Transcript of Brett Favre's news conference with reporters before Wednesday's midday practice:
On being named team captain...
I'm honored. I told Eric [Mangini] yesterday I felt a little uncomfortable to be voted. I mean, I'm honored. As I told him yesterday, I feel like I need to earn it. I don't want it to be based on past performances or longevity. All those things are important, but what's important is what I do here, how I carry myself as a teammate and what type of leader I am. But you have to vote a captain, as every team does, early in the year, and I'm honored to represent this team.
On thoughts about playing against former Jets QB Chad Pennington…
No thoughts as far as Brett versus Chad. I'm sure he'll say the same thing. It makes for a good story, I guess. The bottom line is it's football. It's the Jets versus the Dolphins. I'm excited about the opportunity, but it's not me versus Chad.
On if facing Pennington will be awkward…
Not for me. Other guys may feel differently. Maybe Chad would feel a little different. If I was playing against the Packers this week, it would feel a little bit different, obviously. I think the guys in the locker room would probably be better suited to answer that question.
On if he has been informed about the AFC East rivalries…
I haven't really discussed it too much with the guys. To me, every team I play is a rival. This is what I came back for — to play. Every week presents a different opportunity and a different challenge. I've played a lot of games against the Bears, Vikings and Lions. Once again, I'm excited about this opportunity. It's a big challenge regardless of who you play.
On if he feels more pressure this year than past years as far as expectations…
Yes and no. Eric and I had that conversation yesterday. I said, "What drives me is fear of failure, not being the best." That goes for each season and each game. As much success as I've had in my career, I've never gone into the next game or the next season and said, "Whew, I've been playing well, that will continue."
I've been around other players who have had a lot of success throughout their careers. For the most part I get the same response from those guys in that there's this fear of not being at the top of your game week in and week out. I'm not saying that's right or wrong. But I think the fear of someone taking your job or not playing up to a standard that you have set should drive you. You should never rest on what you've done in the past. For me, that's about as much pressure as I can put on myself.
This is a whole different situation for me. That in itself does present some different challenges, but the bottom line is I still believe I can play at a high level. But there's that fear that I won't. So the question is, what do you do about it? I do everything I possibly can in the classroom, on the practice field, and I'm still motivated by that factor. If I play well this week, the same thing will happen next week. That's how I challenge myself each and every week.
On how confident he is with the playbook…
I'd be lying if I said I was completely comfortable, but I feel really confident in what we have in right now. It may be a little bit less than what they would have had in had I not come here. Believe me, each and every playbook across the league, you can go to bat with a lot less than what they put in. I don't know how many pass plays we have in, but we have a bunch. We won't run half of them. That's just the way it is. I could say that each year I've played. I feel confident with what we have in. It just comes down to execution.
On how comfortable he is in a Jets uniform…
I'm very comfortable. I'm kind of over that. After the first preseason game, that always feels a little different. I had so many people, family and friends, say it took a little getting used to, but it feels fine now.
On if he still gets butterflies on opening day…
Sure. If I didn't, I wouldn't be back. It's exciting. Each and every year is different. As you get older, things become a little tougher, the daily grind, things like that, but the game itself is still a lot of fun. Preparing for a team, the challenge that presents to you, studying and trying to scheme ways to beat teams, individual matchups, the fact that you're doing something that so many people would love to do and to do it for a long time — I'm well-aware of how hard that is.
Each touchdown I've thrown, each opening day, each game has always been special to me. I never took it for granted. I feel like a rookie in some respects because of the circumstances. There will be some excitement and butterflies, but I've had that each and every year. There may be a few more this time than in years past.
On if it was an accurate assessment of him being a loner in Green Bay…
That's accurate, when you keep to yourself. I was happy-go-lucky, had a lot of fun at practice. Sometimes I use the term "false chatter," but that's part of being a leader. Did I go hang out with the guys? No. I couldn't tell you where all the guys lived. I quit drinking 10 years ago. I have a family, so if I was not studying or at the stadium, I was home, or I was out either hunting or playing golf, mostly hunting. That was just a chance for me to get away and spend some time with myself and away from the daily routine.
If you want to call that being a loner. I felt like any guy on that team could come to me and ask me a question. I know they could. I would give them whatever answer I could give them. If guys wanted to watch film with me, we did watch film together. What I did away from the stadium, what does that matter really? I've got a daughter almost as old as some of the guys that came in.
Because I didn't go hang out with them and shoot pool, to me it means nothing as far as how you play. I was at practice every day. I studied film with guys. I was there for them whenever they needed me. Eight o'clock at night, I was at home reading a book with my daughter. So if that's bad, then I'm sorry. Here I haven't changed. I've been here a few weeks. I couldn't tell you where anyone lives. I couldn't tell you where I live right now or how to get there [smiles].
On if he was surprised by being named team captain…
I don't know if I'm surprised. I think based on when those sheets were passed out yesterday and guys were to vote on captains, I think the first thing that anyone would think is, he's played long and he's had the most success.
As far as being a leader, I think three weeks is a little bit unfair for guys to make that judgment. There are a lot of guys on this team who are worthy of that, not only on offense but defense and special teams. There's a lot of newness on this team. There are some guys that have been here quite a while. There are some guys that are here that have played quite a while. It's a work-in-progress throughout this season to get to know each other, to get to know the system, to get to know the environment that we're involved in.
I'm sure it was a hasty decision on a lot of people's part. Is it the wrong decision? It is what it is. There are a lot of guys who are worthy of that. I'm honored to be named captain. I'll do my best to lead this team, as far as voting a guy who is going to do everything he possibly can to help this team win, not just because I played 17 years. But, once again, you can only vote two for each side of the ball. All I can say is I'm honored to be captain.
On how he feels in terms of his conditioning…
I would have liked to have played some more, but each preseason, I don't know if I've ever played a whole game. Each year, you get a little bit older, it gets a little bit tougher. We're opening up in Miami. I know what it's like because I live in that stuff.
It's going to be difficult, but I feel OK. I can be in great shape and I'm going to get tired. If I have to scramble, I'm going to get tired. If I have to scramble, expect a draw the next play. So the secret's out [smiles], but I feel OK. I won't be perfect. I won't feel 100 percent throughout the game. I don't know if anyone will. You see it in college games, you see it in pro games. Guys come down with cramps. As the season progresses, guys get better. I'm no different.
On how much time he spends preparing for a game…
Nowadays, they have a computer. I'm sure every team can give you a computer, you can watch film at home. It's a little bit different than in years past. You almost had to stay at the stadium or at the complex and study film. Now you have all these options, so today we'll watch practice tape together, which I think is something that's vital. Every team should do it. Maybe all teams do it. Skill guys and quarterbacks watch film together. It's kind of an open forum. We'll do that after practice.
I think it's essential in knowing what Laveranues [Coles] is looking at versus what I'm looking at, how this route will complement this one. We'll sit in there and talk. Guys will bring sandwiches in. There will be open dialogue. It will be fun. We may go and watch some previous tape of what we've done in preseason or we may watch some tape of last year. Then we may watch a little extra tape after that. That's on the schedule that we have to do.
The hope is that by Eric moving practice up, guys will have more time after practice to do that together. Maybe it's Jerricho [Cotchery] and I. Maybe it's Bubba [Franks] and Bake [Chris Baker], a couple of receivers. Who knows? But the plan is to try to do that.
As far as butterflies and things, just based on the last few years, when I wake up, they're not there. I find as I've gotten older, I would love to sleep in a little bit longer, whereas earlier in my career, Frank Winters being my roommate, I would get up at 5, 5:30 because I couldn't sleep. I was like "Let's go, let's get ready." He was 6 or 7 years older than me. He's like "Shut up, go back to sleep." I'm like "How can he sleep?"
Well, I kind of feel like Frank now. Once you get to the stadium, get the equipment on, all of a sudden you go "You know what? It's right around the corner." I have people ask me all the time, when do you get excited and all that stuff. I say, "When the first guy chases me." I don't know if that's necessarily true. It's before that, but when they start chasing you for real, you'd better get excited.
On being prepared for the New York area media…
The only thing I can control is what I do in the locker room, in meetings and on the practice field. I can't guarantee anything else outside of that. That's the same thing year in and year out, throughout my whole career. I understand that most people think the odds are against me, and that's fine. If it doesn't work out, so be it. I'm not here to become a god. I'm not here to get trashed, either. I'm here to help this team win. I still think I can offer something to the game of football and to myself. That's all I can do. I hope it works out, believe me.
The Jets obviously feel they've made the right move. I feel like they've made the right move. But there are no guarantees. I don't get caught up in all the other stuff — never have. I understand it's a bigger market, but I think I've succeeded on a pretty big stage throughout my career. Maybe I've made it bigger than it would have been, but that was not my focus.
My focus is to play football, and whatever happens, happens. If it doesn't work out, I go back to Mississippi, let everyone else talk about me, and so be it, like they've done the past few years. So I'm not going to worry about that. I'm going to worry about beating the Dolphins and go from there.
