Professor

Pennington may get to choose plays

excerpt:

In his breakout season of 2002, Chad Pennington drew comparisons to Joe Montana. Yesterday, he did a Montana impersonation in a re-enactment of the 49ers' classic, game-winning drive at the end of Super Bowl XXIII in 1989.

Paying homage to the game's MVP, Jerry Rice, who delivered a motivational speech last Friday to the Jets, Eric Mangini ended the morning practice at Hofstra with almost the same situation that confronted Montana, Rice & Co. in their 20-16 win over the Bengals in Miami.

Pennington got the ball at his 1-yard line, down six points, with three minutes, 15 seconds remaining in the "game." Seventeen plays later, with time expiring, he lobbed a gorgeous, 9-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles, who played the role of John Taylor. The sun-baked fans roared. Too bad they didn't know the story behind the story.

The Jets quarterback called every play on the drive, Mangini revealed afterward. There was no input from the coaches, no pre-determined game plan. Pennington was on his own, making like a quarterback from a bygone era.

Don't be surprised if that becomes part of the repertoire this season.

No, Mangini isn't going to turn over the play-calling to Pennington, who receives his marching orders from coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, but the Jets' coach hinted that he may expand Pennington's responsibilities. The object, of course, is to befuddle the defense.

"That's always a good thing to have," Mangini said of a play-calling quarterback. "By giving a series or two to the quarterback, looking at it from the other team's perspective . . . it breaks the tendencies. And you don't know why there's a break, so you have to figure it out. You're thinking, 'Is this really the time to run this blitz? It doesn't add up as much as it did in the prior weeks.' "

Mangini called it "changing the fingerprint" of the offense. By kickoff, opponents have analyzed and re-analyzed Schottenheimer's play-calling tendencies in every down-and-distance situation. If Pennington handles it for a few plays, it provides a change of pace. If nothing else, it gives the opponent something else to think about.

A subtle message to Bill Belichick in New England, perhaps? The Jets open the season against the Patriots.

Not every quarterback can handle that kind of mental load, but Pennington, a cerebral player, proved last season that he can think on his feet. Operating a no-huddle about half the time, he went to the line of scrimmage in those situations with one or two calls from the bench. His job was to pick the best play based on his read.

More often than not, Pennington made the right call, building a trust with Mangini and Schottenheimer. His teammates consider him another coach on the field.

"Chad is a great quarterback," said new running back Thomas Jones, who spent last season with Rex Grossman (yikes!) and the Bears. "He's smart, he knows the offense really well and he does a good job of putting guys in the right position."

Shackled by his previous coordinators, none of whom allowed much flexibility in terms of calling plays, Pennington relishes the idea of taking control. That he can concentrate this summer on football matters, and not have to worry about his surgically repaired throwing shoulder, is another plus.

"I can come out here and focus on how I need to lead the team and work the offense, and get better at those things," he said after practice.

For the record, Pennington completed 15 of 17 passes on the drive, outwitting linebacker Jonathan Vilma, who was assigned to call the defensive plays. It was a long way from a Super Bowl, but Pennington overcame some serious training-camp elements: stifling heat, fatigue and loud music from the sideline speakers.

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