Kellen Clemens Era Starts Sunday?
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by Seanlahman
The Newark Star Ledger is reporting that Chad Pennington may have to sit out the Jets game against Baltimore this Sunday. They cite an anonymous source who says that Pennington is telling those close to him that he thinks his ankle injury will keep him from playing. While head Coach Eric Mangini said Tuesday that it was too early to make that decision, the possibility of the move has Jets fans buzzing.
Backup Kellen Clemens, a second-year player, generated excitement with his strong play during the pre-season. Jets fans have never embraced Pennington, and they're willing to overlook the fact that Clemens success in August came against second and third string defenses.
If Pennington is in fact sidelined, you couldn't imagine a worse scenario for Clemens in his first NFL start. The Jets offensive line was awful in it's opening loss to the Patriots. They allowed five sacks on 36 pass plays, including the one which lead to Pennington;s injury. Four of those sacks came when New England was rushing just three or four defenders. The Jets line didn't open many holes for RB Thomas Jones, who seemed to be slowed somewhat by his lingering hamstring injury. The defense? Gang Green's front seven didn't generate any pressure and the secondary got picked apart, The special teams also had a bad day, missing about four tackles on Ellis Hobbs' record 108-yard kick return.
Clemens would be walking into the middle of a mess, and oh yeah, he'd have to do it against a Baltimore defense renowned for bringing pressure from all angles and delivering hard hits on every play. Ravens safety Ed Reed has to be licking his chops today just thinking about it.
