The wide receivers and tight ends aren’t the only Jets who have had their practices altered since Brett Favre’s arrival. The defense – and secondary, in particular – has been put on notice.
Darrelle Revis knows that for every long pass Favre, his new teammate, completes, plenty of eyes will be on the defensive back that got burned.
“He doesn’t just improve the offense,” the second-year cornerback said yesterday after watching Favre in action in his second day of practice with the Jets. “He brings us up, too, because we’re going up against a guy that can tear a defense apart.”
Favre doesn’t have the arm he once did and is still only in the early stages of learning the Jets offense, but he has shown glimpses of what he’s capable of. Revis and his fellow members of the secondary want to keep them to just that: glimpses.
“We have to try and outplay him,” Revis said. “If we can do that, we’ll definitely be better off on Sundays.”
But they still figure to be in for some tough moments during practice.
“It adds extra pressure on the DBs down the field,” coach Eric Mangini said. “In terms of the corners and safeties, you’d better get back and have the correct depth because the margin for error is pretty small.”
Safety Kerry Rhodes has seen Favre in action during games before and has seen how dangerous he is.
“You can’t make any mistakes,” Rhodes said. “You slip, he’s getting the ball there quick. It could be a disaster.”
Still, they realize that it’s better to have those problems against a teammate during the week rather than versus an opponent during a game.
“I’m just happy to have him on my team,” Revis said. “You see some of the balls he throws and you think, ‘Wow, how’d he get it in there?’ Then you see it’s one of your teammates who caught it and that makes you feel better.”