"Plaxico Burress walked out to the center of MetLife Stadium for the coin toss, the lone game-day captain for the Jets.

Coach Rex Ryan, fond of motivational ploys in selecting captains, sent the new Jets receiver to meet the team for which he played four seasons.

"It felt good for Rex to choose me as a captain, to go out there by myself and represent this team and organization," Burress said after tonight's 17-3 preseason win against the Giants.

After his 20-month prison sentence for illegal gun possession, Burress signed with the cross-town rivals of the team he helped win a Super Bowl in Feb. 2008 — and whose season he affected several months later when he accidentally shot himself in a Manhattan nightclub.

Burress saw many of his former teammates when he visited the Giants facility as a free agent before signing with the Jets. He didn't see Giants quarterback Eli Manning on that visit — but actually ran into him this past Saturday at the movie theater.

Burress was heading to see the new Smurfs movie with his family, and Manning was with former Giants center Shaun O'Hara. They caught up more after the game."