11/19 — Variations on the concept were heard throughout the Jets locker room after their 19-16 smelting of the Steelers on Sunday, references to "complementary football" and "collective effort."

And there was no bigger under-the-radar contributor to the collective effort of the win than Marques Tuiasosopo.

Marques? The third quarterback? How did he chime in?

Why, all last week "Tui" played the role of "Big Ben."

"Offensive guys don't watch tape of the other team's offense, but I've seen Ben play — it's kind of similar to the way I play," Tuiasosopo said of his show-team role of impersonating Pittsburgh QB Ben Roethlisberger. "So during practice, if the pass route was open, I'd throw it. If it wasn't, I'd just run up, run around and try to give the defense a good look."

Normally, the first "D" plays touch football with the red-shirted show-team QB, touching him down to end a play. But the 6'5", 240-pound Roethlisberger is so big, strong and instinctive that, in head coach Eric Mangini's terminology, he often "extends the play" with a "second play" because he often shrugs or bounces off of tackle attempts.

So the rules of engagement for "Big Tui" were changed last week.

"When a guy touched my jersey, I kept going," he said. "The coaches just told me to play it how you feel it. If it was open to the left, I went left. If it was open up the middle, I went up the middle. If it was open right, I went right."

Not all the Jets appreciated the Tui rules.

"I actually got mad at him," S Kerry Rhodes said. "I yelled at him, 'Ben's not going to run around that long.' "

"That dude was running everywhere," DE C.J. Mosley said. "He got touched by three pairs of different hands, I heard three different whistles, and he didn't stop. He actually may have thought he was Big Ben."

But the consensus was that Tuiasosopo did a great job. Even at 6'1", 220, his Roethlisberger was as impressive in its way as Frank Caliendo's John Madden. And the proof was in the seven sacks of Roethlisberger.

The Jets hadn't dropped a QB as much since they took down Drew Bledsoe seven times against Buffalo in 2003. The last time they had more in a game was when they sacked Phil Simms — coincidentally the CBS analyst for Sunday's game — eight times in beating the Giants in the 1988 season finale.

And interestingly, the last time the Jets sacked an individual at least six times in a game, that QB was Tuiasosopo, when he led Oakland into the Meadowlands for one of his two pro starts late in 2005.

Now as a member of the Green & White, he has yet to play a regular-season down. But he keeps an upbeat temperament and pitches in wherever he can.

"Not everyone plays a part on gameday, but a lot of people play a part during the week," he said. "This feels good for everybody. A lot of guys played great out there today. They put the time in by studying and preparing themselves. And for us to win, it feels good for the guys that don't play."

Players of the Game

Mangini, at his afternoon news conference that began a few minutes ago, named his players of the game. Tuiasosopo was his practice player of the week, which the coach reminded "is always the most important award." The others: Offense—Thomas Jones; Defense—Shaun Ellis; Special Teams—Brad Kassell.

Inside the Jets

The guests lined up for tonight's "Inside the Jets" are DE Kenyon Coleman and G Adrien Clarke. Host Bob Wischusen kicks it off from Charlie Brown's restaurant in Garden City, N.Y., at 7 p.m.