Blogger Erik Boland Erik Boland: Inside the Jets Breaking news, commentary and insider information on the New York Jets Printer-friendly posts August 4, 2008 Day 12: morning practice The ?news? of the day is Chris Baker is back on the field, activated from the PUP list. No passes were thrown his way but Chad Pennington said it was good to see No. 86 blocking and running patterns. So let?s get right to it: * Yes, Kellen Clemens threw a pick to end practice ? a deep ball to the right side intended for David Clowney that Drew Colemen intercepted. It was in a two-minute situation where Clemens? team was down 26-20 and it was second-and-10 from his own 35 with 25 seconds left. It was one of those time-running-down-trying-to-make-a-play picks, and I?ll leave it up to you to decide how egregious it was. Still, I thought Clemens threw the ball a little bit better than Pennington in the morning. Whichever side you come down on here, the reality is this thing is going to be decided starting Thursday in Cleveland. And, yes, it?s now 7-2 in picks for those scoring at home, or in the press room. * Each quarterback threw a nice deep ball in the 7-on-7s. Pennington hit Paul Raymond in stride for a 40-yard touchdown and Clemens connected with David Clowney on a 40-yard scoring play as well. Clowney, as he?s done several times in camp, showed a nice burst in blowing past Dwight Lowery at the line. * Pennington worked with the first team in the 11-on-11s. Nothing stood out on his first series, though Kerry Rhodes made a good read on a medium range throw to the left to Dustin Keller, arriving the same time as the ball did to break up the play. Later, a strong throw by Pennington on a 20-yard cross to David Clowney, who barely beat Darrelle Revis. Otherwise, there was a lot of work on the running game with Thomas Jones and Leon Washington. * Clemens found Brad Smith in a soft spot over the middle for 18 yards. Incidentally, we?re starting to see Smith more and more with the first team. By my estimation ? and only mine ? I see that race for the No. 3 receiver neck-and-neck between Smith and Stuckey. Stuckey pulled in his own 18-yarder during the practice on a cross thrown by Clemens. Clemens also hit Jericho Cotchery, who beat Lowery, over the middle for 21 yards. * Washington has gotten a lot of attention this camp and for good reason but T. Jones has shown some explosiveness and did again today. One example: Jones taking a handoff ? after a fake reverse ? from Pennington and completely faking out, then blowing past, Justin Miller in accelerating down the left sideline for a long run. * David Bowens is still having a good camp. This morning he deflected a Clemens? pass at the line, had several good reads in shutting down the run and pressured the quarterback at least twice. And Calvin Pace got into the backfield for a couple of quarterback hurries. * David Harris and Jesse Chatman were on the bicycles on the sideline but Laveranues Coles did practice. No catches but he didn?t look to be favoring anything. * Aged fullback Tony Richardson actually had a carry this morning. It was the first I can remember in a while. By the way, calling the 36-year old Richardson ?aged? isn?t me making fun of him. That?s all on Eric Mangini, 37, who has consistently referred to Richardson?s age when asked about the fullback in press conferences. Today, for instance, Mangini said Richardson had ?arthritis.? Richardson, by the way, laughs all of it off. PC isn?t part of his nature, making him an instead friend of this blog. More on him in tomorrow?s paper. * Among the lap runners during this morning?s practice: Damien Woody (false start) and Clint Oldenburg (false start). Oldenburg hasn?t had a bad camp, nor have backup linemen Will Montgomery and Wayne Hunter. Shoot, I forgot to ask Mangni who he liked in the Brett Favre/Aaron Rodgers competition. Afternoon practice at 5:45 p.m.
I am a Chad over KC guy -- but the interception thing is silly because Chad generally doesnt throw interceptions. He also does not throw hard to the outside. He also floats balls.
I would prefer to see Clemens make a strong showing in camp and come out the winner. I believe this team is designed to win with Pennington, but I can't see this guy being a contributor in the league for another two years or so. Missing on quarterbacks is terrible, and I'd hate to see the Jets have to go back to the drawing board and waste another high pick on a signal caller next year. -X-
^^ I have no problem w/him throwing an INT in that situation. 25 seconds left from your own 35 - you have to go down field. At least he's taking a shot down field instead of throwing the 3 yard dump off to the RB or 10 yard out that has little to no chance of scoring quickly or picking up significant yardage.
i don't understand why people are making these judgements of QB solely on picks... it's like the nfl has predicted us to throw the most in history or something... its hardly analytical
I think keeping track of picks in practice is a bit silly. The games is where it will really count. clemens is still young, my hope is he is learning from these mistakes in practice. Knowing what he can and what he can't get away with in "live" situations. pennington generally takes good care of the ball (last year being the exception), but a lot times he plays it too safe, which leads to a lot of 3 and outs and field goals instead of td's.
Ouch...hope this isn't your father's Justin Miller...I thought we traded that one in for a new model...
It's sort of funny how the Chad haters post pre-emptive comments after a flaw like a pic is written about Kellen in a TC review. No Chad suporters have even posted on this thread or commented on the pic yet and emediately the anti-chad posters start in as if they want to get in some pennington jabs to even things out lol. In fact after reading much of the other TC review posts, chad supporter posts seem to comment on Kellen Clemens mistakes much less freaquently in comparison to chad haters immediately (spelling correction, thanks lol) getting into defensive mode and posting their anti-Chad ramblings. Just an observation. I will support who ever is behind center come September.
I'm not sure what you're really getting at. I don't know about other posters but this is the first time I've commented on a Clemens TC interception. The only reason I commented was because of the situation. I hope that's OK with you.
i don't agree. if it were pennington throwing the interceptions, people would be all over him. Clemens decision making, and reads were called into question, last season. I can't help but wonder how many of these interceptions are the result of bad reads?
if Pennington were throwing picks, people should be all over him. as the proven veteran with much much more experience, he shouldn't be throwing picks. therefore, the two QB's can't really be evaluated in the same way; the mistakes Clemens makes must be met with more forgiveness and understanding and tolerance because, at this particular point, he hasn't had a chance to learn the way Chad has after playing in the league for 8 years.
No, just like they shouldn't be used solely to quantify the performance of a player. I see many people using the TC INTs as a gauge on the QB competition without having any idea under what circumstances they occurred.
I agree, but to say one player's performance is excusable and another's is not, well that makes no sense. We're looking for the BEST QB to lead this team. There are no excuses, best QB wins the spot (I hope).
what i'm saying is, that Clemens' 6 or 7 INT's in Training Camp, by no means indicate that he's losing the QB battle, nor should they. same goes with Pennington. having said that, if you think a person of 8 years experience and many more games versus someone with 2 should be held in the same regards - *as far as Training Camp stats go* - then the veteran would almost always be a sureshot to win because he automatically has a leg up. don't you think, in this specific scenario pertaining to the Jets, it should be more tolerable that Clemens has thrown picks in TC; whereas if Chad did, it would be more difficult to understand why he's making those mistakes?
Really depends on what kind of interceptions they are. Pennington is famous for having alot of balls picked off on passes to the outside that get returned for TD's. An interception isn't always the worst thing. Ball between the 50 and oppossing 30 and 3rd down and long I'd rather them take a shot at the 1st down then most likely punt the ball into the endzone for a net gain of 30 yards.
