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Jets move forward without Mangini Dec. 29: Owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Tannenbaum explain the Jets' decision to fire Eric Mangini and go in a new direction.

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Favre attended the team meeting Monday morning, but wasn’t in the locker room during media availability.

Favre, who led the league with 22 interceptions, had just two touchdown passes and nine picks in the final five games. He replaced Chad Pennington, who was cut when the team acquired Favre, and then led the Dolphins to the AFC East title.

The players said they’d accept Favre back as long as he takes part in the offseason workouts with the rest of the team.

“For him to be able to spend the offseason with a lot of the guys, I think that will help out a lot,” Cotchery said. “You just don’t learn everything about an offense or about a team in a couple of months.”

Before joining the Jets, Mangini served as New England’s defensive coordinator under Bill Belichick for a season after five years as the Patriots’ defensive backs coach. He quickly became regarded as one of the game’s top young coaching minds.

After the Jets traded the rights to coach Herm Edwards to the Kansas City Chiefs for a fourth-round pick in the 2006 draft, they replaced him with Mangini. With a workmanlike and tightlipped approach, Mangini drew instant comparisons to Belichick.

As a rookie coach, Mangini took a team that had been 4-12 the previous year to the playoffs with a 10-6 record in 2006 and earned the nickname “Mangenius” from the local tabloids. The high praise quickly faded after a 4-12 record last year.

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The Jets began the offseason by spending $140 million on veterans, notably offensive linemen Faneca and Damien Woody and linebacker Calvin Pace. They also traded for Jenkins, and then sent linebacker Jonathan Vilma to New Orleans because he didn’t fit Mangini’s 3-4 scheme.

Johnson said the final decision was made Sunday night, but the process began several weeks ago. He met with Mangini on Monday morning.

“We thanked him for all the good things he had done for us,” Johnson said. “We thanked him for his dedication and his loyalty. But he understood.”

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