The veteran tight end, whom Green Bay chose not to re-sign, was brought in to provide depth at the position, several days after his former teammate, Brett Favre, had announced his retirement from the NFL.

You know the rest. Favre's unretirement and subsequent trade to the Jets suddenly has made Franks in great demand as a translator of sorts.

On the sidelines during the Jets' 24-20 preseason victory over Cleveland, "Kellen (Clemens) was calling the plays," Franks said after the game, "and I was translating them into Green Bay terms (to Favre). The wording was different. I was using the terminology we had in Green Bay. Kellen did a great job, but we have a long way to go."

And a short time to get there. Favre will start the season opener for the Jets at Miami on Sept. 7.

"I came in and learned the offense quickly," said Franks, who signed with the Jets in March as a free agent after spending the first eight years of his NFL career with Favre and the Pack. "The concepts are the same, but it's just the terminology that's different."

In other words, the same pass play that is referred to by a number in Brian Schottenheimer's playbook would be called by a name in Green Bay's system.

Of course, everyone else in the Jets offense already has learned the play by its number.

Schottenheimer and coach Eric Mangini, both of whom are younger than Favre, believe it's important for the quarterbacks to get as much study as possible during the offseason.

In fact, the Jets quarterbacks reported three days earlier than the rest of the veterans last month. Favre, of course, is reporting over two weeks later.

"We're up against the clock," Favre said.

But after his practice, he said with a smile, "I've always felt like in any offense or defense throughout the NFL, there's way too much volume. The coaches have way too much free time. All I'm saying with that is you don't have to have 1,000 plays to be successful. You have to run five or 10 of them very well."

"Brett's a quick learner," Franks said, "and football is football, no matter how you draw it up. It's pretty much the same system (with the Jets as opposed to Green Bay), so he'll pick it up pretty fast. ... He's picking up on it pretty quick. I don't have to stand by him all the time now. I'm here when he needs me. Our lockers are next to each other."

"He's going to work extremely hard for the remainder of this training camp," Mangini said of Favre. "It's a little different with someone who has the experience of Brett, as opposed to rookies. He has a wealth of experience to draw from. ... There will be a lot of association with the concepts he's familiar with. We may adjust some of our terminology to fast-track him."

CAMP CALENDAR: Camp closes most likely Aug. 20 or 21.