"I would have liked to have played some more (in the preseason)," he added. "Each year, you get a little bit older (and) it gets a little bit tougher. ... I can be in great shape and I'm (still) going to get tired. If I have to scramble, I'm going to get tired. If I have to scramble, expect a draw the next play. So the secret's out, but I feel OK."

"I'd be lying if I said I was completely comfortable (with the playbook)," he added, "but I feel really confident in what we have in right now. (It) may be a little bit less than what they would have had in had I not come here. Believe me, each and every playbook across the league, you can go to bat with a lot less than what they put in. ... It just comes down to execution."

--Coach Eric Mangini announced Monday what had been rumored for a week, that special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff is returning to the sidelines for the Jets. Westhoff retired at the end of last season for medical reasons.

In February, Westhoff had surgery on his left leg for the ninth time since 1988, when a cancerous tumor was discovered on his femur.

"It was ground-breaking surgery," Mangini said, "and his recovery is well ahead of schedule. ... It's great to have him back."

With Westhoff leaving for medical reasons after the final game of the 2007 season, the Jets hired Chicago assistant special teams coach Kevin O'Dea in February to become their new coordinator. Mangini said he and Westhoff "really hired (O'Dea) together. Kevin understands the situation and is very much excited about the opportunity to work with Mike and has a tremendous amount of respect for Mike as well."

Mangini added that Westhoff's rehiring "is in no way an indictment against Kevin. ... Mike and Kevin will work together."

In practice, Westhoff appeared to be calling the shots with the special teams, barking out orders and yelling after mistakes while O'Dea stood nearby.

--Before returning from his retirement, Westhoff attended several Miami practices during training camp as a guest of football boss Bill Parcells. Coach Tony Sparano wasn't too happy about that in hindsight, saying, "Had I known that he was under contract (to the Jets), I wouldn't have allowed him out at practice."

But he added that "it's no big deal," downplaying any potential secrets Westhoff might have gleaned from those public practices.

--The Jets have begun practicing in their sprawling, new 224,000-square foot, 27-acre training facility, which also has an 11,000-square foot weight room and five regulation-sized football fields.

"This is a great place," safety Kerry Rhodes said, "but now we're back to work. It's all good to look at and it's good to talk about, but now it's time to work and get back to what's at hand and that's Miami."

"I don't think the other teams really (care) that we're in a new building," linebacker Eric Barton said. "(But) it will help us prepare and we've got state-of-the-art stuff, but we've still got to practice and play football."

BY THE NUMBERS: 28 -- Times the Jets have opened on the road since the 1970 AFL-NFL merger. They are 10-17 in those games, but won their last season opener on the road, beating Tennessee 23-16 in 2006 in coach Eric Mangini's first game.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "You want a guy who has a hand in upper management. That was a no-brainer, I'm sure, for the offensive guys. Brett can go upstairs and talk to Eric (Mangini) pretty easily, but aside from all that, Brett is a good leader." -- LB David Bowens, on Brett Favre being named one of the Jets' offensive captains by his teammates.