The Jets are desperate for another pass rusher to complement defensive end John Abraham, who had a team-high 10 sacks last season. With tackle Josh Evans suspended, the hope is that Robertson, the team's high-priced No. 1 pick, emerges as a pass-rush threat.

But some are laying odds that the line's improvement will come courtesy of last year's No. 1, defensive end Bryan Thomas, who has talked openly this summer of helping the Jets return to the team's "Sack Exchange" era of the 1980s.

"You already know how good John Abraham is," said Thomas, who had just a half-sack in his disappointing rookie season. "I want to add to that, just like the Sack Exchange. I want to get it back to that, so we have more than one person making an impact."

For those scoring at home, if the Jets put a defensive line of Abraham, Robertson, Thomas and Shaun Ellis on the field at the same time -- and three of those players are listed as ends -- it would represent an all-first-round foursome.

Did you see where golfer/crack prognosticator Phil Mickelson picked Buffalo and Atlanta to meet in this season's Super Bowl? Don't snicker. Lefty put his money where his mouth is before the 2000 season, wagering in Vegas that the Baltimore Ravens would win that year's Super Bowl. He collected $600,000 on that one. The next year he correctly foresaw the Arizona Diamondbacks' World Series title.

Mickelson made his latest pronouncement in an interview that followed Monday night's "Battle of the Bridges" prime-time TV event. (Night golf? Has it really come to that in this country?)

Bills-Falcons would be fun. It would ensure a first-time Super Bowl winner, and just think of all those "Peerless Price wants revenge" stories we'd be subjected to.

Though I think the statistics are somewhat misleading, New England head coach Bill Belichick makes a good point when he notes that for all the talk of Antowain Smith's performance falling off in 2002, his per-carry average only dropped from 4.0 in 2001 to 3.9 last year. Smith gained 1,157 yards on 287 carries in the team's Super Bowl season and had 982 yards on 252 rushes last year.

Still, the Patriots aren't keeping an eye on free-agent running back Jamal Anderson just because they have a warm spot for his comeback story. Statistics or no statistics, there's some pressure on Smith to start strong this season.

One of these days, we're going to have to get around to acknowledging that Giants receiver Amani Toomer has accomplished the impossible: He's an underrated player in New York. Toomer is the first Giant to total at least 70 receptions and 1,000 yards receiving in four consecutive seasons, and last year he set franchise records with 82 receptions for 1,343 yards.

Quick, name the last Giants receiver to go to the Pro Bowl? If you said Homer Jones in 1968, you've got the Big Blue in your blood.

Whether first-round running back Willis McGahee redshirts this year in Buffalo, and odds are he does, I'm willing to guarantee you that Bills running back Travis Henry holds onto the ball better in 2003. Henry fumbled 11 times last season, losing seven of those. Two of the bobbles were returned for touchdowns.

If Henry loses his grip again this season, he knows his starting job might be the next thing that goes in 2004.

It doesn't stoke the hype, but I liked Herman Edwards' take on the Jets' huge grudge match at Washington in Week 1. The Redskins signed away four players from New York this offseason, including restricted free agents Laveranues Coles and Chad Morton. The two front offices also traded salvos in the midst of all the intrigue surrounding those moves.

"Oh sure, that doesn't bother me," said Edwards, when asked if anyone is allowed to speak of the Redskins at New York's team complex. "It'll be a plot line for the media, and for everybody, because it's a good story. But the players and I understand that that's one game. I'm not a big believer in all of a sudden, 'Hey, man, we got to beat these guys because of this or that.'

"You know what? Even if they didn't take any of our players, we need to beat those guys because that's who we play in our opening game. When you start hyping it up, you fall into a trap. What if you don't win the game? Then what do you do? What do you do? You got 15 games after that. What am I going to sell them next? So I don't go down that road as a coach. I don't believe in that. You just play every game and try to win them all."

That makes sense and is no doubt the right way to go. But let the Jets win that game and I'll bet you $10 that the topic of the Redskins' raid comes up in Edwards' celebratory postgame locker room talk to his guys, the kind only NFL Films gets to witness.

Don't make the mistake of referring to Baltimore's record-breaking defense of 2000 around Buffalo head coach Gregg Williams. Trust me on this one. Williams, of course, was in his final season as Tennessee's defensive coordinator that year.

"Who was the best defense in 2000?" Williams asked me, while talking about the impact that new defensive tackle Sam Adams could have on the Bills' defense and whether Buffalo can duplicate the Ravens' run-stuffing defensive front of that Super Bowl season.

"Baltimore," said I. "Are you sure?" Williams quickly shot back, as I realized my mistake. "Out of the nine defensive categories, the Ravens led in two and Tennessee was first in seven of them."

I admit it. He got me. Although Baltimore had a defense for the ages that season, Williams' Titans unit was actually ranked No. 1 in the league. How quickly we forget.

That said, Williams agreed that Buffalo is trying to follow Baltimore's blueprint with its defensive front: two huge, space-eating defensive tackles in Adams and Pat Williams, who require double-team blocking, thereby freeing up play-making linebackers Takeo Spikes, London Fletcher and Jeff Posey to find the ball.

"We've talked to them about that defense in Baltimore," Williams said. "We would hope it would pan out just like that front the Ravens had."

New Bills linebacker Spikes is already a believer.

Speaking about the prospects of playing behind beefy defensive tackles Adams and Williams, Spikes said, "I always say we got 700 pounds of pork up front. They're going to hold guys down and allow us linebackers to make a lot of plays. Even in practice. I'm loving it, man."

Something tells me that Patriots safety Rodney Harrison is a long way from being over the manner in which his career in San Diego ended this offseason. Too bad New England won't face the Chargers this season, unless it's in the playoffs.

"[Chargers head coach] Marty Schottenheimer came in last year and started making a statement about what type of guys he wanted," Harrison said last weekend, his eyes still belying the hurt he feels. "He wanted to go younger, with a youth movement. It surprised me initially to be up out of there, because I thought I did a lot for the program and the city and the organization. To release me like that, after I played hurt the whole year, I was disappointed."

News flash: He still is.

And speaking of Harrison, he was one of four players pictured on the cover of last year's San Diego media guide, along with Schottenheimer. Three of those stars are no longer with the organization: Harrison, linebacker Junior Seau and receiver Curtis Conway. Only franchise running back LaDainian Tomlinson survived the roster purge.

Wisely, L.T. is alone on the cover of this year's guide. Don't fret over his potential demise, Chargers fans. Even Schottenheimer isn't that powerful (or foolish).

If I had to pick a second-year player whom I think is going to blossom in 2003, Patriots tight end Daniel Graham is as good a name as any. Graham, New England's first-round pick in 2002, caught just 15 passes for 150 yards and one touchdown last season, starting six of his 12 games.

But with ex-Giants tight end great Mark Bavaro helping coach him in training camp, and Graham looking like the light has gone on, I expect the former Colorado star to garner quite a few of those scoring passes that Christian Fauria (another Pats tight end and ex-Buff) hauled down in 2002.

Try as they did to convince me, I'm not sure I'm buying the notion that losing Laveranues Coles in free agency means the Jets will rely on Wayne Chrebet, Curtis Conway and Santana Moss in near equal proportion. When you say you have three No. 1 receivers, as New York has this preseason, that usually means you don't even have one.

I promise you there are some very disappointed people on the Giants' offense, given that injured former New York cornerback Jason Sehorn will not be on the field for the Rams when they open the regular season Sept. 7 at Giants Stadium. Quarterback Kerry Collins and receivers Ike Hilliard and Toomer come to mind first.

Don Banks covers pro football for SI.com.