Mangini, Favre harbor no ill will

By TONY GROSSI

CLEVELAND — The one season Eric Mangini and Brett Favre shared in New York with the Jets was a roller coaster ride.

It was uncomfortable for both from start to finish, for different reasons. There were thrilling highs and exasperating lows. Mangini was fired after Favre hit his worst career slump he now attributes to a torn biceps tendon.

Yet they continued to engage in a mutual admiration society this week in anticipation of the NFL’s quirkiest matchup of opening weekend — Mangini, now coaching the Browns, vs. Favre, now quarterbacking the Minnesota Vikings.

Since their unceremonious parting in New York, Mangini has been nothing short of effusive in his praise of Favre. On a conference call with Cleveland media, Favre returned the favor.

Favre blamed the Jets’ 1-4 flameout on his arm injury and said he hoped it wasn’t the reason the Jets fired Mangini after missing the playoffs with a 9-7 record.

“I thought Eric did a great job,” Favre said. “We went from four wins to nine wins and at one time people were considering us one of the best teams, if not the best team, in the AFC. That’s not too bad.

“We faltered down the stretch, but he didn’t coach any different than he did when we were 8-3. I thought a lot of him at the start of the year. I thought a lot of him at the end of the year.”

Favre’s interview gave insight into the coaching methods the Browns have gradually come to see from Mangini.

Despite the fact Mangini, then 37, was a relative neophyte as a head coach and Favre, then 38, was certifiably bound for the Hall of Fame, Mangini gave Favre no breaks from running laps and answering his pop quizzes throughout the season.

Asked if playing for Mangini was a big adjustment for him, Favre said, “Yes and no.

“I think he made it easier for me, yet he had to coach the way he felt was necessary. I think it’s only as difficult as the player will make it.

“Like Eric said, ‘Hey, Brett, we’d love for you to buy into what we’re doing here. If we have an offsides or a dropped snap, we run a lap.’ I said, ‘No problem.’ From a player’s standpoint, you can make it as easy or difficult as you want. Hey, I was there to win. By being that way, you’ve got to do whatever the team is doing. From that standpoint, it wasn’t that hard.”

Mangini said, “What was important to him was that he was treated like everybody else. When he came to New York that’s exactly what he did. He wasn’t looking for any kind of special treatment.”

Sometime after the Jets beat then-10-0 Tennessee, Favre developed a torn biceps tendon.

“Eric, not just with the injury, but with everything, I thought they were awesome, the whole staff and players,” Favre said. “When I got hurt, that not only hurt me but I think it hurt our whole team. You can point the blame wherever you want. But I take the majority of that blame.

“There’s a lot of reasons from a team standpoint that I felt I just couldn’t do what I had been doing before. The confidence was not there. It hurt when I threw. It affected the way I threw. I just felt I didn’t mentally overcome it.