ERIC Mangini and Mike Tannenbaum need to find a Pete Kendall, and fast. Someone who has been through the NFL wars, someone smart and tough who has been there and done that, someone who can learn a system quicker than you can say Belichick. Someone the Jets can plug in between center Nick Mangold and left tackle D’Brickashaw Ferguson and not have to worry about the sanity of their quarterback or the functionality of their offense. The development of Mangold and Ferguson only can be slowed by the prospect of nursing a neighbor who is learning by trial and error.
With the Patriots lurking 13 days away, we have been reminded that this is no time to throw a rookie tackle from Nicholls State to the wolves and ask him to try to master left guard. Jacob Bender is one of those high-character types with all the core values Mangini and Tannenbaum talk about all the time. Unfortunately, the most impressive part of his unimpressive night against the Giants Saturday came after the game in the locker room, when he stood there and answered all the questions and wore anything but a deer-in-the-headlights look. He has a chance to be a player some day. Just not now, and the Jets are kidding themselves if they think he or Adrien Clarke can keep Richard Seymour and Vince Wilfork and Adalius Thomas off Chad Pennington and Thomas Jones.
The 2008 fifth-round pick Tannenbaum stole for Kendall – possibly a 2009 fourth-rounder, even – won’t help Pennington make it through a second straight full season, and it won’t help Jones make people try to forget Curtis Martin. Wait ‘Til Next Year might have been the rallying cry of fans of Dem Bums in Brooklyn, but it is downright cruel to subject Jets fans who have been waiting ’til next year since January 12, 1969 to Wait ‘Til Next Year again.
Terry Bradway, the Jets GM in 2004, found his Pete Kendall in the preseason, and Martin led the league in rushing at 31. This is no time for the Jets to be in denial and talk about being deliberately vanilla on offense because they play the Giants during the regular season, or about the unaccustomed different looks Big Blue’s 4-3 defense gave them, or about the fact that Jones was resting his calf.
It’s broke. Fix it.
It is In Guard We Trust time again around Weeb Ewbank Hall.
In the meantime, the mantle of leadership falls on the shoulders of Mangold, who is wise beyond his years and headed for stardom. The Jets are lucky to have him. Remember, instrumental to the Jets’ 1998 AFC Championship run was the acquisition by Bill Parcells of Martin, Vinny Testaverde . . . and center Kevin Mawae. With Kendall gone, the media horde was suddenly surrounding Mangold looking for answers.
“It happened quicker than I had imagined in my mind,” Mangold said, “but those are the cards that are dealt and you have to work through it. And I think as a mentor-slash-teacher role, it allows me with: a) having the freshness in my memory of what I went through last year; but also b) the ability to teach someone gives you a great understanding of the material, so I think it’s a great situation all around.”
Now, keep in mind that there is no quarterback controversy, even though Kellen Clemens has closed the gap. But if the offense is compromised by the offensive line, and the Jets get off to a slow start, then classy Comeback Kid Chad Pennington assuredly will be looking over his shoulder. Ever the loyal and supportive teammate, this was Pennington on Bender: “When you watch this guy in practice, his get-off on the snap is unbelievable. He’s the first lineman off the ball every time, and so, he’s just a young guy that’s learning, and unfortunately has to learn in front of everybody.”
Practice is one thing; the Patriots quite another.