Much to the certain vexation of understandably anxious Jets fans, Eric Mangini continued to show his resolute support for Chad Pennington, and several Jets players reacted rather strongly in support of their slumping quarterback.
After Sunday’s loss to the Eagles, Mangini said “no” when asked if he was considering going with backup quarterback Kellen Clemens. Yesterday he reiterated that sentiment.
“(Pennington’s) the starting quarterback,” Mangini said. “I’ll continue to assess the whole situation, not just with that position, but with every position.”
Mangini’s stay-the-course strategy and insistence that Pennington is only a part of the problem with the team has some key players inside the Jets locker room encouraged.
“One guy isn’t going to create a spark for the entire team,” Jets receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. “The spark comes from within each individual in this locker room. If the other guys aren’t giving a spark, that one guy doesn’t make a difference at all.
“I feel good with Chad behind center and a lot of guys feel the same way. If we make that change I really don’t know how the guys will react.”
Cotchery said he believes Mangini’s support of Pennington will help the Jets turn around this 1-5 mess of a season, which continues Sunday at Cincinnati.
“Players want to see . . . a coach sticking behind a guy,” Cotchery said. “I think we will feed off of that and get over this hump. . . . The quarterback position is looked upon very heavily, criticized a lot. He’s the main guy on offense.
“The core guys on this team – this is the fourth year I’ve been here with Chad – we’re familiar with him. We know how he leads. We know how he responds to adversity.
“Kellen showed what he’s capable of. He came in and played real well in the Baltimore game. It’s just a situation where we’re comfortable with Chad. We know his capabilities and we know what he can do on the field.”
Receiver Laveranues Coles echoed Cotchery’s sentiments.
“We as a whole team should be taking the brunt of (the criticism),” Coles said. “We are all in this together. . . . One guy can’t go out there and play the game by himself. Therefore, there shouldn’t be one guy that’s taking the heat.”
Tight end Chris Baker also said Pennington shouldn’t bear the blame alone.
“We all have responsibility for it,” Baker said. “We’re not scoring enough points . . . It’s the entire offense, it’s not just (Pennington).”
Clemens finds himself in the sensitive position of supporting Pennington and the team, but at the same time, wanting to play.
“Chad Pennington is a competitor who wants to win and pours his heart and soul into preparing and trying to make this team win,” Clemens said. “This team has a lot of support and a lot of respect for Chad.”
Mangini is at an intricate and delicate crossroads with Pennington and he seemingly has drawn a line in the Field Turf in an effort to show which direction he feels is best. For now, at least.
Throngs of Jets fans are ready to send Pennington to the showers for the rest of the season and bring Clemens in with the hope that he not only provides a spark to their sputtering offense but also shows he’s the quarterback of the future. Pennington, after all, has thrown six interceptions in the last three games – all losses. And, in those three games he has led the Jets to three touchdowns and four field goals: 34 points.
When one of Bill Parcells’ often-used sayings – “A quarterback is judged by how often he gets his team into the end zone.” – was mentioned to Mangini in an effort to speculate whether Pennington is getting the job done, the coach deftly threw a reversal on the reporter.
“The other day I think (Pennington) was asked (on TV) about the quarterback change (and) he said, ‘It’s not like going to AAMCO. You can’t just take out the sparkplug,’ ” Mangini said. “So I say it’s not like going to AAMCO. You can’t just take out the sparkplug.”