Two big-name Jets, one the former Green & White head coach and the other the possibly former starting quarterback, made some comments during the day today that will be of interest to Jets fans.
Eric Mangini was introduced this morning as the new head coach of the Cleveland Browns, 10 days after it was announced he would not return as coach of the Jets.
Without breaking any new ground, Mangini acknowledged mistakes were made with the Jets. But he said he enjoyed his first head-coaching job in his three-year tenure as the Jets boss.
"I really appreciate the opportunity I was given by Terry [Bradway], Mr. [Woody] Johnson, and Mike [Tannenbaum]," he said. "I've been on the other side of that table. I've told people that we feel like it's time to go in a different direction. ... I've done that, I've made those calls. I respect the fact that they made the decision they made. The one thing I can tell you is that I appreciate the opportunity — it has been invaluable to me. I'm really excited to be a Cleveland Brown."
He said he'd like to have Jets QBs coach Brian Daboll and Raiders defensive coordinator Rob Ryan as his coordinators, "but nothing — I've only been the head coach for 12 hours — is set in stone."
Mangini also expressed good feelings about acquiring and coaching Brett Favre this season.
"Any of those decisions I was intricately involved in," he said. "I really enjoyed my time with Brett. He's obviously a Hall of Fame quarterback. He came into a really challenging situation, and I respected how important it was for him to be one of the guys and fit in with the team. I really like the time I spent with him."
Meanwhile, Favre from his Mississippi home has told ESPN's Ed Werder in a story that's out today that he's still several weeks away from deciding whether to play his 19th NFL season. But he said he doesn't feel the urge to complete any "unfinished business" from the final five games of the Jets' season, when they went 1-4 to fall from hot AFC team to out in the cold and out of the playoffs.
"I don't feel I have anything else to prove," Favre told Werder. "Do I have to redeem myself for the last five games? No. I could be trying to do that until I'm 60 years old. There is nothing left out there for me from that standpoint. I'm disappointed with the last five games, sure, but I know I did everything I could have.
"I didn't play as well down the stretch. It was probably a little bit of everything. It's hard for me, but I have to say I gave out down the stretch."
Favre didn't say definitively that his Jets days are done, but his statements made it sound as if he's moving in that direction.
"I think it would just be better for me to just thank the Jets, and I sincerely mean that," he said. "It was well worth what I invested. But I'm going to just quietly step away, if that's what happens."
Whatever's going to happen won't be announced for a month. Favre said GM Mike Tannenbaum told him he'd call him in a month. "Maybe," No. 4 said, "I will tell him my answer that day."
