http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/story/417810p-352936c.html For Eric, Chad no favored son BY RICH CIMINI DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER Sights, sounds and impressions from Eric Mangini's first Jets minicamp, which ended yesterday at Hofstra: Chad Pennington's days as the teacher's pet are over. The rehabbing quarterback still hasn't performed in live drills for his new coach - it was a rookie minicamp, no veterans - but it became clear from listening to Mangini that Pennington isn't going to enjoy the same benefit of the doubt he received last training camp from Herm Edwards. Mangini praised Pennington's attitude, but he has no loyalty to the oft-injured passer and vowed to start the best player. Pennington, he of the twice-repaired throwing shoulder, will duel Patrick Ramsey in the Jets' first quarterback competition since Ken O'Brien vs. Browning Nagle in 1992. Kellen Clemens is the anti-Matt Leinart. You're not going to read about the rookie quarterback on the gossip pages. Clemens is a married man with small-town values. He grew up on a 3,500-acre cattle ranch in Burns, Ore. (pop. 4,000), two hours from the closest shopping mall. His next trip to Manhattan will be his first. "I don't think I'll have that man-about-town image," he said, sounding like a young Pennington with his team-first clich?s and polite manner. (Clemens actually referred to the veteran as Mr. Pennington.) Of course, the small-town background can work the other way, too. Is Clemens' skin thick enough to play quarterback in the big city? On the field, Clemens displayed quick feet, a compact delivery and take-charge skills. "What I liked out of Kellen this weekend was his presence and his ability to run the operation," Mangini said. "That's been really positive." D'Brickashaw Ferguson: Bodyguard or wallflower? Or both? Off the field, the Jets' new stud left tackle was quieter than a Dewayne Robertson performance. Ferguson, the fourth overall pick, didn't seem too inspired by all the media attention. He was a lot less talkative than he was on draft day, which may not be a bad thing. "He's very mature, he's focused," Mangini said. "He takes a very businesslike approach to this, which is something we liked about him prior to the draft." You can't grade an offensive lineman in noncontact practices, but one thing jumped out about Ferguson: His arms appear as long as parking meters. His wingspan has been measured at 7-3. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer remained a mystery man. Mangini has muzzled his assistants, which has prevented the 32-year-old rookie coordinator from addressing two important issues: His qualifications, considering he's never called plays on any level, and his offensive philosophy. Mangini isn't Herm. Everything about them is different, from the way they coach at practice to the way they handle the media. Don't expect any "You play to win the game" speeches from Mangini. Originally published on May 15, 2006
This is going to be one of the most interesting practice season buildups in some time I would imagine.
I think Mangini is going about this season in the best possible way that a first year head coach should approach the season. And that is, play the BEST quarterback. That can be Chad, Ramsey, Clemens, and even Bollinger. He is NOT favoring any one of these QB's, and he's giving every single one of them a chance to show what they can do. I believe this will only be the best for the team because no matter who starts week 1, they know that they will need to perform very efficiently on the field in order to keep there starting position. He's going in the direction where he wants all the QB's to play at their highest level just by knowing that they have competition waiting right behind them if they slip. Good job Mangini, two thumbs up...Edwards was a Pennington lover and no matter what happened in training camp and/or preseason, the job was his...
Its great to have a competition between QB's...nothing should be handed to these guys....Love the way Mangini is running the show....no more stupid sound bites....Hopefully good things are coming...
Is there a bigger moron than Cimini? he writes that as if Chad didn't earn his starting job under Herm.
Chad had to know that coming into this year he was going to have no seniority. I just hope mangini doesn't totally alienate him, which am sure he won't. He needs chad in the clubhouse
Yeah Chad didn't help us out from 1-4 to a division title while leading the NFL in passing and it was merely coincidence tha in the 2 years Chad has played 3/4 of the games the Jets have reached the div rd while in the 2 years hae hasn't played 3/4 of games the jets have won a total of 10 games. Nah he didn't earn it:breakdance:
I know I am going to get some tomatos thrown at me for this but....I like Bollinger to start if Chad isnt up to the task. There! I said it! lol. I think he was getting better and better with each game last year behind a terrible oline. I think he has the ability to surprise defenses, and he has a lot of guts. The kid is fresh from starting games, has a decent arm and I bet would surprise all of us behind a decent oline. But my only real concern is that we don't throw Kellen Clemans in the mix this year. I dont really care who starts this year. Its a rebuilding year. I like Kellen a lot and I want him to develop the right way and learn. Chad will be a GREAT mentor to him. I have a feeling those two will get along well. I hope Chad doesnt forget what big Vin did for him as a rookie. I hope he returns the favor by mentoring Kellen. Whether it is Chad, Ramsey, or Bollinger I will be cool with either of those for this year. But if it comes down to Ramsey and Bollinger, I would take Bollinger this year.
Now I see the problem it's language. Chad did earn his starting position when Herm was foced into playing him. He never won the starting position.
It will be nice to see some competition on the whole team this season, we have not had that in a while and it is one of the reasons we are in this mess
He wasn't forced into playing him, Vinny had earned his starting spot but after early struggles(much of it had to do w/ a beat up OL and Curtis martin) he went to Chad for a spark and it worked and Chad never gave the starting job back. he earned it w/ his play on the field, he wasn't handed anything.
Edwards was dependent on Chad to win games. After 2001 his coaching record with anybody but Chad in there was 8-20. He knew who his meal ticket was and he treated him that way.
Pennington had a $64 million contract, was probably a top 10 QB, and was probably the face of the franchise. Of course the job was his. You think Brady, Manning, McNabb, etc. is going to be benched after training camp. Now there are serious questions about whether Chad will be able to play again. It has very little to do with Herm vs. Mangini. Now, if Herm was here and they both played pretty close to the same in training camp, he'd probably lean towards Chad because he's done it before, but it was still going to be a competition this year regardless of who the coach was.
It's about time wqe had some competition for the positions. Under Dumbway/Herm Chad, Marvin, Mo, and Martin played no matter what/how old
Well, the difference is that McNabb and Brady can play through almost any injury and still be more effective than Mr. Privilege. But even so, when the guys are too injured to go, and they're hurting the team, they're benched, and that's that. Pennington should NOT have started last year. If not for that ridiculous contract he signed, he probably wouldn't have started either. Hermy felt he had to justify it, since he was probably the one that negotiated the damn thing in the first place. He's going to be given every opportunity to start this year, but if he can't hack it, he doesn't get free passes this time around. If he throws ducks that get our WRs killed, and can't handle a simple center-QB exchange (how many did Bolly mess up? Maybe 2 all season? If any?), he will ride the pine. I want to see what Ramsey and Clemens can do personally. I've already lost patience with Pennington. He really just wasn't our answer. He's like this generation's Dave Brown. We'll forget him soon enough. Maybe Ramsey is Collins, and Clemens is Manning. We'll see.
That is complete bullshit. McNabb has played poorly plenty of times because of injuries. Brady has never suffered an injury like Pennington has had.
