It's a story we've run before on The Feed but this time it seems fact has caught up to conjecture: Chad Pennington is, in fact, your starting Jets quarterback. After three preseason games failed to conjure a challenger to the recovering shoulder surgery-aholic, head coach Eric Mangini did the sensible thing and tabbed Pennington to be the man under center come September 10th in Tennessee.
"It's become really clear to me he's distinguished himself in the way I was looking for," Mangini said. "He's made great progress in the preseason, especially over the last couple weeks. That consistency I've been looking for has been there, his presence, his ability to move the team, his leadership, all those things I've been looking for. He's done an outstanding job. It's clear to me he should be the starter, and he will be."
No word on how the backups will shape up except that second-round pick Kellen Clemens is assured of a role leaving Patrick Ramsey and Brooks Bollinger to battle for the remaining spot behind Pennington. So long as he's healthy, Pennington has to be the quarterback even if he's shown little arm strength in the preseason. The Jets offense seems to be a pretty low-risk design as far as throwing the ball goes so that shouldn't preclude Pennington being successful. The development of the offensive line would help keep him healthy and his intelligence will likely be a benefit to a team trying to find its way.
In less good news from Jets-land, Curtis Martin was moved from the preseason physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list to the regular season one. It means that Martin's body isn't ready to allow him to start practicing and it seems like a pretty slim shot that he'll make any on-field appearances this season. Or ever. The Kevan Barlow trade effectively closed the book on Martin's distinguished tenure with the team, today's move makes it all the more official.
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