HEMPSTEAD, N.Y. -- Brett Favre threw a limited number of passes for the second straight practice Thursday, a day after the New York Jets quarterback said his arm felt "fatigued."
The 38-year-old Favre said his rocket right arm was "kind of dragging a little bit" Wednesday, but not sore, after the team's morning practice. While neither he nor the team were too concerned, Favre took noticeably fewer snaps in the evening practice after talking to coach Eric Mangini about limiting his throws. He again took it easy Thursday.
While the Jets focused primarily on red-zone situations, Favre showed good zip on his passes but threw nothing too far downfield. One of his longest tosses of the day -- about 25 yards -- was thrown off his back foot and intercepted by Kerry Rhodes.
"We tease him and he goes, 'I'm a little bit fatigued like we all are,' but I say, 'Yeah, but you're old,"' offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said with a chuckle. "He laughs, but he's doing good."
Favre was acquired from the Green Bay Packers last week, and has been practicing with the Jets since Saturday. He's set to start Saturday's preseason game against the Washington Redskins, and Mangini said he expected Favre to take eight to 12 snaps.
"It's hard to say it's going to be this number hard and fast and that's what we're sticking to," Mangini said. "Usually, you're trying to get 10 or 12 reps. That would probably be somewhere around it, but I don't have it set."
Favre, who got the day off from speaking to the media, handed off for touchdowns on consecutive series in 11-on-11 drills. He spent a lot of time watching the other quarterbacks run the offense, and talking with Schottenheimer.
"There's been a lot going on and there's been a lot of things he's had to get acclimated to, whether it's finding the lunch room or learning the playbook or studying film and all that stuff," Schottenheimer said. "He's doing a really, really good job. I'm really pleased."
Wide receiver Jerricho Cotchery spent a few minutes talking with Favre off to the side after they finished a series. He said there's been no dropoff in the velocity of his quarterback's passes.
"He looks the same because everyone out here is kind of tired and beat up right now, physically and mentally," Cotchery said. "So we don't even notice it. Maybe someone that comes in here with fresh legs would notice it, but none of us do."
Chansi Stuckey has developed a good rapport with Favre, catching a number of passes from the three-time league MVP in practice.
"He's still throwing everything with a zip," Stuckey said. "He looks like Brett. And all that aura around him and how he throws the ball, that's all true. He's looking great and I just know that he's played for so long and knows how to take care of his body. Whenever one comes my way, I just try to catch what I can."
One of the most difficult challenges Favre has acknowledged is learning the terminology of a new system.
"I think he sees the play, but sometimes it doesn't come off his tongue maybe as fast as he wants it to because he's doing it one way for a long time, but you definitely see him making strides," Schottenheimer said. "Before when you had to repeat it two or three times, now you do it one time and he looks at you and goes, 'Yeah, I've got that."'
Schottenheimer said Favre has already begun calling audibles at the line of scrimmage, checking down and running the hurry-up offense -- all clear signs that he's becoming more comfortable with his new team.
"A lot of playing the position is you see something," Schottenheimer said. "He's always had a good feel for solving problems. He might not be able to put it in our terminology, but he knows, 'I've got a problem over there and I'm going to bail myself out over here.' That's where he and the players have started to develop a really good feel for signals and things like that. When you're dealing with a smart guy who has played as much as he has, there's really not much he hasn't seen."
Schottenheimer has been impressed by the overall football intelligence of Favre, who has often been labeled a gunslinger who's quick to improvise.
"I think the gunslinger tag is maybe a little bit unfair because he's got a great feel for what's going on," Schottenheimer said. "And just sitting around and watching film with him, or talking to him during the course of practice, he'll say, 'Hey, I saw this guy push over on the back side vs. cover 4. I knew I was singled over there.' That's something some quarterbacks have, some quarterbacks don't. He definitely has that ability to see things."
Copyright 2008 by The Associated Press
