NEW YORK -- Braylon Edwards has been a star wide receiver for the Jets, and he wants to keep it that way.
Edwards, a free agent, emphasized Monday that he wants to stay with the team, and he said he believed the interest was mutual.
"If they give me the opportunity, I definitely want to come back," Edwards said as he left a Manhattan courthouse after a brief appearance in a drunken-driving case in which he denies the charges. "And, one more time, I love being a Jet."
Edwards had 53 catches for 904 yards and seven touchdowns in his first full season with the Jets after they acquired him from the Cleveland Browns in October 2009. He made a key catch to set up the Jets' game-winning field goal over the Indianapolis Colts in the final minute of this year's AFC wild-card playoff game.
Free agents have been in limbo this offseason as the NFL and the players' union try to negotiate a new contract. Teams and players are waiting to see what a new agreement might look like.
"The interest is there on their side. The interest is there on my side. (We'll) see what happens," said Edwards, who came to court sporting a dark blue-gray suit with a snappy red shirt, white collar, crimson-and-white striped tie and red-and-white polka-dotted pocket square.
Edwards also is waiting to see what happens in his drunken-driving case.
Police said they pulled Edwards over in Manhattan around 5 a.m. ET on Sept. 21 because his luxury SUV's windows were too dark. Officers said Edwards' blood-alcohol level was twice the legal limit.
Edwards denies driving drunk. He's challenging the basis for stopping him, the reliability of the test and other aspects of the case. Edwards' lawyer, Peter M. Frankel told a court Monday that he planned to file more papers contesting the breath tests.
A judge didn't rule Monday on any of Edwards' arguments. Edwards is due back in court May 16.
Prosecutors say Edwards' arrest was lawful, the test was fine and there's enough evidence to support the charges.
The most serious is a misdemeanor punishable by up to a year in jail.
When arrested, Edwards was on probation after pleading no contest to misdemeanor aggravated disorderly conduct in a dust-up outside a Cleveland nightclub. Cleveland Municipal Court officials have said they have to await the outcome of Edwards' New York case before determining if it will affect his probation.
Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press
