New coaching regime, new starting quarterback, new look, but the Jets are still haunted by the ghost of old Brett Favre.
In the aftermath of the future Hall of Famer’s admission that he played the final few games last season with a torn biceps tendon in his right arm, the Jets are facing disciplinary action from the NFL — likely a hefty fine — for not having listed Favre on the team’s injury report.
General manager Mike Tannenbaum yesterday stepped forward and accepted blame for the cover up, saying Favre should have been listed as “probable” in the season’s final 4-5 weeks as the Jets were trying to secure an AFC playoff berth.
“As the general manager of this team, I should have handled that differently and listed him on the report,” Tannenbaum said. “We did not, just because he was not getting treatment every day, and we knew he was going to play.”
More troubling for Jets fans might be the idea that Favre was allowed to play during that stretch. With Favre’s fastball lacking its usual zip, the Jets went 1-4 over the final five weeks to miss the playoffs for the third straight year.
Favre revealed the details of his injury earlier in the week in explaining why he might not play all 16 games for the Vikings this season. He indicated that Tannenbaum, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer and quarterbacks coach Brian Daboll all thought he should play through the injury.
“Brett Favre at 85 percent is better than most — myself included,” backup quarterback Kellen Clemens said. “Not to mention, he’s Brett Favre. He probably would have had to be in a wheelchair or something.”
But Favre indicated the injury was severe enough that he questioned whether he should be playing. Nevertheless, Tannenbaum said the team has no regrets on the situation.
“This was a decision we made collectively and Brett was part of it,” Tannenbaum said. “We just felt like he gave us the best chance to win. That was based on how he was playing and how the team was doing. Again, he was a part of that decision.”
Former head coach Eric Mangini told reporters in Cleveland that Favre’s injury wasn’t to blame for the Jets’ collapse last season.
“With that whole part of the season, I made decisions I thought were best for the team at that time,” Mangini said. “You take all the information in and you move forward with it. There were a lot of things that I could have done better.
“There were a lot of things the coaches could have done better, and there are a lot of things as players we could have done better. I don’t think winning or losing is ever going to come down to one guy — it’s a cumulative thing.”
Of course, the injury report cover-up would seem to include Mangini’s fingerprints. Unless you’re naive enough to believe a head coach who is too paranoid to announce the name of his starting quarterback with the Browns just considers it an oversight that Favre’s injury wasn’t released to the public.
“I can tell you, we always fill out the injury report by the guidelines set through the NFL,” Mangini said. “That was true there. It’s true here and it will be true every week of the season.”
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The Jets signed free-agent fullback Jason Davis to the practice squad and released safety Emanuel Cook. Last season, Davis split time between the Bears and Raiders, playing in six games.