JUST FOR STARTERS
Yesterday at Hofstra was Day 4 of the Jets quarterback competition and Day 3 of the Brett Favre watch. There was not much progress on either front.
Neither Chad Pennington nor Kellen Clemens has stood out yet, and the Jets remained quiet on whether they are working on a deal with the Packers.
Pennington has been better than Clemens so far, but camp is only a few days old and this competition figures to last the entire summer.
Clemens continues to turn the ball over in practice, fumbling a snap and throwing an interception again yesterday. Jets coach Eric Mangini did not single Clemens out, but talked about how turnovers drive him crazy.
“Some mistakes are obviously more apparent than others,” Mangini said. “The one mistake you can’t have is you can’t turn the ball over. You just can’t turn the ball over.
“Quarterbacks need to make good decisions in those . . . the risk/reward we talk about. That makes me even more annoyed.”
Clemens started eight games for the Jets last season. He threw 10 interceptions against five touchdowns. Yesterday in the practice bubble, Clemens was whistled down twice in the pocket by Mangini for holding on to the ball too long, then David Barrett picked off his sideline throw. It was Clemens’ fourth pick of training camp. Pennington has not thrown one yet.
The 25-year-old said the fact that he’s in a fight for the starting job does not make the mistakes magnified.
“A turnover is a turnover,” Clemens said. “You try to put everything in context. You take everything that happens in practice and try to put it in the context of a game. Any sort of interception or turnover, a missed third-down conversion, it hurts whether you’re in practice or a game. I try not to let the competition affect the way that I approach it. We all want to win and be efficient this year. You don’t let that extra element add to it.”
As for Favre, Mangini joked when someone asked him at his press conference about the NFL’s most popular retiree.
“Do you really have to?” Mangini said. “It’s Sunday. It’s a nice day. We’re relaxing. Think about how much fun we’re having.”
Then he gave the non-answer everyone expected about his reaction to Favre failing to report to Packers camp.
“I really don’t,” Mangini said. “I’m sure they’re working it out up there and they’re working through that and we’re working through the rain. Non-answer enough?”
Pennington said he has not heard from management since Friday about Favre when general manager Mike Tannenbaum briefed him on the situation.
“The bottom line is sooner or later the organization has to make a decision one way or the other,” Pennington said. “I hope it’s sooner than later. For our team to be able to move on and accomplish the things we want to get accomplished, the things that Coach Mangini and Mike want to get accomplished, we’ve got to make a decision and the sooner the better.”
The veteran QB said it’s business as usual for him.
“When I step in between the white lines I’m the starter, period, bottom line,” he said. “I’m going to lead this team and lead us to victory. That’s my goal. That’s what I always focus on.”
