12/13 — Every once in a while a player comes along whose media guide bio reads like a good book. This week that Jets player is J.R. Reed.

Reed played his college ball at South Florida and has spent five seasons in the NFL, four with the Eagles. He's played in 40 games with four starts. He has four career interceptions, three last season with the Birds.

That's the mundane, football stuff.

Reed has been an avid football trading card collector since 1989. His favorite card: childhood hero Barry Sanders.

He's invested in solar panels for his house and a hybrid car. "I want to be as efficient as possible and I don't want to be a part of the problem of global warming," he said.

At the age of 25, he started learning how to play the piano.

But as interesting a guy as Reed is, he's all about football now. I talked with him in the locker room a few days ago, right after the Jets signed him as a street free agent.

Card-collecting? "I still collect certain players, but not as much as before," he said.

Piano? "Right now I'm not taking lessons. I'll pick that up again in the off-season."

"My football philosophy? I don't really have one," he said. "My philosophy is usually the coaches' philosophy. I have to see where I fit in and take it from there. I'm just trying to learn special teams right now."

There is no guarantee that Reed will play as a Jet, no timeline for when he'll play. But two more mundane football facts that may pique Green & White fans' interest if and when he gets on the field.

He's been known to make a few teams tackles over the years, including a healthy 20 in 2004 for the Eagles.

And he came into the league as a fourth-round draft choice.

Bills' Special Challenge

A big reason for the Jets to be wary of Buffalo is the ongoing excellence of their special teams.

"That's really been as consistent as can be for as long as I can remember," head coach Eric Mangini said this week. "They do an excellent job on special teams. They have two outstanding kickers, really good returners, good scheme and a core group of teams players. Terrence McGee, he's an unbelievable returner and he's not even bringing the kicks back. That shows you how loaded they are there."

Team-wise, Buffalo is second in the NFL in kickoff return average, second in punt return average, 10th in net punting average, and second in kickoff return average defense, something that will impact on Leon Washington's

Individually, rookie Leodis McKelvin, with his league-leading 29.4-yard kickoff return average, is the reason McGee is concentrating on starting CB, while young veteran Roscoe Parrish tops the AFC with a 13.3-yard punt return average. Brian Moorman is the aforementioned punter, Rian Lindell the kicker.

Lindell is experiencing his least-accurate season of field goal kicking (25-for-32, 78.1 percent) since 2003. Part of that was his miss against the New Yorkers from 53 yards in Game 8 at Buffalo. It was the first missed placement of his career against his division rivals, which means that from 52 yards and closer for his career vs. the Jets, he's never missed a placement (17 of 18 FGs, 22 of 22 PATs).