It's all new to Favre

First Jets practice is an eye-opener

Brett Favre will be under center Saturday, as Jets coach Eric Mangini named him to start against the Redskins. (Associated Press)

Brett Favre stood in front of yet another throng of reporters, a towel draping his shoulders and a bead of sweat dripping from his gray-speckled hair.

The New York Jets' newest quarterback was a bit weary after his first practice yesterday.

"There were times at practice today," he said, measuring his words, "I was wondering if I made the right move."

Don't worry, Jets fans. He was joking - sort of.

"It's been difficult," the 38-year-old Favre said. "It's a pretty difficult offense to learn and I'm sure the one I've been in the last 16 years has been difficult, too. It'll take some time, but I think we'll be fine."

Leaving no doubt as to Favre's standing with his new team, coach Eric Mangini announced that he'd start Saturday at home against Washington.

"I'm not going to sit here and tell you that I've got this offense down, that I know every guy in the locker room or they know me," Favre said. "It's a routine and I'm just kind of following them. That's different for me.

"I was really surprised that today I was as effective as I was, and I'm not saying that that was good."

"Hey, he can zip it now," said wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery. "All the rumors about him throwing hard, yeah, they're true."

Favre's every completion was cheered by the estimated crowd of 10,500 delirious fans - more than 8,000 more than the Jets usually draw to practice at Hofstra.

Ryan makes debut
The Atlanta Falcons waited about eight minutes to launch the Matt Ryan era. They'll have to wait longer for Ryan's first win. Host Jacksonville rested Fred Taylor and lost three fumbles, but still had enough offense to beat the Falcons, 20-17, last night in the exhibition opener for both teams. Ryan, the former Boston College star who was this year's No. 3 overall draft pick, entered the game with 6:41 left in the first quarter and led an 11-play, 74-yard touchdown drive on his second series. He completed 5 of 6 passes for 56 yards on the drive, including a 25-yard scoring strike to Roddy White. "Matt threw me a good ball," White said. "It was a good touchdown for us and we got off to a good start." Ryan completed 9 of 15 passes for 113 yards . . . Nashville rookie Chris Johnson zipped up the middle 66 yards for a TD as the host Titans beat St. Louis, 34-13 . . . Rookie Jacob Hester (13 carries, 49 yards) scored two rushing touchdowns to make a strong case for one of the Chargers' roster spots in host San Diego's 31-17 victory over the Cowboys.

Denver's Green injured
Denver Broncos linebacker Louis Green left the field on a stretcher with a neck injury and a concussion in the first quarter of their 19-16 loss to host Houston. The 6-foot-3-inch, 237-pound Green collided with teammate D.J. Williams as they converged to tackle Texans tight end Owen Daniels. Green lay motionless for several minutes as medical staff rushed to check on him . . . Chad Pennington flipped through play charts on the sideline in his new Dolphins jersey, watching his fellow quarterbacks audition for their jobs. He also saw why Miami signed him. Visiting Tampa Bay swarmed Miami's struggling quarterbacks, and Michael Bennett had 68 yards rushing and a touchdown to lead the Buccaneers to a 17-6 win over the Dolphins in Miami.

Lions lose Wilson
Detroit Lions cornerback Stanley Wilson will miss the rest of the season with a torn Achilles' tendon. The four-year veteran was injured in Thursday night's exhibition opener against the New York Giants . . . Giants rookie linebacker Jonathan Goff fractured part of a vertebra in his lower back and will be sidelined indefinitely, said coach Tom Coughlin.