On Saturday, Jets Pro Bowl guard Alan Faneca addressed publicly for the first time the arrival of quarterback Brett Favre.

Faneca, who joined the team in March, commented among other things on the challenges of blocking for a quarterback who likes to improvise.

“You have to be able to read into the defensive lineman or linebacker or whoever you are blocking at that time,” Faneca said in remarks circulated by the team via e-mail.  “You have to be able to read him a little more.  When you get a quarterback that is sitting in the pocket it’s pretty easy to guess where he is trying to get to.  If you have someone that is moving around back there a little bit, the defender starts to see things a little differently.  All of a sudden a guy is trying to get outside of you when the quarterback is normally sitting in the pocket so you have to adjust.  You have to be ready to read that.”

And Faneca should know.  He spent the past four years blocking for Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh, who regularly makes things happen by getting out of the pocket.

The rest of Faneca’s responses were, for the most part, short and sweet.  He said he didn’t know Favre before Favre came to the Jets, and that Faneca and Favre have exchanged basic information about Faneca’s own transition.

The Favre-Faneca relationship is definitely something to watch.  Faneca probably thought he’d walk in as the leader of the offensive line, if not the entire offense.  Now, it’s Favre’s show.  If Faneca doesn’t like Favre and/or resents all the attention Favre is getting, things could get even more interesting in New York.

Faneca is definitely in a position to influence others on the offensive line.  Based on multiple media reports, Faneca’s desire to see Russ Grimm become the head coach of the Steelers in 2007 and Faneca’s apparent resistance to new offensive line coach Larry Zierlein possibly undermined the team’s ability to be as successful as possible in Mike Tomlin’s first year.

But at least Faneca didn’t greet Favre with a comment like this:  “Exciting?  No, it’s not exciting.  Do you want to go work with some [gray haired old man who can never make up his damn mind about whether to keep playing]?”