09/07 — If today is Friday, that means the Jets defenders swap jerseys. In other words, when you see No. 50 taking his turn fielding Ben Graham punts, don't be alarmed — it's really rookie Darrelle Revis wearing Eric Barton's jersey, and vice versa.

Five sets of defensive players engaged in the swaps, driving some TV camera crews crazy as they tried to figure out who was who. Rookie LB David Harris said it's just a fun thing, although he hasn't participated in the numbers game yet.

"I like to keep my own jersey," Harris said, smiling as he lifted his look-team shirt with the yellow numbers to reveal No. 52 beneath. "I'm trying to make a name for myself."

That's coming soon enough.

One number was changed but not as a result of the Friday exchange program. DE Eric Hicks, who had been wearing 77 all summer, is now 98 after the number was vacated when Bobby Hamilton was released.

"That was my number in Kansas City," Hicks said.

For nine seasons. It's understandable how a guy can grow attached to his number after that long wearing it on his front and back.

Speaking of Graham, during punting drills he nailed a couple of high, long punts but he also put a drop punt off the side of his foot. Since the Jets were working on their upper grass field adjacent to the Weeb Ewbank Hall parking lot, the ball was headed for some vehicles, prompting half-joking, half-anguished cries from teammates:

"Don't hit my truck!" "Hey, watch out for that pickup, Ben!"

The ball bounced off the roof of one 4x4 but didn't seem to do any damage.

Fans may wonder about scheduling Jets-Pats on opening day but at 1 p.m., not in prime time and not even at 4:15 p.m. But CBS is clearly treating this as a major event by covering the game with its A-team, and that includes my good friend Phil Simms, the Eye Network's top NFL analyst, who attended practice.

Phil and I go way back. I hate to make him feel almost as old as me, but I was there in the Superdome visitors' locker room in 1979 waiting for him to talk with reporters after his first extensive action as a Giant. The one thing I remember most visibly: several large red welts on his back — Big Blue was still struggling with protecting its QBs at that time.

Over the years, he's been as friendly, funny, approachable and professional as they come, as a player and as a network talking head. And not that you would expect him not to, but he still loves the game. "It's time to get it on," he said as if he was about to suit up again himself. And indeed it is.

Here's some Simms trivia: Since 1998, when he became CBS' lead analyst, Simms has worked 37 Jets games (three preseason, 32 regular season, two postseason). The Jets' record in those games is 20-17, slightly better when he was paired with Greg Gumbel (15-11) than it has been in 2004-06 with current partner Jim Nantz (5-6).