E-Boland & Gang Green

By Tom Rock

Thought you might like a little Jets news sprinkled in with your Video Killed the Coaching Star saga. So here ya go:

If you went out and bought a Ray Ventrone jersey, big mistake by you. The Jets released him from the practice squad. Apparently he was found to be only 14-years-old (if you look at his picture below you’ll get the joke).

The Jets also signed S Abram Elam, bit of an odd move considering they now have five safeties on the roster. I guess when Erik Coleman was burned on that 51-yard TD pass to Randy Moss it raised some red flags. To make room for Elam, who was most recently with the Cowboys, the Jets put Chansi Stuckey on IR with a foot injury. Same foot, different injury is what we are being told in comparison to the injury he suffered in college last year and caused him to drop to the seventh round. Stuckey hurt the foot late last week, was inactive for the first game, and was seen wearing a protective boot earlier this week. Too bad, the Jets were really liking him.

Chad Pennington spoke to reporters for the first time since Sunday evening and said he’s not frustrated by his ankle injury but he’s disappointed. He said he’s taking to heart advice he received from Curtis Martin, who would often miss practices during the week and show up to perform in games. Chad said Curtis told him “never believe that you’re not going to play.” In other words, keep working toward Sunday. The goal is to be ready by Sunday, not for the Wednesday practice or the Saturday walk-through.

So, will he be ready for Sunday? Officially the Jets say “We’ll see.” Officially Newsday’s Tom Rock says “Probably not.” He participated in practice but was favoring his right ankle and was pretty limited. At one point during agility drills in which players high-step over blocking pads on the ground, Chad went through them hopping only on his left foot. It was a pretty amazing display of balance and athleticism, but it sure doesn’t make someone capable of playing quarterback in the NFL.

The Jets allowed five sacks to the Patriots and chalked most of them up to technique mistakes that can be corrected. “Hands up, feet moving, head up, things like that,” RG Brandon Moore said. “The simple, basic things that little kids learn when they first start playing.” Still, Moore conceded that the chemistry on the line is not where it needs to be. “We’re looking for it,” he said. With four of five starters returning, it’s not too difficult to guess where the gap in the chemistry falls.

Moore, by the way, got his Mil. He was given a $1 million raise by the Jets, who had refused to do the same for Pete Kendall during the offseason.