05/18 — Herm Edwards offered a Green & White mea culpa to the Kansas City Star earlier this week and it involved Jerricho Cotchery.

"The worst thing I did when I was in New York was draft Jerricho Cotchery," Edwards said. "He never got on the field for me. Only bits and pieces. Now he’s playing and playing very well and doing what he was doing in practice when I was there. We just didn’t play him enough. I’m not letting that happen again.”

I remember Edwards saying something similar late in the 2004 season, after Cotchery, then a rookie, broke his kickoff-return touchdown at St. Louis. Then in August 2005, the coach said this: "Jerricho is a guy, when he gets the ball in his hands, can make plays. I like his attitude. I like the way he plays football."

Here are some trends in Cotchery's first three regular seasons with the Jets (3DC are third downs converted):

Well, what can you do? In 2004, the Jets had Santana Moss and Wayne Chrebet and had just traded for Justin McCareins. In '05, Laveranues Coles replaced Moss, and Cotchery could have played more, but the Jets would have needed more than that to stave off the 4-12 season. And last season, under head coach Eric Mangini and coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, No. 89 achieved liftoff.

Jets fans can only hope Coach Herm doesn't find and develop many Cotcherys in Kansas City this season before the Chiefs come to the Meadowlands for the Dec. 30 regular-season finale.