From Foxsports-AFC EAST Training Camp Preview

[raffyD]

Main page link for all AFCE fans: http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5793190

Training camp goals | Notes and quotes | Unit-by-unit analysis

Find the starting quarterback

It's fair to wonder if Chad Pennington ever again will be the player he was for what seems (and pretty much was) a brief moment in time in the 2002 season, when he took over for a deposed Vinny Testaverde as the starter in the season's fifth game and guided the Jets to the second round of the AFC playoffs after a 2-5 start.

Since then, he hasn't been able to navigate an entire season without being injured, and now has had two surgeries on his throwing shoulder since Feb. 2005. The Jets traded a sixth-round pick to the Redskins to bring in Patrick Ramsey as competition, although he was less than impressive in the team's June mini-camp. Actually, the quarterback who shone most brightly in that mini-camp was second-round draft pick Kellen Clemens, but he figures to be a year or two away at best from starting.

Expect both Pennington and Ramsey to get plenty of game action during the pre-season as the Jets try to determine who will start against Tennessee on Sept. 10. Sources indicate the coaching staff has not settled upon a front-runner going into camp.

Implement the new systems

Holdover Bob Sutton (formerly the Jets' linebackers coach) will be the defensive coordinator and import Brian Schottenheimer (formerly San Diego's quarterbacks coach) will coordinate the offense. But make no mistake -- new coach Eric Mangini's imprint will be apparent on both sides of the ball.

Obviously, the former New England defensive coordinator will pay special attention to that side of the ball. But Mangini's basic philosophy, adapted from mentor Bill Belichick, will be in effect on both offense and defense.

Mangini, as does Belichick, believes in a chameleon-like approach with game plans to take advantage of an opponent's specific weakness, or to take away an opponent's specific strengths. That approach has not been the Jets' way in recent years, so it may take some time, even into the regular season, for Mangini & Co. to get all of their basic tenets instilled in the players.

Get with the program:

See the previous objective, as the Jets' players must get on board with the Patriots' approach to preparing for each game as a separate and distinct entity.

Yet there's much more to it than that. Under former coach Herm Edwards, insiders say the Jets became lax mentally and physically, as there were different rules for different players and weight-training standards were far from rigidly enforced. It's quite possible that all the injuries the Jets suffered in 2005 had something to do with that.

Changing the mind-set of the players will be quite important for Mangini and his staff. The process already has begun, as voluntary and mandatory mini-camp sessions were harder than they had been in the recent past. But Mangini's first training camp as a head coach will be the biggest test yet, as he attempts to shape this team into the kind of squad he became accustomed to at New England, a smart and adaptable group of players who may not be the most physically talented, but excel at the mental aspects of football.

Camp calendar

Camp opens July 28. Closes Aug. 23, two days before the traditional game against the Giants, which almost always is the Jets' third preseason game.

Regarding the bold, all I have to say is: wow, some of you guys really know your sh!t!