APEAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - Brett Favre second-guessed himself at times during the last few weeks. He doubted whether he was doing the right thing by coming out of retirement and leaving Green Bay.
A successful debut with the New York Jets erased all that.
“I knew I had made the right decision,” Favre said, “when I was on the field tonight.”
Favre was solid in his brief Jets debut after a week of cramming to learn his new playbook. He threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller to cap his second series in a 13-10 loss to the Washington Redskins on Saturday night.
“It worked out better than I thought it would, not that I thought it would go badly,” he said. “It was like starting all over again. I had some feelings that I haven’t felt in 17 years, but that’s a good thing.”
Just 10 days after being acquired from Green Bay, Favre finished 5-of-6 for 48 yards and the touchdown. He said his arm felt fatigued early in the week, but looked strong in his two series. He lasted 14 plays after coach Eric Mangini said he expected Favre to take 8-12 snaps.
“I felt like I threw the ball well, moved around OK,” he said. “Ten days ago, I was doing yard work.”
Favre retired in March and then decided he still wanted to play, leading to a bitter divorce with Green Bay. He said his arm felt tired Wednesday and had his throws limited in his final two practices leading up to the game, but showed no signs of weariness against the Redskins (3-0).
“My arm feels great,” Favre said. “I’ve been throwing the ball well. I just feel like once I get the timing down with these guys, I’ll be OK.
Colt Brennan’s 33-yard touchdown pass to Jason Goode with 1:09 remaining put the Redskins ahead 13-10. James Ihedigbo went for the interception and missed as Goode got behind him, caught the pass and rumbled into the end zone.
“There were a lot of things to appreciate in the performance tonight in that we didn’t just pack it in and say, ’Let’s go home,”’ Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. “We stayed in it all the way.”
Brett Ratliff then led the Jets (1-1) down to the Redskins 5 with an impressive drive, but Mike Nugent hit the left upright and missed a 23-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
Favre, in his first game since losing to the Giants in the NFC championship in January, received a huge standing ovation from the half-filled Giants Stadium when he was introduced with the starting offense.
“It was a little weird, but for the most part, I felt comfortable in this uniform,” Favre said. “I feel comfortable in this locker room. I had numerous people on the Redskins team say, ’Man, it almost don’t look right,’ but it’s got to start looking right.”
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