Vinny Will Take His Hacks Starts for Gang Green with Paul in the house By Rich Cimini New York Daily News Sports Writer 10/7/05 The day after the Jets' crippling loss to the Jaguars, Wayne Chrebet brought his wife and kids to Vinny Testaverde's Long Island home for a get-together with their families. With Chad Pennington and Jay Fiedler both injured, the conversation got around to quarterbacks, and Chrebet threw out a sales pitch to the then-unemployed passer. "Vinny, this offense is perfect for you: Just drop back and throw to the open guy," Chrebet said, referring to Mike Heimerdinger's downfield passing attack. "It's how we played back in the day." That day was 1998 to 2000, the pre-Paul Hackett era, when Testaverde operated a free-wheeling passing scheme. After listening to Chrebet, Testaverde called Herm Edwards to offer his services and signed the next day. Now Testaverde is back with the Jets, finally in a system that suits him. He will start Sunday against the Bucs and - wouldn't you know it? - Hackett will be in the house for the occasion. How fitting. The Jets' former coordinator, who resigned under pressure after last season, is the Bucs' quarterbacks coach. Hackett will be in the coaches' booth at Giants Stadium, looking down on his former pupil, Testaverde, who chafed for three years in Hackett's dink-and-dunk system. Testaverde may feel like he's trapped in a Dickens novel, with the ghost of his offensive past lurking overhead. Though he wouldn't bite yesterday when asked if he feels "liberated" in a non-Hackett system, Testaverde made it clear he enjoys the flexibility of Heimerdinger's scheme. "He allows the quarterback to find the open guy," Testaverde said. "You're not stuck on one side of the ball and he's not handcuffing you in certain ways. It's like, 'Go find a one-on-one (matchup). If our receivers can't win, we need to find some guys that can.'" In theory, Testaverde should fit into the system because he has enough arm strength to get the ball downfield. Whether he can do it is another story. After all, he's nearly 42, hasn't taken a competitive snap in nine months and has practiced only five days. This is the first offensive crisis in five years that can't be blamed on Hackett, who became Public Enemy No.1 among Jet fans. The current mess falls on the desk of Heimerdinger, although it's not his fault that two quarterbacks are injured. In a moment of gallows humor, he joked that he tried to cut his wrists. "I don't know if there's another coordinator in the NFL who's ever had to go through that," said Heimerdinger, commenting for the first time since Pennington and Fiedler were hurt in the same game. "It's a nightmare, losing two. I'm just glad last week we didn't lose a third." Even though he has no background with Testaverde, Heimerdinger endorsed the decision to start him and put Brooks Bollinger back on the bench after only one start. "I thought we needed to go with Vinny because we don't have time right now for Brooks to develop," he said. "It's going to take (Brooks) three or four weeks. ... Right now, Vinny is the right answer." Hackett never had to deal with a calamity of this magnitude in his four-year reign, although it seemed like a never-ending soap opera. His conservative play-calling bothered some players, so don't expect a warm reunion on Sunday. Hackett, under orders from Tampa Bay management, isn't permitted to give interviews this week. "Nobody hates Paul around here," Kevin Mawae said. "Paul was a good coach. There were times it got a little frustrating, but he'd probably say the same thing about some of the players." Asked about the irony of Hackett's presence, Testaverde said, "I guess it's a little weird, but that's the last thing on my mind."