Erik Boland: Inside the Jets

By Tom Rock

It’s not exactly a change of position from where he stood at the end of the season, but Eric Mangini has tweaked his thinking on the quarterbacks. At a press conference at the combine in Indy today, the Jets coach apparently handed the starting job to Chad Pennington ... at least until July.

“Chad did an outstanding job for us as the starter and he is the starter,” Mangini said. That’s a lot different from the every-position-is-an-open-competition stance he took after the playoff loss to the Patriots. Back then he was asked if Pennington would be the top QB when the Jets head into training camp ’07 and Mangini would not commit.

“ Kellen (Clemens) has a better understanding of what it takes to be a starter in the NFL after spending a year in the system,” Mangini said. “As with every position we have, each week you have an opportunity to move forward and each year you have an opportunity to move forward. That is going to take a lot of hard work and Chad has done an outstanding job and he’ll be the starter going into camp.”

Whether he’s the starter coming out of camp – or by the midpoint of the season – has not been declared. And Mangini is simply voicing what everyone knew to be the reality, that Pennington is their best option at the position. If the Bears can reach the Super Bowl with Rex Grossman as their quarterback, than surely the Jets cannot think that Chad Pennington is holding them back from a championship run. And with a healthy off-season in front of him and an extra year of chemistry with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer behind him, who knows where Pennington can take the Jets in 2007.

Mangini also spoke on a number of other topics.

On recently-cut running back Kevan Barlow, who was benched in five of the final six games this past season: “I really like Kevan personally and he did a lot of good things for us. At this point it was just good for both of us to move forward. I was pleased with the things that he did, and I had a really good conversation with him the other day. I wish him nothing but success in the future.”

On building through the draft or through free-agency: “I think you can build a team both ways and be successful. What we are trying to do is fuse the two and make sure we are addressing the needs of the team in every area possible. You may be able to fill a need in free agency that we don’t have to fill in the draft or get something in the draft that we don’t have to address in free agency. It’s balancing the different elements to try to improve the team.” (Interestingly, GM Mike Tannenbaum has repeatedly stated his preference to building through the draft).

On running back Leon Washington: “Leon did a great job with everything we asked him to do. He made a lot of progress from the early days, especially rookie camp where he struggled quite a bit. He got progressively better. That is what we are looking for from all of our players, especially the rookie class. Each challenge that we’ve given him, he’s done a great job.”

And on what the Jets will be focusing on in the draft in April: “We are looking for all positions. Defensive linemen are extremely valuable. We are looking for defensive linemen just like we are looking across the board. We are looking for good players.”

By Tom Rock

Newsflash: Justin Miller is fast!

The Jets cornerback who has turned into a Pro Bowl kick returner won the NFL’s Fastest Man competition in Hawaii on Thursday, though it was hardly a full field of competitors. Defensing champion DeAngelo Hall of the Falcons did not compete and Miller was able to out-40 the three other contestants: Jaguars CB Rashean Mathis, 49ers CB Walt Harris, and Chargers WR Kassim Osgood. The event will be broadcast on CBS at halftime of the Pro Bowl on Satuday and the NFL Network will also carry the entire competition immediately following the game.

Miller has always had the tools and the Jets have long marveled at his athletic ability. Unfortunately they’ve also cringed at his coverage and tackling. It’ll be interesting to see how Miller, who will be entering into his third season, is used in 2007, especially if the Jets are able to land one of the two big free agent CBs on the market: Asante Samuel or Nate Clements.

Miller won’t be able to beat either of those guys, or returning starter Andre Dyson, for a job. But at least we know he’ll be able to beat any of them in a footrace.

By Tom Rock

Just a quick Super Bowl story that I found amusing:

I’m sitting in the lobby of the hotel this afternoon doing some writing while the efficient staff is cleaning my room. There are a lot of autograph hounds hanging out, but they are quiet enough for me to still get some work done. Suddenly the fire alarm starts blaring. Now, the alarm went off earlier in the week – at 6:30 in the morning, in fact – so I wasn’t too concerned and no one else seemed to be either. But then hotel staffers started running around, closing doors, sprinting up stairs, etc. Still, no one is telling me to move or leave, so I just remain seated.

After about 30 seconds, the alarm is turned off. But the staff is still buzzing around the place. They close the front door so that no one can come in and start directing people from the pool out back around the building instead of through it for their exit.

Five minutes later, sirens. In come four Miami Beach firemen in full equipment, hoses slung over their shoulders, fire extinguishers dangling from their belts. At the same time, who comes through the lobby but John Elway, fresh from a pool-side interview with “Best Damn Sports Show” that is being filmed on premises. So Elway and the throng of security and signature-seekers that surround him are headed one way, and the firemen are headed the other. Crash! Quite an exciting time in the lobby!

As it turned out, the soda machine on the third floor caught fire, but it was quickly extinguished before the firemen even reached the hotel. I just knocked on his third-floor door and found out that Glauber had no idea there had been a fire a few hundred feet away from his room.