E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

After a weekend in New Jersey and a day off on Monday – or at least a day without practice, more on that later – the Jets went back to the grind of training camp at Hofstra today. Eric Mangini said this begins the “next phase” of readiness for the season, as the Jets continue to install their offensive and defensive schemes but also start preparing for Friday’s preseason opener in Tampa.

Mangini said he hasn’t decided on a starter for the Bucs game yet. Dollars to donuts it’ll be Pennington, though. He’s really the only one who has shown any progress with the system. Today he played with the first team on offense – he and Ramsey took all of the 11-on-11 snaps – and looked sharp. His one gaff was an interception, but it was a pass thrown to Justin McCareins that was dropped right into the hands of waiting DB Andre Dyson. Pennington followed the flub with a pair of strong throws to Coles on each sideline. I’m thinking that the direction of those passes is a good sign about Pennington’s arm strength. I’ve been told that the easiest pass when returning from a shoulder injury is the one down the middle but turning to a sideline and throwing against the body can be taxing. Chad seemed to have little difficulty with those passes today, and the offense as a whole seemed to attack a longer field than it had been.

As for Coles, he spoke with the media and made some interesting remarks about the feedback he gets from the coaching staff. Turns out the reporters aren’t the only ones groping around for information. Coles said it is difficult to find out where you stand as a player because the coaches are so tight-lipped with praise and commentary, even to their own players. That’s similar to what Derrick Blaylock said last week, about there being no official depth chart on which to gauge progress. Interesting, especially at positions such as WR and RB where a host of players are competing for only a few spots on the roster.

Someone asked Mangini if he is paranoid. If he is, I suspect that question will only add to his condition. I don’t think he’s paranoid. And I don’t think his ultra-secretive atmosphere comes from a competitive streak, which he claimed. I think he’s just a first-year coach mimicking the systems he’s been involved in and I think the shroud will be raised (somewhat) as the year and years progress. You get the sense that a guy like Belichick is the same 24-7, that when a familiar face paces him in the parking lot and asks innocuously “How’s it goin’?” he gives a stern “no comment.”

I don’t think Mangini is like that. I think he has a football coach’s front but once he gets away from the podium he’s a charming guy with a sense of humor. His exchanges with reporters today were probably the most heated they’ve been so far (not “play to win the game” or “it’s a privilege to cover this team” heated, but a bit contentious nevertheless), and he never budged from his stern line of withholding the info he thinks he should. But he also didn’t let the interaction fluster him or anger him. At least he didn’t let on that it might have.

He played things pretty cool. Which, I suppose, is what you’d want to see from an NFL head coach.