Favre's play could reward Packers

Brett Favre could end up costing the Jets a first-round draft pick, and New York probably wouldn't mind a bit.

Favre was acquired in August from the Green Bay Packers for a conditional fourth-round pick, but it becomes a first-rounder if the 39-year-old quarterback takes 80 percent of the snaps and the Jets make the Super Bowl.

Because Favre has secured 50 percent of the playing time this season, the pick has already been upgraded to a third-rounder. If Favre, who has started 263 consecutive regular-season games, plays in 70 percent of the Jets' offensive snaps and the team makes the playoffs, the Packers' pick is upgraded to a second-rounder.

Favre has two years left on his contract, but said he hasn't decided on anything past this season. He has played well overall while leading the Jets to a 7-3 record and the top spot in the AFC East. Favre has thrown for 2,237 yards with 18 touchdowns and 12 interceptions, and his 69.8 completion percentage leads the AFC.

He won the Super Bowl in 1997 by beating New England, and lost to Denver the following season. Nearly 10 years since that last trip, getting back to the title game remains a major motivation for Favre.

"When you're 22 years old, you're looking for that new contract, you're looking for commercials, you're looking for whatever," Favre said. "You just always say you're on scholarship still. As you get older, all you want to do is win, get by, go on to the next game and win. It's amazing how you change.

"I hear people talk about going back to school after they've been out of college for a long time, how much better they are at studying or doing their work. To me, it's no different in pro football."

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STUART THE SUB: Stuart Schweigert's phone rang Tuesday night. The call came from Saginaw (Mich.) Public Schools because he was next on the substitute-teacher list.

Schweigert didn't answer the call because earlier that day, he signed a two-year contract with the Detroit Lions.

"Me and my wife are probably ready to get out of my dad's basement," he said.

Schweigert started 39 games the previous three years with the Oakland Raiders, but was cut by them and the New York Giants before this year started.

That sent him back home and looking for work.

He ended up working as a sub several times at Saginaw Heritage High School, making $70 a day.

"It was fun because half of the teachers and coaches that were there when I was there are the same people that are still there," Schweigert said. "My little sister goes to that high school and with me coaching the football team, I would see those guys in the hallways."

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KELLY'S TURN:@ The Washington Redskins have been waiting all season for Malcolm Kelly, the second-round pick from Oklahoma who was supposed to add a new dimension - literally - to a passing game in need of a taller target.

Kelly's time may have arrived. The 6-foot-4 receiver who got to training camp with conditioning issues and then had his knee scoped is practicing at full steam and ready to play in Sunday's game against the Seattle Seahawks.

"When you're down and kind of injured, at the beginning you kind of question yourself, and then you kind of get down in the dumps because you want to be out there," Kelly said. "But as bad as you want to, if you're not feeling right you can't do it."

Kelly's only catch this year came in Week 2 against New Orleans, before the knee problems got so bad the Redskins told him to shut it down for a few weeks. Last week, while on the inactive list, he saw where he was missed: situations in which a tall receiver would have been of use when the Dallas Cowboys were in a man-to-man defense.

"Instead of going through a read, you could toss the ball up," Kelly said. "That was a kind of frustrating to see that."

Santana Moss and Antwaan Randle El - both listed at 5-foot-10 - have 86 of the 104 receptions by Redskins wideouts this season. A No. 3 receiver needs to step up, and fellow rookie Devin Thomas (11 catches) and veteran James Thrash (7) haven't been the answers.

"The thing that shows up right away, when Malcolm is out there, is that you can throw a vicinity pass, just a pass in the vicinity, and he's going to snag it," coach Jim Zorn said. "He has an easy way of catching the football. He makes something that could be spectacular for somebody else just look fairly easy. It's impressive. We've just got to hope he can continue."

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MEET THE NEW TITAN:@ Bryan Pride finally has a nameplate over his stall in the Tennessee Titans' locker room. Not bad for a Gatorade bottle Titans offensive linemen started wrapping tape around back during training camp.

"Sweet," center Kevin Mawae said. "He's taken a step. He's finally become an ingrained part of this locker room. He's taking great pride in himself."

Pride grew as linemen took turns wrapping pieces of tape around the bottle. They named him and gave him a Christmas tree stand for a seat. On Oct. 16, the big white ball grew so big the linemen took it with them to their weigh-in, and Pride tipped the scales at 44.02 pounds. He had grown to 80.2 pounds at his last weigh-in on Nov. 13.

Mawae said the offensive linemen agreed it was time the ball got its own nameplate. They asked the worker who puts up the nameplates over players' lockers if they could get one for "Bryan," and he agreed.

"Bryan Pride happens to be a very important part of our offensive line, and he's helped us get through the tough times in training camp and the long times, doldrums of the season. He's established himself greatly in this locker room," Mawae said.

"His head's getting bigger and bigger each week. I think he gained about 12 pounds last week. That's pretty discouraging."

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MISCOMMUNICATION: Another controversy is the last thing referee Ed Hochuli needs. But quarterback Chad Pennington had trouble getting his attention to call a timeout during last week's game, perhaps costing the Miami Dolphins points.

The incident was largely overlooked because Miami beat Oakland anyway. Hochuli has been at the center of several disputed decisions this season.

After Pennington completed a pass to the Oakland 48-yard line, he tried to call timeout with 9 seconds left. He was about 10 yards from Hochuli and unable to get the ref's attention until the clock reached 3 seconds.

"He apologized after the game," Pennington said. "He said he was looking downfield where he thought there might be a turnover on the play. I said, well, I'll have to come up and tackle him next time or something.

"I understand they are looking at a bunch of different things, and next time I'll literally have to run up to the referee."

After the timeout, the Dolphins ran one play to end the half.

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AP Football Writer Barry Wilner and Sports Writers Steven Wine in Miami, Teresa M. Walker in Nashville, Joseph White in Washington, Larry Lage in Detroit and Dennis Waszak Jr., in New York contributed to this story.