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Pennington's Small Steps Help Him Hit His Stride


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Pennington's Small Steps Help Him Hit His Stride

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By KAREN CROUSE

Published: August 2, 2005

HEMPSTEAD, N.Y., Aug. 1 -

He decamped from behind the interview lectern Monday to a pristine patch of grass a few yards away. Minus his shoulder pads and helmet, and removed from the fretful eyes of Jets fans and the furious scribbling of reporters, Chad Pennington was free at last.

After a morning practice in which he was only nominally involved, the Jets' quarterback reveled in football at its most fundamental. For 45 minutes, he practiced pivoting and threw passes to Marcus Edwards, the son of Coach Herman Edwards, with the ease of someone casting a fishing line in a placid lake.

His spirals tightened and his jaw loosened.

Training camp is a time of preparation for the regular season. Nothing counts but effort and attitude. That is why the public's fixation on the particulars of his performance - attempts, completions, average yards a completion - vexes Pennington.

He is happy simply to be back throwing on consecutive days without pain after having major surgery on his right shoulder Feb. 8.

"Right now, I feel pretty good about how everything has gone," Pennington said after throwing for the fourth consecutive day.

Pennington's tone grew cooler when he was asked about two long passes he had thrown behind Laveranues Coles the previous afternoon. It did not matter that he had checked off on shorter passes each time to test his arm and his timing. All some people saw was that his throws came up short.

"Over seven months, I've thrown three deep balls," he said in a tone usually associated with kindergarten teachers. "That's why I'm out here."

"A lot of our schemes," he added, "we're pushing the ball down the field, and the only way that I'm going to experience success is if I experience failure and see what I can and cannot do with the throws, where I need to put the ball and get used to my receivers breaking."

Before last week, Pennington had not thrown against a defense since the Jets' season-ending loss at Pittsburgh on Jan. 15. His work during the June minicamp was limited to light throwing and intense studying of the offensive coordinator Mike Heimerdinger's playbook.

"I'm excited," Pennington said, "and I don't get down about what happens with the throws. As long as I'm making the right reads. I'll fix the throws.

"So far, so good," he added. "I'm just excited about the rest of camp and trying to get these things nailed down."

Pennington estimated that his rehabilitation was 85 percent complete at the start of camp.

He also said he intended to be back at full strength by Sept. 11, when the Jets, who came within a field goal of advancing to the A.F.C. championship game, open their season at Kansas City.

"The best thing about these last few practices is that I've just reacted," Pennington said. "I haven't thought about how my shoulder feels, what's going on in rehab. I just reacted and tried to play ball. When you do that, you know you're on the right track."

Pennington was finishing up his supplemental morning work when the backup quarterback Jay Fiedler emerged from the locker room in street clothes. He was on his way to the cafeteria for lunch. When he saw Pennington, Fiedler stopped, smiled and shouted, "Why are you taking the morning off if you're coming out here and throwing?"

Pennington, grinning, replied: "I'm not throwing. I'm working on my footwork. I've got two left feet, so it takes a little longer."

Then he laughed. Training camp is lighter outside the spotlight's glare.

EXTRA POINTS

Defensive back James Taylor twisted his knee toward the end of the morning workout while making a tackle. ... The afternoon practice featured the first scuffle of training camp, with the 6-foot-5 defensive end Shaun Ellis taking swings at the 6-3 guard Brandon Moore.

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The afternoon practice featured the first scuffle of training camp, with the 6-foot-5 defensive end Shaun Ellis taking swings at the 6-3 guard Brandon Moore.

I don't think ANYONE had this as their guess in that other thread.

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