Who’s Starting Thursday?
Yesterday in his press conference with the reporters, Mangini was asked whether he had decided which QB will start in the opener at Cleveland, and whether there’s any significance to that person? Mangini told them
“No and no. I’ll look at it, marinate in it and make a decision. It won’t be any sort of earth-shattering news.”
In a classic quip, Star-Ledger writer Dave Hutchinson made sure to let Mangini know that the media would be the judge of that decision.
So far in practice, Pennington and Clemens have both been unremarkable, but the interceptions (now standing at Clemens with 8 and Pennington with 2) has been the big difference. In football you just can’t afford turnovers, for any reason, and for that reason Pennington is likely winning the job. Keep in mind that all we’ve seen so far is practice, and the games are going to be the final exam.
22 Responses to Who’s Starting Thursday?
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spent says:
Speaking of Thursday, I live in the Southeast. I have DirecTV with the NFL Package/Super Fan. I see that they are showing the Thursday game on CBSE, a channel which I cannot get.
Does anyone know how to get the game? Do I have to add another sports package or something? I see that NFL Network is re-broadcasting it on Saturday morning, but it’d be nice to see it live. Help!
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Ferraro41 says:
I totally agree with R in CT. We have no idea the context within these INT’s were thrown. Maybe the WR ran the wrong route? Maybe it was tipped? Not making excsuses for Clemens, but in the melifluous words of AI, “We talkin’ ’bout practice”.
As you pointed out, give me the guy who scores touchdowns. Chad’s history is high completion percentage, minimal INT’s, lots of field goals. I’ll live with a few more INT’s if it means getting into the end zone a lot more often.
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gsteigs says:
direct tv doesn’t give any preseason games so if u don’t live in the area of the team u like u wont see it live
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nelson17 says:
Does anyone know the playing time split for the QBs on Thursday? I know starting QBs usually go a drive or two but what are the Jets going to do on Thursday a quarter each?
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Najy says:
If chad is the starter, he will be very limited in play because the coaches will want to perserve his limited arm strenght.
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Ferraro41,
If you want to launch big ships, you have to go where the water is deep….
Chad likes to stay in the shallow water where it is nice and safe….
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Johnny Styne says:
Last preseason the coaching staff limited Chad to passes of five yards or less — If that’s the case again this preseason then it will be difficult for Chad to be intercepted barring another undisclosed ankle injury –
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kc says:
kellen first quarter,pennington second quarter,ratliff third and ainge the fourth. thats just how I would do it. we REALLY need to get to the bottom of this QUATERBACK CONTROVERSY,….i,i,i, mean,…..COMPETITION..
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Nikolas says:
Who is the starter in the Cleveland game means nothing. Who is cute and who is not means nothing either. Who plays well does.
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PS: on another mater, David Harris has missed the whole training camp. This sounds like a significant injury to me! This is REAL news.
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JoeMustGo says:
Maybe they should have Chad on a pitch count?
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ramble914 says:
R in CT,
I don’t know if you were refering to me, but I said in another post that I would like to know the number of TD’d and long gainers KC has thrown. Because to me, every day I read about a KC int, I also read about an equal or more amount of TD’s and long gainers.
As the saying goes, you have to break some eggs to make an omlette.
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Nikolas,
Harris was there when i went to training camp…
This is new to me. Where did you get that info from?
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ramble –
If it was you — and again, I can’t remember where exactly I saw it and don’t have the time to go back and find it, sorry! — I obviously agree with your thinking.
The best teams don’t nibble at flimsy dink-and-dunk crepes — they get to the top by filling up on hearty omlettes! (Or something like that)
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It sounds like alot of posters here are implying that KCs INTs are OK or at least worth living with because he will throw more TDS. Unfortunately, the facts don’t bear that out. Last year Clemens threw 5 TDs and 10 INTs, while Chad had 10 TDs and 9 INTs.
That’s not to say I want Chad to start over KC – personally, I don’t give a crap as long as whoever does start is the guy that is playing better and gives us a better chance to win. But to imply that Clemens is likely to throw more TDs to go along with all those INTs is wishful thinking based on the games that counted. I’ll take a guy who dinks and dunks and gets us into the end zone more over a guy who throws twice as many INTs as TDs. If Clemens is going to start, he HAS TO clean that up.
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Najy….
Elaborate
What do you mean he was there? There..doing what? -
Pete57 says:
Nikolas, I think Najy took your comments to mean Harris hasn’t been in camp. I heard a report today that Harris is doing some work and doesn’t appear to favoring one leg over the other. Also that he is seen joking and laughing alot. He’s been kept out of drills at this point but the consensus is he doesn’t appear to have a serious injury.
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dakar says:
i have to say just becuz
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just becuz KC throws an int. doesn’t mean that its gonna result in 6 points…but on the other hand him trying to make a play and throwing TD’S is his upside…
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Najy says:
Nikolas,
He was practicing and actually made the best hit of the day in a tackeling drill.
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I was there in the first week of practice. Maybe he was injured after that. But he has participated in camp. I know that for sure because i saw him practice.
Just reading Mangini’s presser, it’s interesting to note that he weighs the picks depending on the situation — he basically says a quarter-ending Hail Mary or 4th-down type pick, or a pass tipped by the receiver, isn’t as egregious as just a bad throw (which I tend to agree with).
It seems to me that Clemens has had at least two or three picks on the last throw of practice — I wonder if these are the throws Mangini is talking about.
Personally, I tend to think the focus on interceptions is a little silly — I would throw zero interceptions if I was just tossing checkdowns. And if a guy is throwing 6 TDs and 1 pick — you’d take that over 2 TDs and 0 picks. Context, my friends.
What I would like to see (and another poster said this, I can’t remember who — sorry!) is the number of actual completions and TDs that are also being tossed. Also, what types of passes are being completed — is anyone nailing the long outs? Quick slants? Those are the passes you’ll see during a game.
It’s clear the beat writers don’t track any of that, but I’m sure the team does — and I bet they have the best idea of who’s actually winning.
Can’t wait for Thursday night!