(8/7) Pennington articles

[Sperm Edwards]

Chad pulling away in QB competition

Monday, August 7, 2006

By RANDY LANGE

STAFF WRITER

EAST RUTHERFORD -- If they were getting ready for VH1 instead of CBS and Fox, the Jets could have titled their weekend at Giants Stadium "The Surreal Life: NFL Training Camp Edition."

And perhaps the most surreal part of Gang Green's road trip to their two Meadowlands practices was the way that Chad Pennington left the Jets' three other quarterbacks in the dust from the fresh coating of ground-up tires in the stadium's FieldTurf during Sunday's closed scrimmage.

"I wasn't surprised, but it does show me I'm headed in the right direction," Pennington said from the visitors' locker room after he led the "Green" team by hitting 12 of 14 passes for 117 yards in the first half of the no-tackling scrimmage.

"The things I'm doing with the trainers and the strength and conditioning coaches, I'm seeing the benefits of those things," Pennington said. "It's a good feeling, but at the same time, there's a lot of work to do."

As the Jets resume the Hofstra University portion of their camp, it could be said that Patrick Ramsey, Brooks Bollinger and Kellen Clemens have even more work to catch up to Pennington.

Coach Eric Mangini still wasn't ready to end the four-way competition he and coordinator Brian Schottenheimer set up in the off-season, but he couldn't help but note Pennington's progress 10 months after his second rotator cuff surgery of 2005.

"Chad did some really positive things," said Mangini, loose and smiling after concluding his seemingly successful experiment of immersing his players in the Giants Stadium experience three weeks before they play their first preseason game here against the Giants.

"Anytime you have a high completion rate, that's a positive. It was definitely encouraging. I thought Chad's presence was very good both on the field and on the sideline working with Brian on adjustments."

To be fair, Pennington was working with the first-team offense, and he generated only two field goals in his three series.

But he went up against the Jets' first and second defenses. And part of the surreality of the day was that in an 80,000-seat stadium filled only with red and blue empty seats, Mangini continued to pipe in music over the sound system to force his players to focus on the tasks at hand. Because the Greens were the visitors, the noise got louder when Pennington took the field.

It didn't seem to matter. He divided his 12 completions among seven receivers, with Laveranues Coles catching four of them. Pennington passed for six first downs and two third-down conversions.

"Physically, I feel really good. I'm proud of our staff in getting me prepared," he said. "Mentally, I'm just looking at it as a challenge every day to give Coach Schottenheimer what he wants."

The other QBs struggled to do that. Bollinger, first up with the Whites, completed three of six passes for 10 yards, followed by Ramsey, who went 4-for-9 for 33 yards. Clemens alternated with Pennington and went 3-for-7 for 24 yards.

E-mail: lange@northjersey.com

[Sperm Edwards]

Chad hits his spots

BY TOM ROCK

Newsday Staff Writer

August 7, 2006

Another day, another statement by Chad Pennington that he should be the Jets' starting quarterback.

Pennington, returning from his second shoulder surgery, showed pinpoint control in completing 12 of 14 passes for 117 yards in the first half of yesterday's simulated game. Though he had to settle for two long drives that led to field goals, coach Eric Mangini thought his efficiency was something to chirp about.

"Any time you have a high completion rate, that's a positive thing," Mangini said. "It usually means that you are moving the chains, effectively using the clock and putting yourself in position to move the ball. I think that's definitely encouraging."

Mangini also noted Pennington's confident presence, both in calling and executing plays and working with coordinator Brian Schottenheimer on the sideline. The Jets were 3-for-4 in third-down conversions with Pennington on the field.

By comparison, Patrick Ramsey was 4-for-9 for 33 yards, Kellen Clemens was 3-for-7 for 24 yards and Brooks Bollinger was 3-for-6 for 10 yards.

"Physically I feel good," Pennington said afterward. "I wasn't surprised, but it does show me I'm going in the right direction."

Jet streams

The familiar combination of Pennington to Laveranues Coles looked strong, with four completions for 37 yards ... Mangini said there has been no change in Curtis Martin's status on the physically-unable-to-perform list ... Rookie DB Drew Coleman hurt his right leg in the scrimmage.

[Sperm Edwards]

Chad is passing up foes

BY RICH CIMINI

DAILY NEWS SPORTS WRITER

The Jets' ballyhooed, four-way quarterback competition has turned into a real dud. Chad Pennington is blowing away the field.

Pennington, who probably needs only to stay healthy in the preseason to secure the job, added to his lead yesterday with a crisp performance in the Jets' intrasquad scrimmage at Giants Stadium. He completed 12 of 14 passes for 117 yards, outplaying Patrick Ramsey (4-for-9, 33 yards), Brooks Bollinger (3-for-6, 10) and rookie Kellen Clemens (3-for-7, 24).

One player said he'd be stunned if Pennington isn't named the starter. Indeed, Pennington has outshined the others from the start of camp. Yesterday, his best throws were a 21-yarder to Justin McCareins and a 19-yarder to Laveranues Coles on the same drive. On the downside, he did underthrow an open Coles on a deep corner route.

Afterward, Pennington said all the right things about battling in the so-called competition, but his confident mood suggested he knows the job belongs to him. "I wasn't surprised (by my performance)," he said, "but it does show me I'm headed in the right direction."

Pennington, rebounding from his second shoulder operation, still must prove he can take a hit. Coach Eric Mangini said Pennington's outing was "definitely encouraging. His presence was very good on the field ... and on the sideline."

[Sperm Edwards]

CHAD IT UP

QB STELLAR ON 'GAME DAY'

By MARK CANNIZZARO

SIGN MAN: Chad Pennington signs autographs yesterday at Giants Stadium, where the Jets squared off for a "Green vs. White" simulation game before returning to their training base at Hofstra.

August 7, 2006 -- The Jets played their first game of the 2006 season yesterday at Giants Stadium, where they left undefeated and with little doubt about who their starting quarterback will be on Sept. 10 for the real opener.

Eric Mangini, taking the words "situational practice" to the limit, simulated a regular-season game day for the team, playing a fake game inside Giants Stadium yesterday.

The only things missing were touchdowns. None of the four quarterback candidates led his team to a TD during the two 15-minute quarters.

However, Chad Pennington was head-and-shoulders (pun intended) better than Patrick Ramsey, rookie Kellen Clemens and Brooks Bollinger.

Pennington completed 12 of 14 passes for 117 yards while Ramsey was 4-of-9 for 33 yards, Clemens was 3-of-7 for 24 yards and Bollinger 3-of-6 for 10 yards.

Mangini, sticking to his rotation mantra, would not yet anoint Pennington, but he was very positive when speaking about his future starter.

"Chad did some really positive things," Mangini said. "Any time you have a high completion rate, that's a positive thing. It usually means you're moving the chains and effectively using the clock and moving the ball. That was definitely encouraging.

"His presence was very good - both on the field and on the sideline working with (offensive coordinator) Brian (Schottenheimer)."

Pennington's worst moment was an overthrow to WR Jerricho Cotchery early in the game.

"There are a couple throws I'd like to have back," Pennington said.

In the end, Pennington's team, the green team, won the game 6-3 on two Mike Nugent field goals.

Pennington's final series was crisp until a couple of penalties prevented him from leading his group to a TD. He connected with Justin McCareins for 22 yards, then hit Laveranues Coles for five yards, McCareins again for six and then Coles again for 19 yards.

That gave the green team a first down at the white team's 30 and that's where two offensive penalties - to Pete McMahon and first-round draft pick D'Brickashaw Ferguson - halted the drive.

The green team, though, got a final-seconds field goal of 41 yards from Nugent to secure the victory.

"Coming into the stadium and getting prepared was just like a game," Pennington said. "I had that pit in my stomach. As far as managing the game and working with the coaches on the sidelines, that was one of the things we emphasized - showing poise and confidence and getting guys lined up.

"It was important for us to get out here and do this. We got into a lot of really good game situations."

Mangini conceded that this weekend was a page taken out of the Patriots' preparation playbook.

"We worked on a lot of situations like this in New England, worked in the stadium quite a bit, and I always thought that gave us a real edge, because of the familiarity," Mangini said. "We had thrown into those end zones, worked on those sidelines. It was a real home-field advantage, and that's what we were trying to do this weekend.

"We wanted to get familiar with the stadium and take away a lot of the firsts for the new players and coaches on the staff. People learned about a lot of things this weekend."

Jets guard Pete Kendall loved it.

"I was on the sideline at one point smiling and one of the young guys said, 'Hey, the old man smiling.' It was fun."

mark.cannizzaro@nypost.com

[Sperm Edwards]

Pennington does well in Jets scrimmage

By Andrea Adelson

ASSOCIATED PRESS

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – When Chad Pennington walked into the Meadowlands for the Jets' team scrimmage Sunday, he had that usual pit in his stomach. The one he gets on game days.

Everything about the day had the feel of a game, from the pregame warmup, to the national anthem, to the coin toss, to the television timeouts. The only thing missing: 80,000 screaming fans. Still, Pennington and his teammates made do just fine, playing in the empty stadium to the sound of crowd noise and music as a replacement.

That proved to be little distraction to Pennington, who showed the poise and accuracy that made him a successful quarterback before two straight shoulder operations set him back. Pennington, vying with three other quarterbacks for the starting job, went 12-of-14 for 117 yards with the first-team offense. His green team won the scrimmage, which lasted one half.

“It was really good for our team, there were a lot of real game situations we covered,” Pennington said. “Coming into the stadium and getting prepared was just like a game, so I think it's going to prepare us. It's important for us to get out here, go through this and get something out of it.”

Pennington, playing against the first-team defense, outshined fellow green teammate Kellen Clemens, and opposing quarterbacks Patrick Ramsey and Brooks Bollinger. He sprinkled in some deeper throws with a few short ones. There was even a nice one-step drop quickie toss to Chris Baker that went for 16 yards.

His improvement each day in training camp is a testament to how hard Pennington has worked to get back from his shoulder injuries. During minicamp in June, he looked tentative and didn't have any zip on the ball. On the first day of training camp, he had two interceptions on his first three passes.

Now, he is throwing the ball much better and looks confident. Like the Chad of old.

Though Pennington said his performance wasn't surprising, he was encouraged.

“It does show me that I'm headed in the right direction and the things I'm doing with the trainers and with the strength and conditioning coaches and what I've done on the field during practice has helped me,” he said. “It's a good feeling to know, but at the same time, I've got a lot of work to do.”

Pennington appears to have the edge at winning the job even though coach Eric Mangini has been mum on the topic of choosing a starter. Ramsey was a disappointing 4-of-9 for 33 yards, but he was playing with the second-team offense. Still, two of those passes were batted down.

Clemens went 3-of-7 for 24 yards, while Bollinger was 3-of-6 for 10 yards.

“Chad did some positive things,” Mangini said. “Any time you have a high completion rate, that's a positive thing. It means you're moving the chains and effectively using the clock and putting yourself in position to move the ball. That's definitely encouraging. His presence was very good both on the field and on the sideline.”

The green team scored two field goals to one for the white to win the half scrimmage 6-3. The second part of practice was more work on situational plays. For winning, the green team got a better postgame meal – bar-b-cue, compared to cold sandwiches for the white team. They also got to watch movies on the bus back to team headquarters in Hempstead, N.Y., while the white team got no such luxury.

Mangini went from sideline to sideline throughout the scrimmage, with the headset on, monitoring every player. The scrimmage ended a two-day stay in New Jersey, where he wanted the Jets to get the feel for a game weekend. They had an open practice for fans Saturday, then stayed at the team hotel as they would before a regular contest.

He got the idea from his days in New England, where the Patriots would practice at their home stadium during camp. Mangini felt that gave them a “real home-field advantage.” Maybe it will work for the Jets, too. Nobody was complaining.

“On the sideline, I was smiling,” veteran guard Pete Kendall said. “It's a pretty neat deal. It was fun. It was something different for all of us, it was fun to go out there and do something like that.”