PALM BEACH, Fla. – Despite the perception that comes from finishing last season 4-12 and following that up with a prolific offseason spending spree that has exceeded some $140 million, the Jets insist they’re not in any sort of panic mode.
Walking about the NFL owners meetings and seeing Eric Mangini, GM Mike Tannenbaum and owner Woody Johnson move about, you don’t detect panic on their faces or in their voices of the Jets hierarchy.
You detect a consistent, if plodding, approach with which they’ve operated for the previous two years. None will be so bold as to shout it out, but this approach is all about erasing the bitterness of last year’s fall from grace.
“The thing that’s very positive is this year is different, and what happened last year we’re going to learn from but it’s not going to control what happens this year,” Mangini vowed during an exclusive lunch sitdown with The Post yesterday. “It’s like the year before didn’t control what happened this past year.
“I realize that I said that a lot, but it’s because I believe in it,” Mangini said. “I said it right after the New England game [the playoff loss at the end of the 2006 season] that this is a nice year for us, but we don’t start at 10-6 [in 2007].
“The natural tendency is to feel like everything is in place and now you take the next step.”
Mangini, who’s honest with himself enough to admit to mistakes, revealed yesterday he plans on allowing the players to have more say this year.
“I’ve got to do a much better job,” Mangini said. “Part of that is continuing to develop relationships with the players and incorporating more of their insight into the process. We have a lot of really smart veteran players and it’s important to have that good dialogue. Everyone working toward that same goal.”
Speaking to that, Mangini and Tannenbaum appear to have the full support of Johnson, who yesterday pledged his full confidence in his young football minds.
“You don’t look back on those decisions in a vindictive way,” Johnson said of hiring the two. “You make the best call you can possibly make and don’t look back. For the same reasons I hired Eric and Mike to begin with, I still believe the qualities I saw in each one of them are the qualities I still see.
“Everyone hates to lose, but you lose and you’ve got to prepare for next week. Eric plays it the way the good coaches do – they play it week to week.”
Johnson insisted that, regardless of the record this season, he’ll stay the course with Mangini and Tannenbaum.
“Look at it this way,” he said. “Look at my own personal history. I’ve got the three people I started with 40 years ago when I started my business. Guess where they are? Still with me. Forty years I’ve been with them, all three of them. That’s the culture I come from.”
Meanwhile, Mangini is bent on delivering this year for Johnson and the restless Jets fans – to whom he delivered this message:
“One thing I can say with conviction: We’re working as hard and as smart as we possibly can to get better and make progress. [Jets fans] are not alone. I’m right there with them. We all want the same things.”
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Mangini is staying true to a quarterback competition from now through training camp between Kellen Clemens and Chad Pennington.
“I’ve talked to both of those guys,” Mangini said. “They’re two good guys who are competitive and want to start. Nothing has changed with either one of them. They’re two Type A personalities.
“It’s important for both guys to have an opportunity. Chad has done a lot of really good things for us and Kellen has shown a lot of promise. They both deserve a chance to have that opportunity.”
Moments before yesterday’s coaches’ breakfast with reporters was to begin, someone from the league moved Mangini’s nametag off the table he was assigned – which happened to be right next to Bill Belichick’s – and moved it to the table at the furthest end of the room. This was something neither Mangini nor Belichick was aware of.