"I knew I had made the right decision," Favre said, "when I was on the field tonight."
Favre was solid in his brief Jets debut after a week of cramming to learn his new playbook. He threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Dustin Keller to cap his second series in a 13-10 loss to the Washington Redskins on Saturday night.
"It worked out better than I thought it would, not that I thought it would go badly," he said. "It was like starting all over again. I had some feelings that I haven't felt in 17 years, but that's a good thing."
Just 10 days after being acquired from Green Bay, Favre finished 5-of-6 for 48 yards and the touchdown. He said his arm felt fatigued early in the week, but looked strong in his two series. He lasted 14 plays after coach Eric Mangini said he expected Favre to take 8-12 snaps.
"I felt like I threw the ball well, moved around OK," he said. "Ten days ago, I was doing yard work."
Favre retired in March and then decided he still wanted to play, leading to a bitter divorce with Green Bay. He said his arm felt tired Wednesday and had his throws limited in his final two practices leading up to the game, but showed no signs of weariness against the Redskins (3-0).
"My arm feels great," Favre said. "I've been throwing the ball well. I just feel like once I get the timing down with these guys, I'll be OK.
Colt Brennan's 33-yard touchdown pass to Jason Goode with 1:09 remaining put the Redskins ahead 13-10. James Ihedigbo went for the interception and missed as Goode got behind him, caught the pass and rumbled into the end zone.
"There were a lot of things to appreciate in the performance tonight in that we didn't just pack it in and say, 'Let's go home,"' Redskins coach Jim Zorn said. "We stayed in it all the way."
Brett Ratliff then led the Jets (1-1) down to the Redskins 5 with an impressive drive, but Mike Nugent hit the left upright and missed a 23-yard field goal attempt as time expired.
Favre, in his first game since losing to the Giants in the NFC championship in January, received a huge standing ovation from the half-filled Giants Stadium when he was introduced with the starting offense.
"It was a little weird, but for the most part, I felt comfortable in this uniform," Favre said. "I feel comfortable in this locker room. I had numerous people on the Redskins team say, 'Man, it almost don't look right,' but it's got to start looking right."
After another hearty welcome as he jogged onto the field for the game's first series, Favre got things started quickly. He zipped an 11-yard pass into Jerricho Cotchery's hands on his first play, and tossed a 10-yarder to Chris Baker two plays later.
"I think everybody was watching him," Redskins quarterback Jason Campbell said. "We all wanted to see him in a different uniform, a new place and to see how he reacted."
The Jets converted a fourth-and-1 on a 3-yard run by Thomas Jones, but Favre was sacked two plays later. After Favre was short on a pass to Jones, the Jets were forced to punt.
On the next possession, Favre found Cotchery on a nice crossing route for a 19-yard gain on third down. Brad Smith followed with a 12-yard gain and Leon Washington ran for 4 yards to bring it to the Redskins 4 and set up the score.
"He was the same old Brett," Cotchery said. "Very much in control of the huddle, like he always is, and very much in control of the game. And that allowed us to be in control as an offense, as a unit. We felt like everything that we were going to run was going to work."
Favre took the snap, looked to his left and found Keller in the end zone to give the Jets a 7-0 lead with 5:25 remaining in the first quarter. Favre clapped in celebration after the score and high-fived several of his new teammates, including the rookie tight end.
After the game, Favre left the football for Keller with the inscription: "Dustin, congratulations on your first touchdown. Brett."
Keller was then asked if he's putting the souvenir in his trophy case.
"I don't have one yet, but I think I'll build one just for that."
Favre was replaced by backup Kellen Clemens with the Jets leading 7-3. Shaun Suisham kicked a 30-yard field goal 9 seconds into the second quarter, and added a 36-yarder 4:30 into the second half to make it 7-6.
Nugent kicked a 43-yarder with 9:08 remaining to make it 10-6 after missing from the same distance late in the third quarter.
Clemens, who was competing with Chad Pennington for the starting job before Favre arrived, finished 5-of-12 for 63 yards and was victimized by at least four dropped passes.
Campbell was 4-of-10 for 28 yards, while Todd Collins went 11-of-15 for 72 yards.
