Those words, which are both four-letter words in Favre's vocabulary: game manager.

"I think you play the game," Favre said Wednesday before practice. "Whatever is asked of you, you do. I don't manage, but I managed the game the other day, as bad as I hate to say that."

Still, Favre was grinning as he said it, and he quickly added, "I've got no problems doing whatever it takes to win, believe me. I'm not going to leave this room and walk out and say, 'I lied to (the media) again.' All I want to do is win. That felt really good the other day."

The most impressive, and certainly most important, statistic for Favre against the Bills was the one he put in the W column. Other than that, it was a very pedestrian day for the future Hall of Famer. He completed 19 of 28 passes for 201 yards, an average of 7.2 yards per attempt. To put that into perspective, Favre's predecessor, Chad Pennington, is averaging 8.2 yards per attempt for Miami.

Favre also failed to throw a touchdown pass for the second time in three games.

Or, as he said after the game, "I didn't throw a touchdown pass, at least not to us. I hate to even laugh about that or smile."

He was referring to his one major mistake, an ill-advised pass to the left sideline that was picked off for a 42-yard touchdown by Jabari Greer.

Other than that hiccup, Favre operated a low-risk passing game that depended mostly on yards after the catch. The Jets had only two gains of more than 20 yards, and those came on Leon Washington's 40-yard reception of a screen pass, and Jerricho Cotchery's 35-yarder on a short slant pattern.

Favre said he had joked with Phil Simms about game managing in a phone conversation the day before the contest, when Simms was gathering information and background for Sunday's broadcast.

"He was just asking me about the transition (to the Jets)," Favre recalled, "how I felt like I was playing and things like that. ... I don't know how we got on the subject of managing the game or whatever, but I think we were talking about my arm bothering me or whatever. He was not asking me that. He was asking me if I've gotten a lot of questions about that. I told him yes. I said, 'Everyone thinks that my arm is bothering me so I'm managing the game, or whatever.' He knows better than that. Last thing he said, 'whatever it takes to win.' That's true, whatever it takes."

When asked if he believes the offensive unit is coming together, coach Eric Mangini replied, "I didn't think they weren't together. It's just another week in the process, another week of playing together."

And perhaps another week of the NFL's most famous riverboat gambler again playing for low stakes, especially considering that Sunday's opponent, St. Louis (2-6), allows 4.9 yards per rushing attempt.

"I'd love to throw 70-yard touchdowns and love to throw six (touchdowns) every day," Favre said, "but I'd much rather win. Believe me, I tell people this all the time -- for me, at this stage in my career, there's not one thing left out there for me to achieve."

Except to win, even if he has to be a game manager to make that happen.

SERIES HISTORY: 12th regular-season meeting. Rams lead series, 9-2. The Rams have won the last seven meetings in this interconference series. This will give you an idea of how long ago it was when the Jets last beat the Rams: the Rams were still the Los Angeles Rams, and were 12 years away from moving to St. Louis, and the game was played at Shea Stadium. It was on Sept. 25, 1983, and Jerry Holmes' 30-yard interception return set up Pat Leahy's 26-yard FG 3:22 into OT. Much more recently, St. Louis won the last meeting, 32-29, also in OT, on Jeff Wilkins' 31-yard FG on Jan. 2, 2005. The now-retired Curtis Martin rushed for 153 yards on 28 carries to win the NFL rushing title with 1,697 yards, one more than Seattle's Shaun Alexander. St. Louis clinched a playoff berth that day while New York backed into the postseason when Pittsburgh beat Buffalo.