09/23 — It appears likely that Brett Favre will make his 257th consecutive start Sunday when the Jets host the Arizona Cardinals.

"He is going to come in for rehab today," said Jets head coach Eric Mangini of his quarterback during a conference call late this afternoon. "We got back at 7:30, 8 this morning. He had some [rehab] at that point and there will be some more here later today, but Brett usually plays and I would anticipate the same."

Following the Jets' Monday night loss in San Diego, Favre walked with a noticeable limp due to a left ankle injury. Favre was sacked three times by the Chargers but got the offense moving in the second half as the Green & White desperately tried to mount a comeback.

At the end of the night, Favre completed 30 of 42 for 271 yards and two scores but his two first-half interceptions led directly to 14 points for the Chargers. San Diego, which got a tremendous 52-yard interception return for a touchdown from star corner Antonio Cromartie to start the second quarter, also benefited from Eric Weddle's pick as Favre and wideout Jerricho Cotchery failed to get their signals straight.

"As we got going especially in the second half, we were able to move the ball really effectively," Mangini said. "The first half there were two very good plays by San Diego. I know the ball was overthrown, but I thought Weddle made a nice play in terms of pulling that down. I liked the things we were doing, but it's hard to overcome those turnovers and those mistakes you have on drives."

The Jets also suffered a big blow in the first quarter when nose tackle Kris Jenkins went out with a back injury and did not return. Jenkins, a 6'4", 349-pound monster, had played terrific football in his first nine quarters with the Jets.

"There were times last night where we thought Kris might come back in. It just didn't quite get to the point where we were ready to do that," Mangini said. "He was close definitely throughout the course of the game, so I'm hoping with time and treatment, that will move along pretty well."

When Jenkins moved to the sideline, reserve Sione Pouha took over in the middle and saw his playing time increase dramatically. The Chargers, who went to the break up 17, essentially sealed the game on their first second-half possession, which culminated on a 2-yard LaDainian Tomlinson score.

"Kris definitely has a presence inside and it's hard when you lose a player like Kris, but some of those runs they were able to hit on us — especially with [Darren] Sproles — those were cutback runs that Kris really wouldn't have been involved in," said the third-year head coach. "To a large degree, he would have been on the front side of those plays."

The Jets had a familiar face back at punter Monday night. Veteran Ben Graham, who was released just days before kickoff, was brought back to the roster after Reggie Hodges wasn't physically set to go.

"Ironically, he had flown to San Diego to work out with Darren Bennett and he was in San Diego late in the week, so he didn't even have to get on a flight," Mangini said of the Australian who placed both his punts inside the Chargers' 20.

On Wednesday, the Jets will be back in Florham Park and begin their preparation for the 2-1 Arizona Cardinals. If Mangini's players can hold serve at home, they'll finish the first quarter of their schedule with a .500 mark.

In all likelihood, the 38-year-old Favre will be ready to line up behind center and lead once again. He's completed 70 percent of his passes through three games with six touchdowns and three interceptions.

"There are going to be some times when you put the ball up in volume, you're going to have turnovers. Brett's made a lot of great plays, sort of ad-lib type plays, and his receivers are getting more and more used to that and I think he's getting more and more used to the receivers," Mangini said.

We'll continue to monitor the status of both Favre and Jenkins throughout the week on the site.

"They'll both be in rehab here today," Mangini said. "We'll evaluate it there and see where we're at tomorrow."

Onside Note

After the Jets scored their second touchdown and cut the Chargers' advantage to 17-14, Mangini elected to attempt an onside kick. The Chargers recovered and took advantage of the short field with another seven points, but Mangini said today he did not regret the decision.

"I would definitely do it again if it were the same situation," he said. "We had six players over there outside the numbers and they had one. We had two blockers for their one player and we didn't execute as well as we should have. In terms of sheer numbers, it was a really good situation." 

Practice Squad Departures

The Jets tonight announced they have released P Waylon Prather and TE Brad Listorti from their practice squad.