Two Bills Drive

‘”Basically, I said I was sincerely surprised when I learned they had the highest payroll,” he added. “I didn’t rip into the Jets. I’m a Jets fan and I want to see them win.”‘

‘”He’s having a good year, he really is, but quietly,” Herman Edwards said of Coles yesterday. “I think a lot of people don’t really take note of him, because there are so many good receivers in our conference. Sometimes, he kind of goes overlooked. But the more he plays, the more people will understand he’s having a good year.”‘

‘Several Jets players yesterday acknowledged they came out of the season-opening, 37-31 overtime win over the Bills in Buffalo with an inflated sense of how good they were. “It was an overconfidence,” DT Josh Evans said. “We came out of that game thinking we were a pretty good team. Then we came back the next week against New England and got our brains beat in.”‘

‘”Our goal is to be a Jerry Rice and Steve Young type of combination,” said Coles, selected in the third round of the 2000 draft, in which Pennington was one of the Jets’ four first-round picks. “… We came in together and we wanted to be a duo, and I think we’re working very hard toward that.”‘

‘When linebacker Sam Cowart was struggling early in the season, some people from his former team, the Bills, speculated that his Achilles injury still wasn’t completely healed. Actually, Cowart revealed yesterday that he hyperextended his right knee in Week 2 against New England and was slowed by the injury for several weeks.’

‘In Pennington’s six starts, Coles has 36 catches for 517 yards and two touchdowns.’

‘”It was fun watching it again, watching both the return and how good everybody blocked,” Morton said yesterday. “It brought back memories. It seemed like it was a long time ago.”‘

‘[Q:] Does Bledsoe bring a certain swagger to the team? [A:] You could say we’re a more confident team. A lot of guys last year, we were just looking to go out there and compete. But this year, we’re looking to go out there and win ballgames, looking to go out there and have fun. It’s fun to go out there with Drew because he brings that kind of excitement. He’s always joking around in the huddle and saying that we’re going to go down there and score in four or five plays.’

‘Mind-boggling is the best way to describe Chad Pennington’s numbers, particularly in his six games as a Jets starter. His completion percentage over that period is 75.3 percent, which would obliterate Ken Anderson’s NFL record of 70.55 percent for a full season. His passing rating is an astronomical 107.5, and his touchdown-to-interception ratio is an excellent 10-3.’

‘Cowart’s and the defense’s fortunes turned during the bye week. After that, coordinator Ted Cottrell began calling more of the undershifted front that Cowart excelled in with the Bills. And he is blitzing more (unofficially, seven times the last four games to four in the first six) and making more tackles behind the line.’

‘Randy Thomas sprained his right ankle in the third quarter against Detroit, an injury that has him listed as questionable for Sunday’s rematch with Buffalo.’

‘But the Jets feel better prepared defensively to handle the Bills this time around. “We have to improve on what we’ve been doing,” Jets safety Sam Garnes said. “Our tackling has improved, we’re moving around a lot faster because we know where we’re going and we’re confident. We’re not worried that somebody is going to make a play against us and it’s over. I think that’s the way it was at the beginning of the season.”‘

‘More important, Pennington, 26, is delivering on the Joe Namath-like self-assurance he expressed when Edwards benched Vinny Testaverde, 39. “I’m going to be a winner, bottom line,” Pennington said.’

It was a sagacious move by the Bills who get a top-shelf defensive end for next season, if Jones is fully recovered, but who have very minimal financial exposure if he can’t make it back to the field. Essentially, Buffalo is paying Jones less than $200,000 this year to get ready for next season.