Posts tagged ChadPennington at FanHouse

As we get ready for week one matchup of the Dolphins and Jets, I chatted with longtime blogging friend John Butchko, aka "George Coztanza", from his own Coztanza's Commentary blog. John was nice enough to offer some insights on the Jets for this week's Behind Enemy Lines feature.

Things just keep getting better for Chad Pennington. After he was unceremoniously run out of New York to make way for the love child of Peter King and John Madden, he landed the starting job in Miami, and now, this: Jets head coach Eric Mangini told the New York Post that he would be open to having Pennington return to the sidelines. One small caveat, though:

Mangini is open to the idea of deported quarterback Chad Pennington Chad Pennington returning to the Jets New York Jets -- as a coach. ...

"I wouldn't be opposed to that at all," Mangini told reporters today. "I'm sure he'd be able to do a great job. If that's what he wanted to do, he'd be a great coach."

It's hardly scandalous, however; Mangini says he and Pennington are close, and it sounds like he genuinely respects the guy who he had battling Kellen Freaking Clemens for a job.

The two remain close, according to Mangini, who said he thinks Pennington has a successful future awaiting him in football when his playing days are done.

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Quarterback
Chad Pennington, MIA -- This is actually a really, really logical start. Pennington has the Jets playbook inside his head (I'm actually convinced the Fins will win), and he's out for revenge against the team that spurned him. He has a dangerous deep threat in Ted Ginn, and the running back tandem of Ricky Williams and (maybe) Ronnie Brown should give him some room to dink and dunk his way to nice low-end QB1 numbers. A nice waiver-wire scramble.

Trent Edwards, BUF -- Whaaa? Against the Seattle defense? Really? Yes. Really. As pointed out in this wonderful, wonderful book, the Seahawks defensive backs are short; neither Marcus Trufant nor Kelly Jennings are over six feet tall. Bills rookie James Hardy is 6-foot-5. Lee Evans is only 5-foot-10, but he's fast as all get-out. And the Bills have Marshawn Lynch to open up the passing game. Edwards won't win the week for you, but he won't be as bad as Eli Manning or Jason Campbell.

Staggering news out of NFL Films headquarters: Greg Cosell, Ron Jaworksi's off-camera Xs and Os alter ego, writes in his most recent Sporting News column that Matt Leinart and Alex Smith just aren't very good.

Hardly mind-blowing, I know, but unlike the rest of us, Cosell watches hours of game film before espousing his views. Apparently, if you were looking for a quarterback who would be the exact wrong fit in 49ers offensive coordinator Mike Martz's scheme, Smith would be that guy.

He's not quick enough in his pass drop, he has a long arm action, and his throws are Chad Pennington-like in velocity but Kyle Boller-esque in accuracy. That's a recipe for sideline viewing. Shorter version: there's a reason J.T. O'Sullivan's starting.

Leinart is a different story, although his arm is more popcorn-erific than Smith's.

On Friday, the Dolphins sent quarterback Josh McCown to the Panthers, presumably to provide depth behind Jake Delhomme after Matt Moore suffered what looked to be a serious injury during the preseason finale against the Steelers (turns out, Moore will be okay and, like the rest of us, is day to day).

Prior to moving McCown, there was some speculation that Miami would either trade or release John Beck, the team's 2007 second-round pick. After all, Beck was drafted by the previous regime, and Bill Parcells himself had green-lighted the McCown signing, which included $2.5 million in up-front loot.

Funny story. According to the Palm Beach Post's Edgar Thompson, general manager Jeff Ireland has a perfectly rational explanation for keeping Beck and jettisoning McCown.

The vast majority of football fans know a certain number of tenets. Defense wins championship. You have to run the ball. Never buy into the Cardinals. And, the preseason doesn't matter. There's nothing real about it, it's not a predictor of success, it's an exhibition that proves positively nothing.

That said, after last Sunday's debacle/car crash/unmitigated disaster for the Chiefs in Miami, the fanbase has flipped open the case on the panic button and are staring at it intently. No one's pushing, considering the abysmally low expectations for this season ,but their finger is so tight on it, you can feel the indentation of the letters. That tends to happen after you get blanked 24-0 by Chad Pennington, I repeat, Chad freaking Pennington while only creating 189 total yards of offense against a team that went 1-15 last year. There's going to be a little anxiety. And, as is always the case in Kansas City, the big target moves immediately to General Manager Carl Peterson.

The Kansas City Star today takes its annual "Is This The End Of King Carl" column to a whole new level, with a bevy of quotes indicating a rift between Carl and head coach Herm Edwards on how to best rebuild. The argument essentially comes down to Edwards supporting drafting and Peterson supporting free agency. With the passing of Lamar Hunt, the article suggests Peterson could be on his way out as new owner Clark Hunt moves in support of Edwards.

Training camps are underway, the NFL season is a month off, and to get you ready for 2008, FanHouse previews all 32 teams, "heat index" style. We'll rate each club in 10 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Quarterback: Chad Pennington enters 2008 trying to prove yet again that he -- wait, what? Who? Really? Didn't he retire? Oh. I see. It doesn't seem like Brett Favre wants to play in New York this year, he's basically said so much in the most diplomatic way possible, which means this is the year where Favre stops having fun. This is the year he stops looking like a kid again, to support the cliche. And it can be argued that that magic has perpetuated itself, and has been the reason Favre is still considered -- rightfully or not -- one of the best quarterbacks in the league. Without it, I can imagine 2008 being a disaster for Favre -- bad play and missed games. And then the New York media jumps in and the misery just compounds. That's how I see 2008 rolling. Oh, plus, they don't have a decent backup quarterback. Heat Index: 6

Former Marshall quarterback, Byron Leftwich, is known for his strong arm and reverse-fast-pitch windup. Another alum, Chad Pennington, drafted three years before Leftwich, is also known for a certain passing-related peculiarity. Namely: his deadly accurate popcorn arm.

Yep, Pennington can knock a bottle off a fence post, just so long as it's no more than 10 yards away. Actually, it's hardly news that the Dolphins' newest quarterback has a weak(er than NFL average) noodle; that scouting report has been following him around for as long as he's played football. But now, entering his ninth NFL season, Pennington has a request: please shut up about it.

''The perception is that way because I never defended myself -- I just let people talk,'' he said in a private moment last week. ''But it's perception -- it's not reality. You get tired of hearing about it.''

But the story has taken on a life of its own. Legend has it that Pennington needs a cut-off man on nine routes, but that's a slight exaggeration.

Though Brett Favre hasn't felt shy about speaking on his behalf, we still don't know exactly what Laveranues Coles thinks about the team's decision to release Chad Pennington. That's because Coles hasn't said anything. And in the process, a lot of things have been said about him and his motivations.

But Pennington says that Coles' refusal to speak is not born out of anger or petulance, that he's simply misunderstood.

"He's an extremely loyal guy. That's what has made him great in the league, and it's taken him a long way in life.

... But once the games start and the whistle blows, he'll play hard for the Jets. I don't think anybody can ever question that."
...
"[Coles' silent treatment] is not something that I would make too big a deal of."

By all accounts the only people Coles isn't speaking to is the media (despite reports that he briefly left the team's hotel in Cleveland a couple of weeks ago in anger). And Pennington's right -- Coles will not let his play diminish because his feelings are hurt.

Though you have to wonder if he wishes he didn't sign a new deal earlier this offseason which precludes him from trying to force his way to Miami.

Brett Favre had a splendid start to his Jets career, but he's still less than two weeks into his re-un-retirement and he'll readily admit that he's nowhere near knowing this offense. That's kind of an issue since the regular season starts Sept. 7, but less of one than if, say, Kellen Clemens were having similar problems (in addition to all the other ones).

Whatever, Favre had a face-to-face with Jets head coach Eric Mangini about how to make the book learnin' as painless as possible given the time crunch:

"I had a long talk with Eric," Favre said on 1050 ESPN Radio. "I don't want to think, I want to react. There's got to be some middle ground there. That's what we're trying to find. I'm trying to get as much digested as possible. "A lot of times you can make this as complicated as you want to."

Favre indicated that the goal is to "simplify" things and "use the guys to the best of our ability."

According to the New York Post's Mark Cannizzaro, Favre admitted that the Jets offense is "totally different" than the Packers' system, and that "there's a tall mountain in front" of him in terms of the job ahead, adding, "I'm up to the challenge and I hope this thing works out."