Article: Chad changes his throwing mechanics. Will now throw the ball with extra zip.

[NJ]

"The biggest point of emphasis for me right now is I'm changing mechanical issues with my throwing motion," Pennington said after a Thursday morning workout. "I really went back and studied it, and I want to really focus on it to where I gain more consistency with my throws, be more consistent with the velocity and really take it to the next level."

[ECURB]

Remind me how many times Joe Namath missed games until later on his career, and remind me how many rings Joe Namath has over Chad Pennington. Joe Namath also came into the league thinking that he would play four seasons and that would be it. Now thats a tough S.O.B. who played through tougher injuries and did not miss Chad Pennington type time.

Just wondering.

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm

He played 5 full seasons before the injuries hit.

He only threw more TD's than INT's ONCE in his career...

Had a ton of fumbles

and only threw THREE post season TD's in his career.

Lets not use stats to talk about Joe Willy... cause they arent pretty.

[BReal32]

i don't like it when people say he's a brittle and injury prone. yes, he's been hurt a few times, but it's not like he misses games with turf toe and sprained index fingers. the guy had a fractured/dislocated wrist from a hit by a LB, and a torn rotator cuff sustained by another hit (2x) and a sprained ankle from fatass Ty Warren rolling around on his leg.

i don't care if you like him or not, but he's not some piece of glass. he's had "real" injuries caused by getting hit by the opposing defense. And not to mention he played three games later after the first rotator cuff tear and led the team to the playoffs.

he may not be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady but you don't have to knock him for injuries. like i said, he's not missing games with insignificant injuries.

just my opinion.

[124]

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/N/NamaJo00.htm

He played 5 full seasons before the injuries hit.

He only threw more TD's than INT's ONCE in his career...

Had a ton of fumbles

and only threw THREE post season TD's in his career.

Lets not use stats to talk about Joe Willy... cause they arent pretty.

Hey ecurb, you proved my point.

He played five full seasons until the injuries hit. Meaning he outplayed his expected time, in full, in the NFL. The injuries than began to come after hits and hits and hits and playing through many injuries.

And the only stat after that that matters is this, ecurb:

Joe Namath was the Super Bowl MVP and the orchastrater behind the CHAMPION 1968-'69 New York Jets. Super Bowl CHAMPION. He led this team to the CHAMPIONSHIP and WON.

Nobody cares about completion percentage when 90% of your passes are 5 yard dump offs. Nobody cares about Pennington's wins in the AFC Wild Card Round. Nobody cares except YOU!

[Arsis]

i don't like it when people say he's a brittle and injury prone. yes, he's been hurt a few times, but it's not like he misses games with turf toe and sprained index fingers. the guy had a fractured/dislocated wrist from a hit by a LB, and a torn rotator cuff sustained by another hit (2x) and a sprained ankle from fatass Ty Warren rolling around on his leg.

i don't care if you like him or not, but he's not some piece of glass. he's had "real" injuries caused by getting hit by the opposing defense. And not to mention he played three games later after the first rotator cuff tear and led the team to the playoffs.

he may not be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady but you don't have to knock him for injuries. like i said, he's not missing games with insignificant injuries.

just my opinion.

HE is injury prone, as he is prone to injuries. He has only played a full 16 games once in his career. He even got hurt last year. The dude is so fragile that he skips the minor injures and goes straight to the full blown season ending ones.

[124]

THIS JUST IN!

Chad Pennington has a hangnail and will be placed on I.R. for the remainder of the 2008 season.

[BroadwayJ667]

THIS JUST IN!

Chad Pennington has a hangnail and will be placed on I.R. for the remainder of the 2008 season.

dang there goes the preseason

[TNJet]

Hey! the same thing we've been hearing from him for the past 3 seasons. Face it Chad,I've got more power in one of my farts than you have in your passes.

[Sperm Edwards]

i don't like it when people say he's a brittle and injury prone. yes, he's been hurt a few times, but it's not like he misses games with turf toe and sprained index fingers. the guy had a fractured/dislocated wrist from a hit by a LB, and a torn rotator cuff sustained by another hit (2x) and a sprained ankle from fatass Ty Warren rolling around on his leg.

i don't care if you like him or not, but he's not some piece of glass. he's had "real" injuries caused by getting hit by the opposing defense. And not to mention he played three games later after the first rotator cuff tear and led the team to the playoffs.

he may not be Peyton Manning or Tom Brady but you don't have to knock him for injuries. like i said, he's not missing games with insignificant injuries.

just my opinion.

Turf toe isn't a sissy injury. It's just got a bad name that sounds like you chipped a nail.

His fractured wrist came on a sack where he just fell on his wrist wrong. It wasn't some punishing blow that you could hear in the upper level.

QBs' arms are grabbed in every NFL game. Few lead to a torn capsule. It happened to Chad though. Twice.

Then another sack. Routine, like every sack. Except Chad finds a way to get a sprained ankle.

I don't doubt the guy is tough, as he keeps coming back for more. With his contract, it would be very easy to sit back and do nothing. He easily could have claimed that the first shoulder injury was career-ending, kept $20M in bonus money for one season, and called it quits over the following spring/summer.

But he is clearly injury-prone. When you miss games in 4 of 5 seasons you are prone to getting injured, and it's hardly even subject to opinion. Hey - he's not the only one. McNabb, Leftwich, Vick, Trent Green, Leinart (so far), Bulger, and many others in years past. Pennington is among that group of people whose bodies are not as durable as others, no matter how tough they are from the neck up.

[#27TheDominator]

Turf toe isn't a sissy injury. It's just got a bad name that sounds like you chipped a nail.

His fractured wrist came on a sack where he just fell on his wrist wrong. It wasn't some punishing blow that you could hear in the upper level.

QBs' arms are grabbed in every NFL game. Few lead to a torn capsule. It happened to Chad though. Twice.

Then another sack. Routine, like every sack. Except Chad finds a way to get a sprained ankle.

I don't doubt the guy is tough, as he keeps coming back for more. With his contract, it would be very easy to sit back and do nothing. He easily could have claimed that the first shoulder injury was career-ending, kept $20M in bonus money for one season, and called it quits over the following spring/summer.

But he is clearly injury-prone. When you miss games in 4 of 5 seasons you are prone to getting injured, and it's hardly even subject to opinion. Hey - he's not the only one. McNabb, Leftwich, Vick, Trent Green, Leinart (so far), Bulger, and many others in years past. Pennington is among that group of people whose bodies are not as durable as others, no matter how tough they are from the neck up.

Nature of the game. That's why the NFL keeps making rules to keep these pansies on the field.

[Flashlite80]

I have been a Chad supporter since the beginning but let's face facts. His arm was far too weak last year to allow the offense to compete. We talked Kendall to death. A bigger impact was the defenses ability to play 8 or 9 men in the box constantly with no concern of getting burned over the top. You can load the line with pro-bowlers, an 8 man box allows blitzes from so many diections it will rattle any line assignments. Further, even a pro-bowl lead blocker can't take out 3 free tacklers.

As far as working on his arm strength, it is admirable and he should be doing everything he can but results are results. If he had the secret to improving his arm strength, it should have been realized in prior years, or at the very least, show some progress before OTA's. The fact is he is underthrowing mid range outs consistently and there's no pass rush yet!!!! His best results all come from working the dink and dunk stuff. If Mangini was really game scheming, he'd stack the box and it's over. The 7 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills don't focus on this weakness. Chad is a proud guy. What do you expect him to say? Yeh, I bounced a few but I hit that two yarder every time? If effort determined success, Chad would be a pro-bowler, but it doesn't. Afraid Chad's value lies in mentoring Clemons and as a back-up. We saw when a game plan is not designed for his weaknesses, he can come in and move the team.

Clemons may have his ups and downs but he threatens the whole field. We are going to be a run focused offense. If Clemons throws in good passing situations, he can hit his guys quick and allow more YAC, something Coles, Cotchery and Keller excell at. Ratliff may have a future but not ready yet.

[lancemehl]

I'm by no means a Chad homer, but I don't see anything wrong with trying to better himself at his job. He realizes he has a problem and is trying to do what he can to improve it. But I guess you guys would rather have him eat cheezy puffs, sitting on his ass and giving up.

I don't think it's about being a Chad homer, but to have this much hate for your teams starting QB must suck. I feel bad, actually, because Chad is starting, then what, you root against him? lol

Hitters have hitting coaches. The best hitters in baseball watch film and change their mechanics CONSTANTLY! It's what pro's do! Real Pro's.

The article's a little boring actually. No s$#t. An NFL player is working to improve himself. WOW!

[ECURB]

Hey ecurb, you proved my point.

He played five full seasons until the injuries hit. Meaning he outplayed his expected time, in full, in the NFL. The injuries than began to come after hits and hits and hits and playing through many injuries.

And the only stat after that that matters is this, ecurb:

Joe Namath was the Super Bowl MVP and the orchastrater behind the CHAMPION 1968-'69 New York Jets. Super Bowl CHAMPION. He led this team to the CHAMPIONSHIP and WON.

Nobody cares about completion percentage when 90% of your passes are 5 yard dump offs. Nobody cares about Pennington's wins in the AFC Wild Card Round. Nobody cares except YOU!

So how is it when Chad cant score TD's in Pitt that loss is his fault in your eyes..

Yet when Namath doesnt throw a TD in the Superbowl they won becuase of him?

Your bias and others as well is stronger against Chad than my love for him is... you guys try harder to spin things against him than I do for him.

FYI... Namath has 3TD's and 4 INT's in the playoffs for his CAREER... yes a 5 year injury free career...

If Unitas was healthy and the JETS lost that game like they were expected to... Namath would just be another JETS QB has been... ****y attitude without the stats to back it up...

Lucky for us as JETS fans he was able to win that SB... its the only thing we have! lol

[124]

Yeah, because Unitas really changed things around when he came in.

You can play the "yeah, but if.." game all you'd like, but Johnny Unitas was old and injuried, it doesn't matter because if the game was played in Unitas' prime, Namath wouldn't have been playing!

How did he not lead it? The offense actually scored a freakin' touchdown. He didn't make mistakes and the team scored 16 points.

Jets @ Pittsburgh? 17 points, a touchdown by the defense and a touchdown by the Special Teams. The Offense mattered for 3 points. THREE.

Playoff TD-INT's mean nothing, it matters if you win. Chad Pennington doesn't win. He at best can lead you to 9-10 wins and one playoff win. There is a limit. No spinning, just the facts.

[GandWFan]

So how is it when Chad cant score TD's in Pitt that loss is his fault in your eyes..

Yet when Namath doesnt throw a TD in the Superbowl they won becuase of him?

Your bias and others as well is stronger against Chad than my love for him is... you guys try harder to spin things against him than I do for him.

FYI... Namath has 3TD's and 4 INT's in the playoffs for his CAREER... yes a 5 year injury free career...

If Unitas was healthy and the JETS lost that game like they were expected to... Namath would just be another JETS QB has been... ****y attitude without the stats to back it up...

Lucky for us as JETS fans he was able to win that SB... its the only thing we have! lol

Look you clueless Chadophile. This **** cannot stand. I know that your prepubescent hero worship for Pennington is an illness, and I should not pick on the mentally challenged, but you have GOT to be kidding me. Joe Namath had more talent in his right arm that 10 Chad Penningtons.

By the way, Namath came into the league injured. His knees were shot coming out of Alabama.

It was said that you could place a hankerchief anywhere on the field and Joe Willie could hit it. He was a phenominal talent. JWN is the reason that I am a Jets fan today.

The only other QB that was at Joe Willie's level was John Elway. With either one, you were never out of the game. Joe could come off the field after throwing his third interception and you still felt like you could win. Why? Because he could score from anywhere on the field at any time. None of this dink and dunk crap.

And Namath had balls. This was the era when MLBs like Dick Butkus would tear you head off, and the rules allowed it. And with his bad knees, he was basically a statue back there. The pass rush knew exactly where he'd be. And yet he would stand in and throw the ball deep down the field again and again, basically saying FU to the defense. He did not play scared. After the pounding Chad got in Oakland in 2002, he and his balls when home on separate planes. They haven't seem each other since.

Please don't even mention CP in the same post as JWN. JWN was a man amoung men, a true leader. CP is a media created woosy that ****s the bed whenever he is pressured.

You are dismissed.

[StillerPaul]

Look you clueless Chadophile. This **** cannot stand. I know that your prepubescent hero worship for Pennington is an illness, and I should not pick on the mentally challenged, but you have GOT to be kidding me. Joe Namath had more talent in his right arm that 10 Chad Penningtons.

By the way, Namath came into the league injured. His knees were shot coming out of Alabama.

It was said that you could place a hankerchief anywhere on the field and Joe Willie could hit it. He was a phenominal talent. JWN is the reason that I am a Jets fan today.

The only other QB that was at Joe Willie's level was John Elway. With either one, you were never out of the game. Joe could come off the field after throwing his third interception and you still felt like you could win. Why? Because he could score from anywhere on the field at any time. None of this dink and dunk crap.

And Namath had balls. This was the era when MLBs like Dick Butkus would tear you head off, and the rules allowed it. And with his bad knees, he was basically a statue back there. The pass rush knew exactly where he'd be. And yet he would stand in and throw the ball deep down the field again and again, basically saying FU to the defense. He did not play scared. After the pounding Chad got in Oakland in 2002, he and his balls when home on separate planes. They haven't seem each other since.

Please don't even mention CP in the same post as JWN. JWN was a man amoung men, a true leader. CP is a media created woosy that ****s the bed whenever he is pressured.

You are dismissed.

lol Very good post. I happen to agree with it too.

[jetmant87]

IMO chad isnt as bad as ppl make him out to be but...i still hold my breathe when he throws and thats no fun

[StillerPaul]

IMO chad isnt as bad as ppl make him out to be but...i still hold my breathe when he throws and thats no fun

Watching you guys debate these 2 QB's is like a deja vu thing for me. I've seen this type situation play out in the early 90's in Steeler nation. Except most of us were pulling for Neil O'donnell (not such strong armed, more accurate), to beat out Bubby Bristor (strong armed, showed lotsa flashes but little consistency).

[GandWFan]

Watching you guys debate these 2 QB's is like a deja vu thing for me. I've seen this type situation play out in the early 90's in Steeler nation. Except most of us were pulling for Neil O'donnell (not such strong armed, more accurate), to beat out Bubby Bristor (strong armed, showed lotsa flashes but little consistency).

And now, having both of those qbs sandwiched between Terry Bradshaw and Big Ben, it seems like a ridiculous conversation, doesn't it?

[DMaynard]

My response was to DM using age as an issue... when in fact I would be quite upset at any QB of any age that didnt constantly work on his mechanics... ESPECIALLY with age becuase you will need to adapt to your body and how it changes with age.

Of course every pro QB at any age should be continually trying to sharpen their mechancis. My point wasn't that he is too old. My point was that at 31, he is delusional to think changing his mechancis will strengthen his passing. Thus my conclusion ... it is sad.

[StillerPaul]

And now, having both of those qbs sandwiched between Terry Bradshaw and Big Ben, it seems like a ridiculous conversation, doesn't it?

True dat. The old saying 'when you have two QB's you have no QB's' comes to mind.

[Kentucky Jet]

Link: Pennington Working on Mechanics

Posted on June 7th, 2008 by Bassett

For those who have been fixated on Chad Pennington

[Old Rogue]

He wants to be "more consistent with the velocity"? Does that mean he now wants even more of his throws to be 30 mph?

Actually, that would turn out to be pretty good passing. It would equate to a 40 yard pass taking 2.7 seconds. Can Clemens do that? Can you?

[Old Rogue]

Please don't even mention CP in the same post as JWN. JWN was a man amoung men, a true leader. CP is a media created woosy that ****s the bed whenever he is pressured.

And yet every time Joe Willy is interviewed at a Jets game - which is pretty often - he has nothing but effusive praise for Pennington. I'm guessing he sees something in Pennington that you just can't.

[lancemehl]

And yet every time Joe Willy is interviewed at a Jets game - which is pretty often - he has nothing but effusive praise for Pennington. I'm guessing he sees something in Pennington that you just can't.

when football season rolls around, it's more fun to root FOR your starting QB.

[Sperm Edwards]

And yet every time Joe Willy is interviewed at a Jets game - which is pretty often - he has nothing but effusive praise for Pennington. I'm guessing he sees something in Pennington that you just can't.

And Parcells said that Murrell was the best RB in the AFC. Then he signed Curtis Martin as a RFA, gave him the (then) most lucrative RB contract in NFL history, and traded Murrell away.

[Old Rogue]

And Parcells said that Murrell was the best RB in the AFC. Then he signed Curtis Martin as a RFA, gave him the (then) most lucrative RB contract in NFL history, and traded Murrell away.

And that information is germane, how?

[GandWFan]

And yet every time Joe Willy is interviewed at a Jets game - which is pretty often - he has nothing but effusive praise for Pennington. I'm guessing he sees something in Pennington that you just can't.

Thank goodness, Joe Willie is the biggest jets homer there is. If we had dog **** as a QB, Joe would be praising the aroma. That's just the guy he is. Jets first.

[Borgoguy]

Bottom line is that Chad throws the ball like he's trying to heave a loaf of bread into a shopping cart down the super market aisle. Watch him, he mainly floats the ball rather than just letting it go. Like a pitcher trying to aim the ball to the plate.

[mr nyjet]

Bill Eichenberger is ecurb. There is no other explanation for this joke of an article.

And so far, its really worked out well for Chad. Wasn't he underthrowing 12 and 15 yard outs and curls just last week during OTA's?

he should just ask the flag girls for a few pointers.........

how much more of this excuse b.s. are we going to hear? it's like year 6 post-injury already.....

[jack48]

http://www.sportingnews.com/yourturn/viewtopic.php?t=420059

You can't make this stuff up.

And if you're wondering, I didnt take this article from 2004, 2005, 2006 or 2007 when Chad said the same exact thing.

So let me get this straight...he did not see a need for this until THIS year?

[jetfuel]

Peyton Manning is doing the opposite of what Chad is doing. He, like Brady last off-season, is throwing less to preserve his arm.

How is a guy who never had a strong arm going to magically improve it at the age of 31?

By tinkering with his mechanics and using his legs more, being more conscious of his release point. Having time to throw will help him have the time to step up and into his throws instead of throwing off his back foot as much as he has in recent years. Will he have a cannon arm? No. He can possibly have more velocity with a tweek of his style though and you don't need a cannon arm to win in the NFL.

QB's do get better with age as it is a very cerebral position. It is quite possible for a QB to learn over time and become a better QB later in their career. A lot of QB's have gotten better with age in the past. That said, I guess we'll all see this year if he is able to fix some things unless Clemens wins the job.

[Boozer76]

By tinkering with his mechanics and using his legs more, being more conscious of his release point. Having time to throw will help him have the time to step up and into his throws instead of throwing off his back foot as much as he has in recent years. Will he have a cannon arm? No. He can possibly have more velocity with a tweek of his style though and you don't need a cannon arm to win in the NFL.

QB's do get better with age as it is a very cerebral position. It is quite possible for a QB to learn over time and become a better QB later in their career. A lot of QB's have gotten better with age in the past. That said, I guess we'll all see this year if he is able to fix some things unless Clemens wins the job.

The cerebral aspect of Chad's game has never been in question. He's not going to get any better than that because he is already great as a "cerebral" QB. As for his velocity, we are not talking about him being an average armed QB looking to add a little velocity to make better throws. We are talking about the weakest armed QB in the league-by a mile. There is nothing he can do mechanically speaking that is going to bring his arm from where it is now to even being an average armed QB. In other words, there is nothing he can do to better his mechanics enough to even not still be the weakest armed QB in the league. The NFL games calls for a QB who can make storng throws to the sideline and over the middle. It's not about throwing it 500 yards, it's about getting it to a tight spot quickly before the defender can make a play on it. At this point he's just not capable of doing that consistently. Most QB's already have sufficient arm strength and become better cerebrally over time. The cerebral aspect can certainly be improved. Arm strength, in Chad's case, can not.

[Old Rogue]

[jetfuel]

The cerebral aspect of Chad's game has never been in question. He's not going to get any better than that because he is already great as a "cerebral" QB. As for his velocity, we are not talking about him being an average armed QB looking to add a little velocity to make better throws. We are talking about the weakest armed QB in the league-by a mile. There is nothing he can do mechanically speaking that is going to bring his arm from where it is now to even being an average armed QB. In other words, there is nothing he can do to better his mechanics enough to even not still be the weakest armed QB in the league. The NFL games calls for a QB who can make storng throws to the sideline and over the middle. It's not about throwing it 500 yards, it's about getting it to a tight spot quickly before the defender can make a play on it. At this point he's just not capable of doing that consistently. Most QB's already have sufficient arm strength and become better cerebrally over time. The cerebral aspect can certainly be improved. Arm strength, in Chad's case, can not.

You misunderstood me here. I didn't say that he is going to improve his field smarts (cerebral part of his game). I am saying that a lot of his "lack of arm strength" in the last couple of years has to do with the fact that he is throwing a lot off of his back foot and his mechanics have been poor. That has a lot to do with the fact that they have not had a solid running game and OL since 2005. The protection was attrocious for both QB's last year.

No matter how strong a QB's arm is they are not going to get the ball in there if they don't use their legs for some of that power. Chad has been chucking the ball too much and we all know he can't rely on his arm strength. It seems like he's been trying to do that. He needs to have proper mechanics to get the ball in there and he needs some time to throw which he didn't have last year at all. That's what he and the Coaching Staff has seen and what he is working on.

The fact that he is a very intelligent QB will help him see what he was doing wrong mechanically last year. The "cerebral" part of his game and studies is what will help him tweek what he is doing physically. I believe with time and the proper footwork that Chad can get the ball in there. I also think he can improve his velocity enough that if he does fix his release that he will do well. I guess we disagree which is fine. I'd still like to see Clemens get good enough that we don't need to talk about this at all but until that happens I'm gonna have to hope that Chad can fix the bugs and this OL really gels in camp.