New York Post exclusive with Mangini

New York Post writer Mark Cannizzaro had lunch with Eric Mangini on Tuesday in Palm Beach at the owners meetings, and here is what Mangini had to say -

"The thing that's very positive is this year is different, and what happened last year we're going to learn from but it's not going to control what happens this year. It's like the year before didn't control what happened this past year.

"I realize that I said that a lot, but it's because I believe in it. I said it right after the New England game [the playoff loss at the end of the 2006 season] that this is a nice year for us, but we don't start at 10-6 [in 2007].

"The natural tendency is to feel like everything is in place and now you take the next step.

"I've got to do a much better job. Part of that is continuing to develop relationships with the players and incorporating more of their insight into the process. We have a lot of really smart veteran players and it's important to have that good dialogue. Everyone working toward that same goal."