I suppose it was just a matter of time.
I first heard the talk driving around on Saturday morning while listening to the FAN. A few callers called and wondered if maybe the Jets should give second-year QB Kellen Clemens a shot at the starting job.
Ingreats, I thought.
I dismissed the crazy talk. Nothing but knee-jerk reactions I said out loud to no one.
Yeah, I get it -- Pennington played poorly against the Vikings on Friday night. He threw two interceptions that were returned for touchdowns. Yes, Clemens has looked good so far -- 22 of 31, 230 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT.
There's just one thing -- it's only the preseason!!
Unbelievable! Pennington has every quality a team could look for in a quarterback and a leader:
Toughness? How 'bout rehabbing from two shoulder surgeries within 10 months?
Stats? While not mind-blowing, how does a career completion percentage of 65 with a career QB rating of 89.3 sound?
Winning? OK, no Super Bowl (yet), but Pennington has led the Jets to the playoffs three times in five years and one of those years (2005) was cut short after only three games.
And all Pennington did last year was lead a team with a new head coach, a new offensive system, two rookies on the offensive line and a rushing attack that averaged 3.5 yards on the ground to a 10-6 record and a wild card berth. A team I thought would be lucky to win 6 games.
And let me tell you a little something about how meaningless the preseason is. In 1992, the Jets finished the preseason 5-0. They looked awesome. Offensively, defensively, special teams -- everything was clicking. Browning Nagle was going to be the next Joe Namath. Tight end Johnny Mitchell was going to catch 100 passes. Blair Thomas was going to take his game to the next level. Blah, blah, blah. Hey, I believed all these things were going to happen, too.
And guess what? The Jets finished 4-12 that season.
Nagle finished with 7 touchdown passes and 17 interceptions. Mitchell caught only 16 passes. Thomas didn't score a touchdown the entire year. And then in November, defensive lineman Dennis Byrd suffered a broken vertebrae in a game against the Kansas City Chiefs. His career was over.
I never looked at preseason the same way again.
But, I guess some fans (and critics) will never believe that Pennington can be the quarterback that will lead the Jets to the promised land. And that's OK.
Pennington has done a pretty good job at proving people wrong so far.
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The entrance of Thomas Jones into the mix will only make Pennington look better. Jones is a leader who makes friends gets their back. New Yorkers were too harsh on Pennington last year but he was often alone. He won't be this year.