"Laveranues Coles still can't bring himself to talk about the whacking of his favorite quarterback and dear friend Chad Pennington. And so yesterday morning, Brett Favre, who is trying to make 52 new friends as quickly as he can, put a symbolic arm around Coles' shoulder and attempted to ease the pain.

"I had a little talk with him today," Favre said yesterday. "I said, 'I heard you're not talking to the media.' I said, 'I understand you don't want to say anything good about me. That's OK.' " Favre smiled slightly here and there was some laughter around the interview tent. "[Coles] said, 'No, it's not that, it's not that.' And I obviously was joking with that, but . . .

"I said, 'Look, I'm not here to take Chad's spot, or replace him, or whatever. It is what it is.' And I said this the other day - I don't think I've ever beaten Chad. Those two guys had a great rapport together. I said, 'Look, I'm not trying to replace him. I'm here to help you guys win, and I hope you respect me for that,' and I said, 'I can't guarantee you that. I would love to say I'd come in here and help this team not only get to the playoffs but get to a Super Bowl, and I think I should think that way. But I'm not gonna make any guarantees.' I'm not gonna come in and promise that I can throw him 90 balls. All I can promise is that I'm gonna do everything I can to not only help him, but help this team win. 'And whatever you had with Chad, may that continue.'

"So, I think he'll realize, if he hasn't already, that I'm an easygoing guy, easy to work with. If you drop a ball, so what? I throw bad passes. So, we're in this thing together, and I'd like for us to come out of it together."

Coles, who was limping slightly at the end of the morning practice, told the Jets public relations staff that the subject was "too sensitive" for him to address one week after the blockbuster developments. Favre was asked how Coles reacted to his message.

"We laughed about it," Favre said. "I don't know Laveranues that well, or well enough for him to make any kind of judgment on me. What he probably knows about me other than the last four, five days is what he sees and hears on TV. "