Rex Ryan was open, honest and unafraid to answer any question yesterday – almost.
The one topic the new Jets coach danced around was his quarterback situation, namely Brett Favre and whether Ryan wants him back. Ryan was complimentary to Favre but stopped short of declaring he wants him to return.
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“Anybody would want Brett Favre to be their quarterback,” Ryan said. “Not just me, but anybody. So we’ll see. All the particulars and that kind of stuff, you know, we’ll get into later. Quite honestly, I’m probably not prepared to answer that. I haven’t talked to Brett or anything yet.”
Jets owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum were effusive in their praise of Favre at the press conference after Eric Mangini’s firing. Yesterday, they did not repeat that but they didn’t back off either.
“We want Brett back,” Tannenbaum said. “I think we’ve all stated that. All of these decisions really get flushed out for six weeks heading to the start of free agency. We will definitely have a plan.”
The Jets are not setting a deadline for Favre’s decision, but they do want to get a feel for his thinking before going to the NFL scouting combine on Feb. 20.
Ryan made a joke when asked when he expected to talk to Favre.
“I plan on talking to all the players,” Ryan said. “I’ll start knocking off about four or five a day, and when it gets down to the F’s, I’ll talk to Brett.”
Favre finished last season terribly, throwing nine interceptions and just two touchdowns in the last five games. Tannenbaum said the team’s decision will be based on more than just the season’s end.
“I think if you look at the body of work over the 16-game season, he did a lot of good things for us,” Tannenbaum said. “Was it perfect? No, but there was a lot of good things that we liked.”
Tannenbaum said he had not spoken to Favre, who he said was currently hunting. That prompted Johnson to say, “When does hunting season end?”
Jets fans should wonder the same thing. The Favre question will linger until at least then.