"Releasing Ben was extremely difficult for me," coach Eric Mangini said, "because it's always the most difficult part of this job. You develop relationships with players over time. I have a strong memory of being in Australia with him, in Geelong, in a cow paddock with his girlfriend at the time, who is now his wife. It was pouring rain. We had one football and Graham was kicking it.

"I think it's amazing what he has done up to this point, in terms of totally changing sports and having the success he's had," Mangini added. "I just thought, at this point, it was the best thing for us right now to make the change."

Graham had 67 punts inside the 20 for the Jets in 49 games.

--After waiving Graham on Tuesday, the Jets signed Reggie Hodges to replace him on the active roster. Hodges was a sixth-round pick of St. Louis in 2005 and averaged 33.0 net yards on 41 punts for the Rams and Eagles in 2005, the last time he punted in a regular-season NFL game. He was most recently on New England's practice squad earlier this month before being waived by the Patriots.

"We had a high grade on him coming out of college," Mangini said of Hodges, who played in college at Ball State. "Watching his development over time, (I've) been really pleased with it."

Mangini said Hodges had an "outstanding workout" with the Jets on Tuesday and that he also can kick off and attempt placekicks, giving the Jets more flexibility. Mangini said Hodges will be the holder for kicks and that he "has the ability to throw the football, which gives us some opportunities in terms of fakes."

Still, the Jets signed punter Waylon Prather, an undrafted free agent from San Jose State, to the practice squad to provide Hodges some competition.

--One of Mangini's mentors is Bill Parcells, and one of Parcells' motivational gambits over the years has been to cut a player after a particularly humbling or disappointing loss.

"I'm not sure if it's a message," linebacker Eric Barton said of Graham's release, "but it just lets you know you're here to do a job and if you're not doing it to their liking, that could happen."

--In an official NFL scoring change, defensive end Shaun Ellis was credited with a sack in Sunday's game, giving him two for the season. The Jets now have eight in two games.

BY THE NUMBERS: 1 -- Number of rushing plays on which the Jets lost yardage against New England. Of course, that one play was the third-and-goal from the 1 in which Richard Seymour beat LT D'Brickashaw Ferguson and nailed Thomas Jones for a two-yard loss, forcing the Jets to settle for a field goal.

QUOTE TO NOTE: "I think we still have a way to go." -- Left guard Alan Faneca, on the Jets' offensive line.