Results tagged “brettfavre”

The Jets finally finished with Brett Favre this week when they were assessed a fine of $75,000 for not placing him on the injury report last season as required by NFL rules. The only reason this issue ever came to light was Brett Favre decided to tell everyone he was really hurt last season and that was the reason he played so poorly down the stretch.

Oh Brett Favre, you just couldn't take seeing another quarterback celebrated on the back pages, could you? While the Mark Sanchez to the Jets honeymoon has barely gotten a chance to have its first pregnancy scare, the team announced last night that it's giving "retired" quarterback Brett Favre his full release upon his request. Of course we put retired in quotes because it was less than a year ago that Favre called off his first retirement and ended up coming to the Jets in a trade. The release gives him even more freedom than he had with the Packers a year ago when he had expressed interest in playing for the Vikings—a move Green Bay was not willing to accommodate. Could Favre unretire and head for the Land of 10,000 Lakes? In a statement, the quarterback said that "(GM Mike Tannenbaum and I) have been talking about this for a while. Nothing has changed. At this time, I am retired and have no intention of returning to football." At this time. A source close to Favre told the News that he "wants to keep his options open." At least the release assures that he'll be somebody else's problem.

ESPN reports that Jets quarterback Brett Favre "has instructed agent Bus Cook to inform the New York Jets Wednesday that he plans to retire." We're sure Woody Johnson liked finding about that by reading ESPN.com! After a lot of excitement about the legendary quarterback heading to Gang Green—and early dreams of heading to the Super Bowl—the season dissolved into recriminations and the firing of coach Eric Mangini. Favre sent an email to ESPN's Ed Werder: "Mike and Woody, as well as the entire organization, have been nothing short of outstanding. My teammates -- Thomas and Kerry included -- were a pleasure to play with. Eric [Mangini] could not have been any better. I enjoyed playing for him. My time with the Jets was short, but I'm honored to be given that chance.'' So, now it's up to Kellen Clemens?

Rex Ryan stepped to the podium and announced that he expects his team to meet President Obama in the next few years as Super Bowl winners. It was the start of an entertaining and feisty press conference from a coach who clearly doesn’t lack confidence and learned a number of lessons from his father, Buddy. Ryan was not as confident on other burning topics. While saying that “Anybody would want Brett Favre to be their quarterback,” he did add, “All the particulars we’ll get into later. The rest of it, I’m not prepared to answer.” He mentioned assistants from Eric Mangini’s staff who would be joining his, but admitted he still needs to talk to Brian Schottenheimer.

The Jets are making a huge mistake leaving the door open for Brett Favre to return to the team. Besides the various reports that Favre was a divisive figure in the locker room, his presence is a major hindrance in the Jets search for a new coach. Already Bill Cowher has turned down the Jets and the guess here is that other veteran coaches will stay away from the team because they do not want to be saddled with possibly having to deal with Favre and all the questions that go along with him.

Earlier this week, Jets running back Thomas Jones was on Hot 97, where Mister Cee wanted to know what Jones felt about "Brett Favre throwing the team under the bus"—and Jones let him know. He said, "We're a team and we win together ... but at the same time, you can't turn the ball over and expect to win... The other day, the three interceptions really hurt us. I mean, that's just reality. If I were to sit here and say, 'Oh, man, it's OK,' that's not reality. ... I don't like it, I know everybody else on the team doesn't like it.

The results of Jets quarterback Brett Favre are back, and sources tell ESPN that he was "told by doctors that pain in his right shoulder is from a torn biceps tendon and some calcification in the area, but the New York Jets quarterback would need nothing more than arthroscopic surgery to repair the injury." In fact, Favre could "might be able to avoid an arthroscopic procedure altogether if he decides to play a 19th NFL season." The Jets have made it clear they'd love to have the 39-year-old for another season—hell, the Post even headlined its sports back page "WOODY FOR BRETT," a nod to Jets owner Woody Johnson's fondness for Favre. On the coaching side, the Jets are still hoping to talk to former Steelers coach Bill Cowher. A source told Newsday earlier reports that Cowher didn't want to talk to the Jets were unfounded: "We have gotten no indication from him that he would not take the position based on the front office power structure."

Yesterday, the Jets' firing of coach Eric Mangini brought some satisfaction to fans and sports writers. But owner Woody Johnson's and general manager's apparent inclination to keep aging quarterback Brett Favre has some scratching their heads. The Post's Steve Serby writes:

If Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum are really serious about staying with Favre and a right arm that needed an MRI yesterday, a scattershot right arm that will be 40 years old in October, then they aren't moving forward. They are being held hostage to a pipe dream that our favorite Hall of Fame icon can go Pack to the future and remain forever young, and they are holding their next head coach hostage to that pipe dream as well while Favre holds them all hostage with his Shakespearian lament, To Play Or Not to Play?

Score one for all those Jets fans who thought the 8-3 record and first place in the AFC East were both too good to be true. The Jets now sit at 9-6 and need a win against Miami at home and some help to make the playoffs just weeks after looking like a true contender in the AFC.

    

Eli Manning will be in the same Pro Bowl as his brother Peyton. History is made! (But how does Matt Ryan feel about Eli's inclusion?) The Giants will send six to Hawaii, including both punter Jeff Feagles and placekicker John Carney. Combined age? 86. Their vaunted defense will have only one representative in Justin Tuck. That seems funny. The Giants' stellar offensive line did get some love. Guard Chris Snee will start, and center Shaun O'Hara will be a reserve.

Talk of the Jets juggernaut's rolling to the Super Bowl lost some of its volume last week after a sloppy loss at home to Denver. But New England lost at home to Pittsburgh, and that means the Jets hold their one-game lead in the AFC East. Guess which teams have the easiest schedules the rest of the way? That's right, the Patriots and the Jets, in that order.

If a win against the banged-up New England Patriots is a statement game, what would a road victory over the undefeated Titans be for the Jets? Wouldn't they love to find out! The Jets travel to Nashville to face the team that ripped off their old nickname in a battle that could be a playoff preview. The Titans are 10-0 and do it with a ground game, a controlled Kerry Collins and a stout defense. The Jets are 7-3 and do it with some strong defensive play, a ball-control offense built around a rebuilt offensive line and an easy schedule.

• Jets 34 Patriots 31 (OT): Before the game you could have debated if this was a must-win for the Jets. But after taking a 24-6 lead Thursday night, the Jets had no choice but to win this game. New York took the opening drive down the field for a touchdown and then exchanged field goals with New England to end the first quarter with a 10-3 lead. After another Patriots field goal, Leon Washington returned the kickoff all the way to put the Jets up 17-6. Brett Favre added a touchdown pass to make it 24-6 with just over five minutes remaining in the first half.
  Continue reading "Last Night's Action: Phew"

Forget for a second that the teams don't like each other and that the coaches, who once formed a famous mentor-protege relationship, now can't bring themselves to cordially shake hands at the end of games. For once, the bickering and dislike can take a backseat to football. For once, the Jets are a worry to the Patriots. The winner of Thursday night's game will have sole possession of first place in the AFC East and the inside track to the division title. If the Patriots win, they will sweep the season series from the Jets -- they also won in Week 2 -- and have a firm hold on the driver's seat.

Playing in the AFC East was once thought to be tough. But New England's Tom Brady out for the year and the NFL's schedule rotation has the division against the two weakest in football -- the NFC and AFC West. That makes things a lot easier. As Bill Simmons said, the NFL did everything for the AFC East except schedule Columbia and Georgetown. The Jets' last easy game for a while comes Sunday against St. Louis, which will be without its talented tailback, Steven Jackson. After that, it's off to New England and then Tennessee before facing Denver at home.

Well, maybe the Ravens. But the Jets, despite their winning record, have looked generally dismal in the past several weeks. Other than its 56-point performance against Arizona, Brett Favre's offense has been mediocre. To make matters worse, their schedule, to this point one of the easiest in the league, is about to get a whole lot tougher. If the Jets don't stop playing down to their competition -- if that's really what they have been doing against the Bengals, Raiders and Chiefs -- the playoff bubble will burst. Favre or offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer deserves a lot of the blame. The quarterback is tied for the league lead in interceptions and is putting up worse numbers in almost every category than Chad Pennington. Ouch.

     

The first five times the Giants reached the red zone they settled for less than a touchdown. Four times they settled for a field goal and once they turned the ball over on downs. But, their defense was giving Pittsburgh fits. In the fourth quarter with Pittsburgh driving, the Giants forced an interception and converted into a field goal to cut the Steelers’ lead to 14-12 and setting up the critical sequence in the game.

They were supposed to win last Sunday against an inferior Oakland team, but the Jets lost a heartbreaker in overtime. At least they were on the road in that one. New York will have no such excuses when it hosts Kansas City on Sunday. They'll be playing an even worse team at home, and, to make matters even easier, will be facing third-string quarterback Tyler Thigpen. Brodie Croyle and Damon Huard, the Chiefs' top two signal-callers, are out for the year with injuries.

Sometimes coaches outsmart themselves. With the Jets trailing by three late in the fourth quarter, Brett Favre drove them down the field and into position to attempt a very distant field goal (52-yards). Jay Feely lined up and kicked the ball, but it hit off the upright. Luckily, for New York, the Oakland coaches had called a time out to try and “ice the kicker”. With a second chance, Feely made a correction in his kicking motion and knocked it through to send the game to OT.

Name the worst teams in the NFL, and chances are the squads picked will appear on the Jets' schedule. Bengals? Check. Chiefs? Later on. Same with the Rams. This week's foe: the mighty Raiders, who are 1-4 and on their second coach this season. The only thing the Raiders are good at is running the ball -- they're fourth in the league. They're toward the bottom in everything else, including 24th in defense. With Brett Favre leading the charge, the Jets could be in for a fruitful passing day.

Thomas Jones scored all of two touchdowns -- one rushing and one receiving -- last season. In Sunday's 26-14 win over the Bengals, he found the end zone thrice. The win wasn't as convincing as some may have hoped, especially since Cincinnati was without Carson Palmer, but as Brett Favre said, “I don’t believe in ugly wins. That one felt as good as any win I’ve been a part of in recent memory.”

Jets coach Eric Mangini gave his newborn son the middle name "Brett" after quarterback Brett Favre. Zack Brett Mangini, 7 pounds and 13 ounces, was born on Friday, which is also Favre's birthday! Mangini apparently promised to bestow Brett on his unborn child when the Jets were wooing Favre, who said, "The odds of the child being born on the same day as my birthday, I don't know what the odds are ... The odds, in some respects, are a lot like me. What were the odds of me ever coming to the Jets?" Mangini's two other sons' middle names are also related to football: Son Jake Harrison's middle name is after New England safety Rodney Harrison (Mangini worked for the Patriots) and Luke Wiliam's middle name is after Pats coach Bill Belichick. Gang Green faces the Bengals today at 1 p.m.

Things are going well in Jets land. Eric Mangini's wife had a baby. The child has the middle name of Brett and shares a birthday with the Jets' starting quarterback. The team is coming off a bye its biggest offensive output in recent memory. To make things better, the 0-5 Bengals that are coming to face them will be without Carson Palmer thanks to an elbow injury. So a team that made the Cowboys and Giants sweat will instead truck out Ryan Fitzpatrick, who went to Harvard. This game, which precedes games at Oakland and against Kansas City, could be the start of a winning streak.

When ESPN secured this game for Monday Night Football, the network couldn't have dreamed that it would be a Brett Favre showcase. It also wouldn't have bet that the Chargers would be 0-2 after losing two of the most heart-wrenching games possible. The 1-1 Jets will be facing a team that all but needs a win to keep its season alive.