By Tom Rock
Here’s why I think the Jets are concerned about Chad’s performance last night: Because they weren’t saying so.
It took Mangini about a dozen sentences to mention Pennington’s interceptions in his opening remarks after the game. I asked Kellen Clemens if, as a backup, it’s part of his job to keep the pressure on the starter when he struggles, to keep the gap closing. Kellen usually laughs off questions about him and Chad being in competition. Last night he just said that he was going in to try to move the ball and usher the offense down the field.
About the only one who directly addressed Chad was Chad, who said he felt the mistakes he made can be fixed “in a heartbeat.” He later said that he wasn’t so much concerned as disappointed.
But there are other things at play here. Chad has not been sharp in practices lately, throwing a number of interceptions in the hurry-up drills during the last week. He did not throw any passes in the opening preseason game and will probably not play very much in game four against the Eagles, so he’ll have to cram a preseason’s worth of preparation into next week’s Giants game. And let’s not forget, Pennington is coming off a season in which he threw a career-high 16 interceptions.
Now, Thomas Jones was not there to help the offense (though how much of a dent he could have put into the thick Vikes’ defensive front is debatable; in two games against them last year he had 86 yards on 30 carries). And the Jets were stressing the pass early this week, almost as much as they stressed the run last week. And there was no chance for Chad to make adjustments and avenge his mistakes as the game progressed.
Chad Pennington will be the starter when the Jets face the Patriots on Sept. 9. But here’s the question every Jets fan should be asking themselves, and it’s one that Mangini might very well be pondering at this moment:
If Chad has a similar first-quarter performance in that first game against New England, at what point will Kellen Clemens take off his baseball cap on the sideline and start warming up?
Comments (17)
Tom
Are you by any chance implying that his shoulder is a problem?
I was thinking that last night when watching him throw. We KNOW he throws a soft ball but the way he threw last night!! Oh my God, it was ridiculous! A little girl would have had more zip. I've never seen him throw that softly/badly.
Or are you saying that he's not mentally sharp?
Nep
oh, puh-leez. lets not get carried away. we all know what chad is, strengths and weaknesses. consistent, doesn't turn the ball over, occasional sloppy game. to infer off an exhibition quarter that he's morphing into an interception machine or david carr is ridiculous. lets put it this way: down by 4, 1:50 left, 2 timeouts, who do you want quarterbacking? yeah, i thought so. lets not forget the guy won a road playoff game with a torn rotator cuff (and that should have been two). i dont see any mention of picking up blitzes and receievers adjusting routes which is usually part of the deal.
the jets traded away the wrong qb. bolly could have done better.
the jets are going nowhere with noodle arm at qb. the schedule maker gave them a gift last year, and still noodle had a 28 rating against the browns!
teams like the pats, bills, and steelers don't worry about the jets passing game with noodle at the helm.
This really isnt that big of a deal in my mind b/c its still preseason and he can get much better. He hasnt thrown the ball the first preseason game so this is the first time hes throwing the ball in a real game so RELAX tom. stop making everything such a big deal and blowing everything out of proportion. Chads a GOOD quarterback and the first quarter yesterday he just made some silly mistakes.
This really isnt that big of a deal in my mind b/c its still preseason and he can get much better. He hasnt thrown the ball the first preseason game so this is the first time hes throwing the ball in a real game so RELAX tom. stop making everything such a big deal and blowing everything out of proportion. Chads a GOOD quarterback and the first quarter yesterday he just made some silly mistakes.
I am continually astonished by the stupidity of most football fans. Many of them have watched the sport for years but STILL don't get it.
Thus, I'll repeat it once more:
PRESEASON FOOTBALL MEANS ABSOLUTELY NOTHING.
There.
This is so common. I expect it from fans, but not from someone who covers the team for a living. Tom Brady threw two INT's last night too, and one was returned for a TD. Are the Pats gonna bench him now? It's preseason, people. No reason to worry or panic yet. As for Chad's arm strength, I didn't see much of a difference between last night and what we have been seeing for the past few years. Also, if the coaching staff thought he couldn't throw the ball effectively I don't think they would be playing him. It was a bad night, and more a couple of bad decisions made by a guy who doesn't normally make those.
If it continues THEN worry. Right now? Relax.
First of all lets get a few things straight.
1. Clemens in the stat books had a great game against the Falcons, but did anyone actually see some of the ducks he threw?
2. Pennington is by far the best QB on the team and I'd take him over 24 or 25 of the starting Qb's in the league. He had a bad game no doubt, but wait, he's made a career out of proving the doubters wrong.
3. Penningtons throws were no softer than before.
Pennington will be fine. We all know there are preseason all-stars and those who rise to the occasion when the games count. No. 10 is in the latter category.
Hey readers, none of you are at Jets practice everyday and have not seen Chad throw horribly as Tom described in his blog. He is combining last year's high INT year with this year's poor training camp and last night's horrible game. Put all three together and we should worry a little about the QB position. chad has a weak arm thus allowing teams to gear up for the run and hope the noodle does not beat them, which they know he cannot do. Any hope of a repeat of last year's 10-6 record is a long shot with Chad as QB. Clemens will be in there by mid year if not sooner, guaranteed! It's not like Mangenius has any history with Pennington or ties with him. He would bench him in a heartbeat if he felt Clemens would work out better.
Tom - I read your blog pretty religiously. It's always the first place I go in the morning. However, I must say, I'm very disappointed in this blog entry. This is something I usually expect to see out of the Post reporters, not Newsday. This is a bad attempt to get the Pennington haters out there to get louder and get more comments. Pennington is a winner, weak arm and all. Clemens is not the answer. Well, at least not this year he isn't.
yeah it's preseason, but this is a game I expected to see something that tells me this is going to be a better team than last season.
nada.
same pourous defense that has trouble tackling. same poor offensive line that can barely hold their blocks to give the QB a chance to throw. same offense that can't put it in the endzone.
i had bought into the idea that the second year in these offensive and defensive schemes would mean this team will be much better this year.
not any more.
this game is not just the 2nd game of preseason, it's the 2nd year of the same team working in the same system.
the bottom line is you can't substitute for talent. the OL and DL both need more talent. we'll be lucky to win 8 games this season.
It's amazing. After all these years, people still pay attention to what happens in preseason.
When wil they ever, ever learn?
Of all games to watch, I took my 6 year old daughter to this disaster.
Her only comment on the Jets... "Daddy, maybe the Jets should watch the little kids play football". I have to agree with her, man... they were terrible. The PeeWee games at halftime had the crowd roaring more... well.. until Justin broke a really nice one. Thanks Justin.
As for Chad... yes I agree... preseason means nothing, it's a good test to see where the team is at, and where they need to work harder... but comon'... give us something to look forward to! Chad looked clueless, and really confused. Then when he finally put a nice drive together, it died at the 3 and they settled for 3... again... and again.
Even though it meant nothing, I don't care what anyone says, it still hurt to watch the Jets play like that.
I love the media trying to stir something up because Mangini is boring. So let's try to get a sexy story here and say Chad could be benched.
He struggled last year for a few games and played out of it. Work the kinks now and be ready Sept 9th.
The media sucks so bad. Just like in May when they were ready to pull the plug on Torre and the Yanks.
i think it's nuts to start questioning Chad off one lousy pre-season performance. We know his body of work and the difference in the Jets W-L when he plays. I'm not worried about him. I am concerned with the O-lilne. Ferguson looked awful without Kendall next to him. They need to get that fixed now.
[It took Mangini about a dozen sentences to mention Pennington’s interceptions in his opening remarks after the game. I asked Kellen Clemens if, as a backup, it’s part of his job to keep the pressure on the starter when he struggles, to keep the gap closing. Kellen usually laughs off questions about him and Chad being in competition. Last night he just said that he was going in to try to move the ball and usher the offense down the field.]
THIS is the basis for there being a QB contoversy??? Are you kidding me?!!!! Perhaps Mangini was just upset about how poorly the team played AS A WHOLE. Perhaps Clemens was not laughing it up because he didn't have a great game either, trying to pick up that bad snap instead of falling on it, costing the team a TD. I think you are REALLY REALLY reaching for a juicy story here. One that is, in fact, NOT there. Pennington stunk, the whole team stunk (except for a few bright spots)....but as many have said here, it's PRE-SEASON. It's a practice game.