Take this with a grain of salt. It’s not my reporting but Fox NFL insider Jay Glazer says Brett Favre isn’t happy playing for Jets coach Eric Mangini. Glazer says Favre doesn’t like the more rote style of Mangini’s meetings, with player quizzes, and he doesn’t like the way Mangini talks to him about in-game decisions.

The point could be moot in a few hours, since New England has a 10-0 lead over the Bills. The wind here has let up a little bit.

I walked down to the field level just now, and the wind is really streaking through the stadium. It will definitely be a factor today. Run, Jets, run.

And I walked by the Dolphin locker room, which has a television in front of it facing the hall. It was showing a strong man competition. That’s right, the New England game is on, but looks like someone (or group of someones) isn’t interested in watching that. And no Marshawn Lynch for Buffalo. This is a day to use the running game so that undermines the Jets hopes for an upset.

I’ll update with inactives when they come out.

Jets inactives: Mike Nugent, Brett Ratliff, David Clowney, Drew Coleman, J.R. Reed, David Barrett, Cody Spencer and Bubba Franks.

Miami inactives: John Beck, Ernest Wilford, William Kershaw, Shawn Murphy, Lionel Dotson, Quentin Moses, Nate Garner and Rodrique Wright.

A lot of the Jets have a strategy for watching today’s 1 p.m. New England game—staring open-mouthed, peeking when no one is around or wearing a blindfold until the game is over. How about you? By the way, DE Richard Seymour will not play with a back injury.

Here’s the game preview I wrote for The Journal News today. I’m copying it below as well. Two things of note: Kerry Rhodes is honest and I love that and 2) he said Eric Mangini’s job IS NOT on the line.

FLORHAM PARK—While most of his Jets teammates said they would be looking at anything but the New England- Buffalo game at 1 p.m. today, safety Kerry Rhodes admitted he would be watching – and actively rooting for the Bills.

“Marshawn Lynch is my man right now; he is my guy,” Rhodes said of the Bills’ running back, who missed practice time during the week with a sore shoulder. “He’s questionable right now. I’m looking for the stats. I’m looking at the updates.”

And those aren’t the only numbers he’ll be checking. Not while he’s on the field, of course, but if Rhodes is on the sideline today when the out-of-town scores flash at the Meadowlands, he won’t be looking away.

“Maybe when you’re on the side you might glance up, I’m sure,” Rhodes said. “It’s human nature to look at what’s going on and see how it affects you.”

The stakes couldn’t be any higher. The Jets – a franchise with a history of heartbreak – will be looking tonight at either a failure of epic proportions or a redemptive berth in the playoffs.

In order to reach the postseason, the Jets must beat Miami and recycled quarterback Chad Pennington, in addition to having either New England or Baltimore lose. Since the Patriots face the Bills in a 1 p.m. game, the Jets will know whether they are playing for the AFC East title when they take the field at 4:15. But since the Ravens also play a 4:15 game, at home against Jacksonville, the Jets’ playoff hopes will be still alive regardless.

“The stakes are as high as they get, really,” Jets linebacker Eric Barton said.

Although Barton and teammate Jerricho Cotchery said they wouldn’t be watching the Patriots, that doesn’t mean they don’t feel strongly about their goal. When Cotchery was asked whether he could find some silver lining to the season if the Jets (9-6) missed the playoffs, the wide receiver sighed.

“Nah,” Cotchery said. “If you don’t make it to the playoffs, there’s nothing successful about that.

“This is the most fun I’ve had, this year. Most fun since I’ve been in the league. I had a ball with these guys. I hope a lot of the guys in here feel the same. I don’t want it to end. I still want to be around these guys and continue this thing out. I know a lot of guys feel that way.”

Pennington has found new life with the Dolphins (10-5) after being ditched for Brett Favre in the middle of training camp. The Jets beat the Dolphins 20-14 in the first game of the season, but Pennington and Co. have won eight of their last nine to put Miami in a tie with the Patriots atop the division. A win over the Jets would give the Dolphins the AFC East title.

In interviews during the week, Pennington said he bears no ill will toward the Jets. He still talks to former teammates such as Laveranues Coles on a regular basis, perhaps even about the potential for a Hollywood ending.

“As only fate would have it, this is how sports always works out, so this situation doesn’t surprise me,” Pennington said. “I pretty much banked on it. It’s a good thing. I’m excited about it; the whole team is excited about having the chance to be able to have one shot into the playoffs. That’s what you work so hard for the whole season, to get to this point to have an opportunity to play an extra game.”

Coach Eric Mangini said the Jets had an energetic week of practice. On Friday, he met with general manager Mike Tannenbaum and owner Woody Johnson after practice in the cafeteria, and the three were laughing as they packed up their trays.

Plenty have speculated that Mangini’s job could be in question should the Jets fail to make the postseason after an 8-3 start (The Bills might be playing for coach Dick Jauron’s job, too). But scenes like that have players believing their head coach is safe.

“I don’t think we’re in that situation,” Rhodes said. “I’ve been hearing a little bit about it, but we don’t get that feeling around here that that’s even the case. We’re still behind him, and from what I know, management is still behind him, so I don’t think it’s an issue right now. I think it’s more of an outside thing.”

Tomorrow as the Jets take the field against Miami, the team’s fans will have an immediate indication of how it will go. It’s the opening drive. During the five-game winning streak, the Jets scored on the opening drive each time—four touchdowns and a field goal.

The last four abysmal games, the lone TD came in the win over Buffalo and against Seattle an opening drive FG was the only score the team managed.

Here’s something I wrote up on the Jets opening drives—I really just looked at the last nine games to examine the dramatic turnaround.

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – Every week, Jets offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer scripts the plays for the opening drive. They are written up and rehearsed like lines for a play, and the success of that drive has been for the Jets a clue as to whether the performance will bring down the house or close early.

“That’s a mind-set. You want to come out, set the tempo for the game, set the tone, get some points on the board,” wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. “We’ve just got to carry that over to the other drives and continue to put those points on the board.”

A quick look at the statistics since the Oct. 26 win over Kansas City reveals how pivotal that opening series has been for the Jets.

During a five-game winning streak, the Jets scored four touchdowns and a field goal on their opening drives. In the four games since, the only opening-drive touchdown was in the win over the Bills, a 2-yard run by Thomas Jones (left, AP shot). In losses to Denver and San Francisco, the Jets came up empty to start. Last Sunday against the Seahawks, the three from an opening-drive field goal were the Jets’ only points of the game.

“I just think the coaches do a good job of putting in a nice mix during the opening plays,” right tackle Damien Woody said. “We know going into the game what the plays are going to be, so you’re already a step ahead going into the game.”

Early in the week, Jets play-callers were criticized for settling for a field goal in the Seattle game instead of going for it on fourth and-one at the 2-yard line. The drive had eaten up 78 yards on 13 plays.

Part of the critique is that the Jets don’t continue with what works on that first successful drive and don’t adjust later in the game. For example, a scheme that had fullback Tony Richardson carry the ball produced 28 yards in three plays on the opening drive at Seattle, but the Jets did not stick with him and he had just two more carries after that.

“It’s something we had talked about,” Schottenheimer said. “We actually had repeated one of the quick hitters, a fullback trap; we repeated that twice, I believe. Again, it’s one of those situations when you look at that, you have that as you build your script for the next series. It was there; we just chose to go another way, and that’s on me. I thought Tony did a great job.”

Jets coach Eric Mangini said that in the second half, a number of things have been stalling drives, including penalties and drops and failures to convert on third down.

“We’ve talked about that; we’ve looked at that. I know we’ve come out of the second half and not had as much success,” Schottenheimer said. “We basically build a script just like we do to start the game. So again, I think a lot of it comes down to we haven’t executed. I still believe we tend to hurt ourselves.”

Jets coach Eric Mangini was back at Fort Florham after a Christmas day where he could be more concerned about assembling a Lego spaceship for his three boys than with Miami and job security.

But today, he was right back to work.

The first question was about Brett Favre’s throwing shoulder. On Wednesday, Favre said he suspected there could be some type of injury there, although no medical test had been performed.

“At this time of year he’s historically been sore,” Mangini said. “So that’s not uncommon.”

Mangini said the team talked to Favre about the shoulder, but that he got the impression that the level of injury was on a par with other Decembers. He said that the Jets weren’t trying to avoid a diagnosis by holding off on a medical exam.

“I can tell you we’re always involved with the players and our medical staff are involved and there’s discussion,” Mangini said. “And this isn’t something that we’re trying to avoid.”

Mangini also said he and Mike Tannenbaum hadn’t discussed job security.

More after practice. In the meantime…

Here’s a story I wrote on kick returner Leon Washington today, in honor of the biggest returns day of the shopping year.

Update: Breaking News! Brett Favre knows all the words to “Rapper’s Delight!” SNY got footage of his extrordinarily accurate lipsynching today when the Jets played the song during warmups.

Lunch with the boss: Mike Tannenbaum, Woody Johnson and Eric Mangini were spotted having lunch in the cafeteria today. As I walked by, Mangini was talking and he and Johnson were smiling.

Injury reports: For the Jets, WR Laveranues Coles (thigh), T Wayne Hunter (shoulder) and LB Bryan Thomas (shoulder) are questionable. B Eric Barton (knee), WR Jerricho Cotchery (shoulder), LB David Harris (groin) and DE Kris Jenkins (hip) are probable. For the Dolphins: CB Will Allen (groin) and LB Channing Crowder (knee) are questionable.

Couple little presents for you this Christmas morning, which is more appropriate for Hannukah, really, so Happy Hannukah, too! First, I followed up on a comment about PSLs, and asked Jets business guru Matt Higgins if they were considering revising the cost structure. He emailed back no.

Miami quarterback Chad Pennington (AP photo) was asked how he will keep revenge from being part of his motivation on Sunday when he faces a Jets team that booted him very quickly once Brett Favre became available.

“You’ve got to realize and hopefully learn upon your past experiences that you may have had,” Pennington said. “That’s why I think the first game has helped me because there were a lot of emotions in that game. It was so fresh, it was so new.  It was a different situation.”

I read through the whole transcript and I could include more, but to be honest, Pennington plays it really close to the vest. His quotes are pretty bland, and frankly I can understand why. His Dolphins have the real possibility of turning a 1-15 team into a playoff contender as the Jets crash.

Here is my quote if I were Pennington.

“MWA HAHAHAHAHAHAHA,” said Pennington. “Happy?!? HAHAHAHAHA!”

Which is probably why I am a quoter rather than a quotee.

Practice Report from Wednesday
Dolphins practice report: CB Will Allen (groin) and LB Channing Crowder (knee) did not practice.
Jets practice report: WR Laveranues Coles (thigh), T Wayne Hunter (shoulder) and LB Bryan Thomas (shoulder) were limited. B Eric Barton (knee), WR Jerricho Cotchery (shoulder), LB David Harris (groin) and DE Kris Jenkins (hip) fully participated.

Lastly, our own Sam Borden wrote today that he didn’t see Pennington’s success coming. Columnists Bob Glauber (retire, Brett!) and Gary Myers (don’t retire Brett!) were out at the Fort and reacted to Favre’s revealing presser.

Brett Favre admitted during his weekly press conference, that from the way his body feels, he suspects the end-of-season physical will find something wrong with his throwing shoulder.

“I think the ending physical that every player goes through after the last game will shed some light on things,” the Jets quarterback said. “But we’ll see.”

He said that the Jets had not formally examined the potential injury. In the last four games, Farve has averaged a 57.95 passer rating. He has been sacked 30 times and once even fallen on by his own offensive lineman during one game. He has not been listed on the injury report at all.

“Just knowing my body there may be something,” Favre said. “But there’s no test yet to reveal anything.” Favre wouldn’t say whether he has decided to come back next year, but from the way he spoke, one could infer he isn’t thinking another year with the Jets is in his future.

“I don’t want to be chasing ghosts,” Favre said. “I feel like at certain times during this year, I thought like, hey, we might be able to get back there (to the Super Bowl). I could be sitting here telling you five years from now, hey, we’ll get back. You’ll be dragging me on the field, but we’ll be back.”

Here’s expanded audio of that quote.

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He said that he would probably sit down with Mike Tannenbaum and Jets coach Eric Mangini next week if the Jets don’t make the playoffs. Mangini said he would like to have Favre back, but Favre’s manner today did not seem like a man ready to sign up for a second tour.

“I’m disappointed,” Favre said. “I’m disappointed as everyone else in this building is disappointed. The opportunities that were presented to us, we couldn’t have asked for a better opportunity. I’m disappointed we didn’t capitalize on that, as our fans are, as everyone else is. Basically that’s what you’re seeing right now.”

Other stuff: Four days after signing Marcus Mason and cutting Jehuu Caulcrick, the Jets cut Mason and signed Caulcrick. Merry Christmas!

What talk radio? Mangini said he doesn’t listen to sports talk radio but, “The fans are passionate and I respect that,” Mangini said. “I’ve been on both sides of that passion.”

Shaun Ellis throws an snowberg and gets fined $10K by the NFL. Eric Mangini said that the league and the team can’t double dip and that Ellis will play on Sunday. I will merely point out that Ellis has been caught with marijuana and tossed an unsportsmanlike iceball at Seattle fans with nary a visible consequence from the Jets brass. (The dope arrest was disciplined internally, and somewhat mysteriously.)

Mangini likes to say he’s a stickler on character issues, but this is a DE with a couple stumbles.

Anybody care? Or is Ellis such an afterthought at this point…

Update 11 p.m.: Marcus Mason was added, Jehuu Caulcrick was cut. Thanks to Evan for tipping us to second part of the transaction which wasn’t been announced formally.

It was an emotional day for Jets fans on the New York sports talk airwaves today. It got loudest when talking about whether Jets coach Eric Mangini should be dropped in a kettle of boiling oil or drawn and quartered in front of an angry mob.

As you know, I am not a fan of violence (unless it comes to me and my roller derby team). And I’m not even sure that the Jets would have played better for a different coach. He made a few hard-to-defend calls on Sunday and that’s why he’s under a microscope.

I just want to dispel a few notions about Mangini. Critics say he is not emotional and can’t inspire the team. But he is emotional in the meetings he has with players every day before practice. He is a yeller. He will single out players for mistakes and not in a “Hey, it’s all OK,” kind of way. He is known to throw around profanities in the tradition of special teams coach Mike Westhoff.

I tend to drop the f bombs so I am not passing judgment (just want to get that on the record lest anyone reading this has ever sat next to me in a traffic jam). The point is that Mangini may be oddly still on the sideline, but he tries to motivate beforehand. Since Eric Sec. 309 asked, I’ll opine a little here. My sense is that Mangini likes and respects his players, but that it may be difficult for him to get close because he feels he needs to be a disciplinarian. Some people are motivated by fear, some by love, and Mangini uses the former.

Whether it works…

It seems to be the Bill Belichick-Bill Parcells coaching school he comes from, but it doesn’t fit his personality exactly. Mangini is actually very likable when he drops the prickly exterior. He will be a more effective motivator when he is more comfortable leading as himself, and develops deeper relationships with some of the guys in the locker room.

That’ll be $100, coach.

More concretely, Mangini talked about his job security today in his press conference. He is personally close to GM Mike Tannenbaum and team owner Woody Johnson, who said in training camp that Mangini’s job wasn’t on the line this season.

“Mike (Tannenbaum) and I get together every single day,” Mangini said. “We got together this morning. We spent time (together) on the plane yesterday. He and I see each other pretty much every single day.  Woody (Johnson) will come in throughout the course of the week and watch practice. I usually have lunch with him and talk to him at different points during the week. What we’re talking about is who we’re playing, or things we have to get done in terms of the roster, inactives, the next opponent and things like that.”

He was asked if he’d like to get a vote of confidence.

“No,” Mangini said. “What I’m looking for is to give the players a good plan to beat Miami. That’s what I’m looking for. That’s what I want to do. That’s what our focus is going to be on. That isn’t a focal point of mine at all.”

Mangini didn’t sleep last night. Apparently that’s normal for him between the newborn at home and the colicky job in Florham Park.

He may not lose his job this year, but he lost a lot of the fans on Sunday. Fear isn’t going to bring them back, and he hasn’t inspired their love.

The Jets lost to Seattle in the snow, 13-3 and are 9-6 with one game left in the regular season. Jets coach Eric Mangini looked disappointed in the post-game presser, and quarterback Brett Favre (below, AP photo) looked disjointed. He seemed utterly confounded by what had just happened, and couldn’t explain what happened to the 8-3 team that beat the Titans.

“If we could play like we did against New England and Tennessee every week, boy, we’d be hard to beat,” Favre said. “But I don’t have all the answers. And after those two games it would be easy to say, ‘Boy, yeah, we’re good’ and all this stuff. We’re the same team. We’re the same guys, the same guys in practice. Believe me, every guy in that locker room is disappointed. If we didn’t know any better, if we were naïve to what we had in our grasp and what we’ve let go, then it really wouldn’t matter. You see players come and go all the time but didn’t realize the opportunity they had. I think this team really does realize it.”

In order to make the playoffs, the 9-6 Jets have to beat 10-5 Miami and 10-5 New England or the Ravens have to lose. Favre said that what made it hurt more was being so acutely aware of what the stakes were at each stage in the game.

“This team is well aware of what opportunities have been in front of us,” Favre said.

That said, Favre could have hardly played worse. He was 18 for 30 with no touchdowns and two interceptions and a 48.7 passer rating. Favre was also sacked four times. He also looked indecisive at times before throwing, needing more time in the pocket that the O Line just couldn’t provide. He has (as Joe B likes to point out) 19 interceptions on the season.

In the last four games, Favre has not looked like a player about to find a second wind.

As for Mangini, he has come out at time steely or angry, but I haven’t seen him look as beaten as he did after the loss to Seattle.

“Like we talked about a few weeks ago, there are no shoo-ins, there is nothing guaranteed,” Mangini said. “The only thing guaranteed is that you have the opportunity to go play good football each week, as we had the opportunity to do.”

He might want to pull down the shades and keep the radio off tomorrow, because he is going to be picked apart for certain calls. The decision to settle for a FG on 4th and 1 in the first drive. Not letting Jay Feely take a second FG attempt after the delay of game. And the decision not to punt late in the game on 4th down.

Mangini said he thought his players had a good week of practice leading up to the game, but this loss makes it 0-4 on the west coast.

“I don’t know that collapse is the right word,” Damien Woody said. “But I just know we didn’t finish the deal. We didn’t finish the deal. That is the easiest way that I can comprehend this thing. It was all right there in front of us, but we didn’t close the book on this thing. All we had to do was take care of our business. Like I said, we don’t have anyone else to blame but ourselves. Now we are in a situation where now we have to wait and see; we still have to win next week. Even if we win, we still have to wait and see what happens. It is frustrating.”

As for this week, the Jets have not yet released their Christmas schedule. The Giants have already given the players and media Christmas Day off, but the Jets are in a holding pattern before they release that information. Green = Grinchy on this one.

Update: The Jets won’t be flexed into prime time this week. Broncos at Chargers got the nod.