On the next series, Favre’s 29-yard pass to Brad Smith on fourth-and-1 was wiped out by an illegal shift penalty. Favre didn’t see the play because he was plowed into the turf by Osi Umenyiora.

“I would prefer not to be hit, but that’s OK,” Favre said. “To sit here and say as the season gets under way that I won’t get hit, that’s crazy. I think our line is very good, but most of the teams we’ll be playing against are good.”

On the Jets’ next possession, Favre scrambled to his right on second down and gained 8 yards before being run out of bounds by Chase Blackburn.

“I don’t move like I used to,” Favre said with a grin, “but I was able to use my feet to bail myself out a little bit.”

The drive died a few plays later, but Favre got things going again on the Jets’ next possession.

With the Jets starting on their 15, he hit Smith for 17 yards and Leon Washington for 10 yards two plays later. On third-and-11 from the Giants 49, Favre threw a perfect spiral down the right sideline to Cotchery, who zipped into the end zone for what appeared to be the first score of the game.

But Bubba Franks, Favre’s former teammate in Green Bay, was called for illegal motion and the touchdown was wiped away. The Jets punted two plays later, and Favre came out one more time — to kneel the ball down before halftime.

“That’s getting your feet wet,” Favre said. “We didn’t get any points, but neither did they. I tip my hat to our defense. I think our offense, we have a lot of things to clean up and we have to get better at some things we’re trying to do. All in all, we played pretty darn good against a very good defense.”

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