MIAMI — Braylon Edwards’ debut with the Jets was a wildly successful one despite having only three full days of practice with his new team after the Jets acquired him in a trade last week.
Edwards’ size (6-foot-3) was immediately evident when he caught a 3-yard TD pass from Mark Sanchez in the first quarter, out-leaping Miami cornerback Will Allen for the ball.
Edwards, too, made a nice catch of a Sanchez pass over the middle for 17 yards, holding on to the ball after a hard hit by safety Gibril Wilson.
The play of the night was a leaping 34-yard catch in the fourth quarter when he out-jumped cornerback Vontae Davis on 3rd-and-22 from the 35, made the catch and kept his feet inbounds. That led to a Thomas Jones TD moments later for a 27-24 Jets lead.
Edwards finished with a team-high five catches for 64 yards and the TD.
“Everyone saw it; he’s a big-time receiver,” Rex Ryan said. “That was the one thing we did right last week — making the trade for him.”
Edwards called his Jets debut “fun,” adding, “When Jerricho [Cotchery] comes back it’s going to be a problem [for opposing defenses]. We’ll be a dangerous offense.”
Cotchery played after not practicing all week because of a hamstring injury, but he was more of a decoy, making only one catch for four yards.
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The Jets successfully executed two fake punts in the first half, both leading to scores. On the first, P Steve Weatherford ran for 26 yards. That led a TD. On the second, Brad Smith ran for 12 yards and a first down. That led to a FG. The last time the Jets executed a fake punt for a first down, Matt Turk ran 14 yards against the Patriots on Sept. 15, 2002.