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Bollinger confident and loving the competition


Fred Jetstone

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http://www.grandforks.com/mld/grandforks/sports/14997793.htm

Herald Staff Writer

Brooks Bollinger knows things aren't always as good or bad as they appear when it comes to the NFL.

Take last year.

He was the No. 3 quarterback for the New York Jets before starter Chad Pennington and backup Jay Fiedler both went down with shoulder injuries in late September. Suddenly, Bollinger went from No. 3 to No. 1 on the Jets' quarterback depth chart.

"The way this league is, you never know," former Grand Forks Central athlete Bollinger said. "You never know when those situations are going to come up that are great situations. Just like I think some people assumed that when they signed those other quarterbacks and drafted a kid it was a bad situation for me, but that's not necessarily the case."

Bollinger was speaking of the Jets' logjam at quarterback.

The Jets have Bollinger as the returning starter. The team also will have Chad Pennington, who was the starter before he was injured last year, in camp later this month. Also with the team will be Patrick Ramsey, a starter in Washington in 2004, and Kellen Clemens, who the Jets drafted in the second round of this year's draft out of Oregon.

So, the Jets have three quarterbacks with starting experience and another who is projected to be an NFL starter one day.

"It's competition," Bollinger said after a session of his Bollinger QB and Receiver School at UND last week. "It's great to get the opportunity to get the chance to get reps in this league and to be competing."

Bollinger started nine games for the Jets in 2005. He completed 150 of 266 passes for 1,558 yards and seven touchdowns versus six interceptions. Bollinger thrived at times after the Jets got away from a conservative game plan.

But Pennington was one of the elite quarterbacks in the NFL before he ran into injury troubles, Ramsey is a solid starter and Clemens has a lot of promise.

"It's one of those things where you have four capable guys," Bollinger said. "I've never heard of it. I'm sure it's happened before, but ..."

Bollinger said he has no idea what first-year Jets head coach Eric Mangini has in mind at quarterback. Mangini has said it will be an open competition between the four players.

"At some point, they're going to have to make a decision," Bollinger said. "When they do, then you just take it from there.

"I really can't give any insight. I don't have any."

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