One of the few true quarterback battles in the NFL is in New York, with reports saying that early favorite Kellen Clemens, certainly the fans’ choice, has fallen behind Chad Pennington only a few days into Jets scamp.
Entering Monday, Clemens, the third-year player out of Oregon, has thrown four interceptions and lost a fumble in only six practices.
“An interception or a fumble, it doesn’t matter; a turnover is a turnover,” said Clemens. “Any sort of interception or turnover, a missed third-down conversion, any of that, it hurts whether you’re in practice or in a game. I try not to let the competition affect the way that I approach it.”
Clemens is much more athletic and has a bigger arm than Pennington, and Clemens started eight games last season, with the Jets going 3-5. However, he has thrown a pick during 11-on-11 drills in each of the first four days.
“The one mistake you can’t have is you can’t turn the ball over,” said coach Eric Mangini yesterday. “Quarterbacks need to make good decisions in those risk/reward (situations) we talk about.”
Pennington has led the Jets to the playoffs three times in his career, but he has virtually no downfield throwing ability. He’s 32-29 as a starter, which includes a 1-7 record last season.
“It’s something I’ve had to deal with my whole life — adversity, people doubting me, asking questions about my ability,” said Pennington. “That’s been something since high school. I’ve grown accustomed to that and have learned how to handle it and remain positive.”
And Brett Favre’s shadow isn’t limited to Packers camp. The fact that the Jets are one of two teams on the short list to inquire about the future Hall of Famer is starting to wear on both current Jets QBs.
“Sooner or later, the organization has to make a decision and I hope it’s sooner than later,” said Pennington. “I think for our team to be able to move on and accomplish the things we want to get accomplished and the things coach Mangini and Mike (GM Tannenbaum) want to accomplish, we have to make a decision.
“As soon as we can put this behind us and move forward, it helps everyone.”
Tannenbaum would not confirm he talked to the Packers but did say he decided to discuss Favre with both Pennington and Clemens.
“Given the high profile of Brett Favre’s name, I felt like this was a fairly unique situation that I wanted to be proactive, just so they heard from me first,” Tannenbaum said. “Ordinarily, I wouldn’t try to address every rumor with every player.”
If the Jets do get Favre, expect Pennington to be the odd man out. Yet if Clemens can’t beat Pennington out this year, look for the Jets to take a quarterback high in the 2009 draft.
