PHILADELPHIA – Sometime around the beginning of the second quarter today at Lincoln Financial Field – fair or unfair – the weight of the Jets’ hopes, dreams and aspirations for a special 2003 season will fall squarely on the broad shoulders of the fair-haired hero of their 2002 season.
Chad Pennington, he of the 8-4 record as the savior starting quarterback last season, will make his entrance, and that’s when Jets fans will truly expect the season to begin.
Pennington, of course, has been out of action since Giants’ linebacker Brandon Short pile-drove him into the Giants Stadium turf in an Aug. 23 preseason game, fracturing his left wrist.
He’s since had surgery, rehabbed and practiced and today marks his anticipated return. Vinny Testaverde, who’s led the Jets to two wins in a row after an 0-4 start and is the fourth-ranked QB in the AFC with an 88.4 rating, will again pass the torch to Pennington as he did last season.
The question that’ll burn once Pennington actually returns to the field will be this: Who’ll be more excited? Pennington? His teammates? The Jets’ coaching staff? Or Jets fans?
“Oh, Chad is going to be excited,” Jets’ left guard Dave Szott said. “He’s going to have to keep his emotions under control. He can’t wait to get in there as much as we can’t wait to have him in there.”
Pennington, as he prepared to return this week, hasn’t even tried to hide his emotions.
“I’m like a volcano, ready to erupt,” he said. “I think that will be the key to the game as far as being able to control my emotions and play within myself and play within the offense, because it’s going to be an exciting time for me and right now it’s an exciting time for our team because we’ve won two in a row and it would be nice to get a third win.”
Jets offensive coordinator Paul Hackett sounded ready to erupt with glee this week while speaking of Pennington’s return.
“It’s a fantastic situation,” Hackett said. “Nobody could be happier than me. We’ve been waiting 9, 10, 11 weeks to get back to the way we were.”
Hackett said he expects Pennington suffer from some rustiness at the beginning, which is something the Jets will have to overcome.
“You’ve got to remember, Chad’s game is accuracy,” Hackett said. “Chad has been brilliant in terms of getting the ball to somebody and it just doesn’t happen out here [in practice]. You try to get it out here the best you can, but you can’t get the tempo that you need to get.
“That will be my concern: Will the ball go where he wants it to go?
“This is the best defense that we’ve played since Miami,” Hackett said of the 3-3 Eagles, who are ranked 15th overall and sixth against the run. “This is a big-time defensive football team. This is going to be a major league game for us.”
Herman Edwards has tried to temper what will surely be lofty expectations once Pennington returns to the game. Edwards insisted that Jets fans should not expect Johnny Unitas to step into Pennington’s No. 10 green-and-white jersey.
Pennington isn’t going to come exploding out of a phone booth like some sort of superhero.
“He hasn’t played in two months and that’s hard for anybody to come in and all of a sudden just pick it up,” Edwards said, who made the unorthodox decision to start Testaverde before handing the reins to Pennington. “We have to all realize that, when Chad starts again, it’ll be only his 13th start . . . That’s a little bit of the reasoning for what I’m trying to do.”
—
WHY THE JETS WILL WIN
Couple the Jets’ modest two-game winning streak with the return of Chad Pennington to the lineup and what you have is a very confident team. The invigorated running game will keep the aggressive Eagles defense at bay, setting up a big play or two in the passing game. Meanwhile, the Jets’ pass rush will bother the struggling Donovan McNabb.
– Mark Cannizzaro
PREDICTION
Jets 21 – Eagles 16
