre is the first huge arm the Jets have had since Vinny Testaverde five years ago, and New York's receivers have had to adjust to catching fastballs.

Then, there's the superstar stuff. After first-year tight end Dustin Keller caught Favre's first touchdown pass, No. 4 signed it for the rookie.

Keller vowed to start a trophy case with that ball. Ah, kids.

Kentucky Jet · August 31, 2008

Favre details Jets' sales pitch Sunday, August 31, 2008 BY J.P. PELZMAN-STAFF WRITER

After Brett Favre was traded to the Jets in early August, he had a chance to speak with coach Eric Mangini, who had an interesting question for him.

Since he became the Jets' coach in 2006, one of Mangini's rules has been that a player who commits a mistake such as a penalty or a turnover, must run a lap.

Favre recalled, "Eric said to me 'Brett, if you make a mistake do you mind running a lap,' and I said, 'no, I'm all for it, whatever it takes.' "

That was only one of many revelations provided by Favre during a recent 40-minute sitdown with Jets' beat reporters.

He also shared some of the sales pitch general manager Mike Tannenbaum used when the Jets were trying to convince Favre to accept a potential trade here after he had ended his four-month retirement.

Favre said Tannenbaum told him the Jets' new training facility in Florham Park, which opens this week, "is going to be in the country. There's some deer you can hunt. We picked up [free agent left guard] Alan Faneca. We've got J-Co [wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery], we've got [wideout] Laveranues [Coles]. We've got some other really good young receivers. We've got your guy [tight end] Bubba Franks here. We've got some acquisitions on defense that are going to make us better."

Tannenbaum also told Favre, "You'll really like [coach] Eric [Mangini]. This complex is unbelievable. It's state of the art, better than anything you've ever seen. And we're going to make things as comfortable for you as possible."

"They've done that," Favre said.

Favre dismissed the proximity of New York City possibly becoming a distraction.

"I don't go out," he said with a smile. "I did [when I was younger]. If I had come here when I was almost drafted [by the Jets in 1991], I wouldn't be here today.

"I really believe that, but I'm in a much better place [now]. I'm able to handle that. I'm here for one reason and that's to play football. ... It's been hard, but I know I made the right decision."

The 18-year veteran also talked about his public divorce from the Packers, saying he was angry with how he was treated by the organization, which decided to go with Aaron Rodgers at quarterback.

"If you were a betting man," Favre said, "and you said, 'OK, who gives [Green Bay] the best chance to win right now? And this is not bragging, but I would think I would. Aaron might play great and then they all look like geniuses, but to not welcome me back, and I'm just assuming, for fear of upsetting Aaron, not only now but in the future is totally ridiculous. Totally ridiculous."

He also disputed stories he believes the Packers leaked to the media, including one in which Green Bay general manager Ted Thompson and coach Mike McCarthy reportedly chartered a plane to Mississippi in March when Favre said he wanted to return, only to have Favre then back out. Favre said it would've been a side trip for them before the NFL owners' meetings in Florida.

"They made it sound," Favre said, "like they had chartered a plane just to see me, and I had told them I was coming back, which is not true."

CHATMAN SUSPENDED: Running back Jesse Chatman was suspended for the first four games of the season by the NFL for violating its policy on steroids and related substances

The Jets reduced their roster to 53. The most prominent cuts among veterans were linebacker Matt Chatham and defensive back Hank Poteat. Also let go were seventh-round pick Nate Garner, an offensive tackle, third-year tight end Jason Pociask and second-year offensive tackle Jacob Bender.

E-mail: pelzman@northjersey.com