E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

The latest explanation for Chad Pennington’s extended stay in the training room after Friday night’s game was so he could chat with Eric Mangini and go over things while they were still fresh in each others’ minds. That according to Mangini at his late-morning press conference on Sunday. Mangini said Pennington is suffering from soreness, but no more than any other player after a game.

He also said the competition remains wide open at quarterback and the rotation will stay in place for at least another week. But if Chad is not the starting QB in Mangini’s mind (if not his words), why the long post-game debriefing? Mangini said he didn’t have such a talk with Clemens or Ramsey.

Still, the rotation play goes into preseason game number two. Expect Ramsey to get a bulk of the looks at Washington on Saturday.

At first glace it appeared running back Cedric Houston was the one who missed his block that allowed Pennington to suffer the hit on his cocked right shoulder in the second quarter on Friday night. After watching the films, though, it appeared the entire offensive protection was at fault. Houston flung his body into the block but Kalvin Pearson leaped over him and struck Pennington on the arm. Pennington was unable to move away from the hit because the rest of the Bucs’ defense was swarming into the backfield.

Mangini scrubbed today’s two-a-day in favor of a meeting in the morning to go over the game tape and a single practice in the afternoon. Asked if the move was a reward, Mangini emphatically shook his head NO. He said the schedule from here on out depends on what is accomplished and how the team responds. There could be five more two-a-days, he said, there could be all single practices.

Mangini said he liked what little he saw of Leon Washington at running back. Brad Smith made an impression as well. Jovan Witherspoon obviously wasn’t very impressive in the preseason game since he was waived today.

The Jets didn’t just go over the game tape, they “self-scouted” every aspect of the road trip from the bus ride to the coaches communication to the meals to the play-calling. Mangini said he spoke with the entire team about how small the difference is between winning and losing.

It was pretty small on Friday, just a matter of not touching the ball in the second half.