"People look for excuses right now," Leon Washington said. "And I'm sure Brett would be the one who wouldn't make excuses for himself. He's not that type of player. Even though Brett was hurt late, I feel like we still had opportunities to go out and win football games. That's the bottom line. We didn't take advantage of our opportunities."
"Did he make us better? Definitely," said guard Alan Faneca. "He came in and changed our offense and made us do some things that we weren't able to do. I think he did a lot of positive things."
That was a sentiment echoed by Mangini during his disappointed postgame remarks.
"Brett's a Hall of Fame player," the coach said. "He's got great energy. He's a great professional. He brought all of those things to the team. I think a lot of people learned things from him. I think we're a better team for him being here. I appreciate the relationship we had and the one he had with the team."
Everyone has opinions on what Favre should do, but what he will do will be influenced by only a few folks him, his family, the Jets leadership. If there is to be a Jet Favre II, so be it. The graybearded gunslinger didn't tip his hand more than what he said above, but he seems genuinely sincere about his experience here and that could be another element in his decision.
"I had a blast working with these guys," he said. "It was a lot of fun. It's disappointing where we are now, but I wouldn't trade it for anything."