11/20 – How is it that Brett Favre and Kerry Collins are seeing so much success nearly 12 years after the two men faced each other in the 1996 NFC Championship Game? “There’s not a lot of good younger quarterbacks out there,” Favre joked. Favre, 39, and Collins, 35, have performed at high levels, helping lead their teams to a combined record of 17-3 this season. “It’s been done before. It’s being done now. Kurt Warner is doing it as well,” said Favre. “For the most part, I don’t think there’s any substitute for age and experience. But the bottom line is being productive and winning football games, however that may be.” That idea was reinforced by Jets head coach Eric Mangini at his news conference today. “You can’t underestimate the value of experience,” said Mangini. “All the things that the older quarterbacks can bring to the table in terms of game management, keeping the group centered, keeping the group focused, I think those things are excellent things to have. And when you have young quarterbacks on the roster, they’re good examples for those guys to see how you can have longevity and how you can be successful regardless of where you are in your career.” Despite an impressive performance last season, even by Favre’s standards, some questioned the then-38-year-old's ability to adapt to a new system after arriving with the Jets after the start of this year’s training camp, following 16 seasons with the Green Bay Packers. Collins wasn’t one of them. He said on a conference call: “Brett and the things he’s done this year — under really tough circumstances, in my opinion, everything that happened in the summer, coming in and handling things the way he did and what he’s doing on the field — isn’t a surprise. “He’s a great player, obviously one of the best players to ever play the position. You know he’s going to come in here ready to play. We’ll have to be ready ourselves, but he’s a guy I’ve admired for a long time and I’m glad to see him doing the things he’s doing.” Part of why No. 4 is so beloved is the youthful exuberance he displays on the football field. “It’s not fabricated,” Favre said. “I love to play the game. There’s nothing like throwing a touchdown pass. There’s nothing like going into Foxboro and beating them when no one gave us a chance. There’s nothing like going to play the undefeated team in football right now and all eyes will be on us. "Hey, I hope we win the football game. I’m going to do everything I can, but I’m going to have fun in the process. And I hope that’s what guys take from me, that you can still do your job and have fun.” Especially earlier in his career, Favre’s playful nature was sometimes construed as having a lack of seriousness about winning. “That’s not true,” he said. “No one is as competitive as me and I firmly believe that today. No one has as much fun as me and I’ve had more people tell me that throughout my career — ‘Man, you know, we love to watch you play and your enthusiasm’ and stuff like that.” “He’s got a great way about him at the games, that poise, that confidence, all those things," Mangini said. "But during the course of the week he’s also got a very good personality in the sense that he can be focused, get his work done, but keep the group light, keep practice fun, keep the guys excited about each day. And he’s got that passion for football, that love of the game that is very contagious.” “If you find people with passion for it, you can do it for a while,” center Nick Mangold said. “Our guy has a ton of passion.” Formerly known for their big arms, both Favre and Collins have embraced the game-manager role, as long as it means winning games. In fact, Favre has the second-best completion percentage in the NFL behind Arizona’s Kurt Warner. “I appreciate every game,” said Favre. “If you talk with Kerry, if you talk with Kurt, older guys, I think you realize — I know you realize — that you’re playing game to game, and your focus is so much different than it was as a younger player. You just appreciate the moment a lot more because you realize it won’t be there forever. “I can remember playing against Kerry in the championship game in ’96, I think, and here we are facing off again. It’s rare, but I give him a lot of credit.” Favre came out on top when the two battled in the Packers' 30-13 win over the Panthers in that 1996 title game. As they head to Tennessee for Sunday's game, the Jets would like a similar Favre-led victory to give Collins and his Titans their first loss of the season.

Graybeard QBs Prepare to Do Battle Again

11/19 – OK, everyone here who thought the Jets and Titans would be a combined 17-3, occupying two of the four first-place spots in the AFC and heading into a key conference showdown in Week 12, raise your hands. One, two, three ... not that many. Jets head coach Eric Mangini wasn't saying what he thought back in September, but restating his philosophy that we're so familiar with, we shouldn't be surprised that Jets-Titans is a big game in the NFL's Sunday universe, or that so many pro football "experts" got it wrong. "At the beginning of the season a lot of things are said. In the middle of the season a lot of things are said," Mangini said at today's news conference. "It plays out the way it plays out. You appreciate all of the analysis and things like that, but it doesn't affect the day‑to‑day operation. You can't get too caught up in it." By not getting caught up in it themselves, the Jets are flying above the pack, in sole possession of first place since winning the division on the final regular-season weekend in 2002, or, if you prefer an in-season perspective, since they were 7-3 after 10 weeks of the '01 season. And while Mangini said the Jets' approach doesn't change this week no matter their perch in the division, it sure beats the alternative. "I believe in the consistency of, win or lose, the process that you have to go through, what's not working and what can you improve on," he said. "It's very easy when you win, or when you're in first place, or any of those scenarios, to brush over those things, or to not put the same level of scrutiny on those things. That's something that we spend a lot of time on is, win or lose, to have the same exact critical eye to try to improve the next game. "I think any time you're winning," he added with a smile, "it's always more fun to come to work and jump out of bed. It is, trust me." The Jets have a chance to improve to 8-3 or better after 11 games for only the sixth time in franchise history, but to do so, they have to get by the team with the best record in the league. Mangini restated a few of the reasons the Titans have been so tough in their 10 wins this season, among them: ■ They lead the NFL in turnover margin at plus-10 — "That tends to be a defining statistic," the coach said. ■ They've outscored opponents in their second halves, 127-54, for a plus-72 point margin that, as we pointed out Monday, is the best second-half margin in the league. "It just shows, one, their ability to finish games, and two, their conditioning, their discipline and things like that," Mangini said. ■ They lead the NFL in rushing touchdowns (16), have given up the fewest sacks (6) and have allowed the fewest points per game (13.1), But just like the Mangini philosophy doesn't worry about projecting winners before Game 1, it doesn't worry about the "impossible" task over knocking over an undefeated team on the road. "I think any team is inherently beatable. You see that week in and week out," he said. "The one thing that you do see is consistency from them. They don't beat themselves. They do a lot of really, really good things and a lot of sound things. They're going to put pressure on you and try to force you into a mistake. You have to be able to weather that storm, and then in turn put pressure on them to try to force mistakes." Sounds simple. And sounds like another great challenge for the Green & White just ahead. More Awards Leon Washington was named the AFC's Special Teams Player of the Week, not a surprise after he set the franchise record with his fourth career kickoff-return touchdown and averaged 44.3 yards on four returns at New England. The Jets have won 19 conference STPOW awards since 1993, but this is only the fourth for a Green & White kickoff returner. The other three were Aaron Glenn in 1998, Kevin Williams in 2000 and Chad Morton after the 2002 opener at Buffalo. Justin Miller also won the AFC Special Teams Player of the Month as a KOR in October 2006. This is Washington's first league weekly honor. This award is independent of the three sponsored league awards that fans can vote on that we mentioned Tuesday: TE Dustin Keller for Diet Pepsi Rookie of the Week, LB Eric Barton for GMC Sierra Defensive Player of the Week and Eric Mangini for Motorola Coach of the Week. And for those keeping score at home, here are Mangini's weekly post-victory player awards: Offense — C Nick Mangold. Defense — CB Darrelle Revis. Special Teams — Brad Smith. Practice Player of the Week — RB Jehuu Caulcrick.

'You Can't Get Too Caught Up' in the Analysis

11/19 – The Jets have had stability at the center position for more than a decade. Following Kevin Mawae’s eight-year run with the Green & White, New York’s AFC representative drafted Ohio State product Nick Mangold with the 29th overall selection in the 2006 draft and he’s been a line stalwart ever since. But Mangold, 13 years the junior of Mawae, doesn’t get reflective when asked about the Jets' upcoming matchup with the 37-year-old's current team, the Tennessee Titans. Jets-Titans Game Release “I don’t really think about it," Mangold said today. "When you have a guy like [Albert] Haynesworth in front of you, you really don’t have time to think about much else.” Haynesworth, the 6’6”, 320-pound defensive tackle, is considered by many to be the most dominant defensive player in the NFL. He is the star of the league’s top defense as Tennessee is limiting opponents to just 13.1 points a game. “He’s a very good player — very powerful and very quick,” Mangold said. “It’s going to be a difficult task for us to be able to do what we want and get the job done.” “You don’t have to account just for his 320 pounds coming off the ball — you have to account for his quickness,” said left guard Alan Faneca. “You just can’t fire off the ball and give everything you have. You have to account for where he’s going. And when you have to account for where a 320-pound man is going, it’s to his advantage.” This will be Mangold’s most difficult challenge to date, but it’s not like he hasn’t faced quality DTs throughout the season. When the Jets got their huge win in Buffalo, Mangold made Marcus Stroud (6’6”, 310) practically invisible, and he played very well against Vince Wilfork (6'2", 325) in last Thursday’s OT decision over the Patriots. This morning Jets head coach Eric Mangini named Mangold his offensive player of the week for keeping Wilfork at bay most of the historic evening. The Jets, whose 28.9-point average is tied for second in the league, scored 34 against the Patriots. “It was awfully kind,” Mangold said of the honor. “An offensive lineman usually doesn’t get notice for things like that, so I appreciate it. But it’s the skill guys who are making plays out there who did a good job for us.” A week after facing a front that specializes in three down linemen, Mangold and the Jets will see a four-man look from the Titans. While Haynesworth receives much of the attention, Tony Brown joins him on the interior and ends Jevon Kearse and Kyle Vanden Bosch are formidable. And the Titans also have an active group of linebackers led by former Syracuse star Keith Bulluck. “Their front four is fantastic and their linebackers are able to move around because of their front four,” Mangold said. “Once you deal with the front four, then you have to deal with the linebackers and that makes for a difficult task.” Mangold, who will receive serious Pro Bowl consideration, just quietly goes about his business each week. He’s a constant who doesn’t go underappreciated inside the locker room. “He is a smart guy. He always puts himself in the right position, which is very important at center to be able to read things,” Faneca said. “It’s not like playing left guard or right guard or tackle where you’re splitting the difference. You have to be able to put yourself in the right position by reading the defense, the 'backers and where everyone’s at.” If Mangold can hold his own against Haynesworth, it would go a long way toward a Jets victory. When the Titans have the ball, the crafty Mawae will also have his hands full with DT Kris Jenkins. SportsCenter might be dominated by the skill guys, but these are both must-see confrontations. “It’s exciting to go against one of the best players and he’s one of the best players,” Mangold said of Haynesworth. “To have that challenge in front of you is exciting.” Will the daily practice battles between Mangold and Jenkins help they young center get ready for this weekend? “Being able to go against Kris every day prepares you to go against anybody, but when you’re going against Haynesworth, I don’t think you’re ever fully prepared from practice,” Mangold said. “He is a very good player. He is a very tough adversary.” And Mangold is a rugged opponent as well. After releasing Mawae, a six-time Pro Bowler from 1999-2004, the Jets immediately found his successor and never experienced a dropoff. Jets-Titans Game Release

Mangold Continues as a Center of Attention