Birth Of A Career, Death Of A Season

From the AP

Jets quarterback Chad Pennington will miss the rest of the season because of a torn right rotator cuff, The Associated Press learned Monday night.

Pennington's injury was confirmed by a person with knowledge of his condition, but who declined to be identified because the team had not made an official announcement.

An MRI exam showed Pennington tore his rotator cuff in Sunday's 26-20 overtime loss to Jacksonville. The NFL Network originally reported the injury, the second time Pennington has had this tear in less than a year.

Pennington was expected to visit noted orthopedist Dr. James Andrews in Alabama on Tuesday.

When it rains, it monsoons for the Jets. They lose two QBs in one game and now have to rely on Brooks Bollanger to keep their season afloat....at least until this guy gets up to speed...

NEW YORK (AP) Vinny Testaverde, who spent some of his best NFL seasons with the New York Jets, is set to rejoin the team to replace Chad Pennington, lost for the season with a shoulder injury.
The agreement was confirmed to The Associated Press on Tuesday by a person with knowledge of the deal, but who declined to be identified.
The Jets are desperate for a veteran quarterback with the loss of Pennington, and his backup, Jay Fielder, who also injured his shoulder after replacing Pennington in Sunday's loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Brooks Bollinger, in his third season, was expected to start for the Jets in Sunday's game against Baltimore.
Testaverde, who started for Dallas last season, was at the Jets' training complex Tuesday morning for a physical. He was unsigned when this season began.
The agreement was first reported by Newsday on its Web site.

Bringing back Vinny to work behind that offensive line is pretty much asking to put another QB on the DL, but he still has an arm and to quite honest, there's not much out there.

The injury bug has hit the AFC East hard...as the Pats lose Rodney Harrison for the season with a ACL, MCL, PCL injury, and the Bills lose LB Takeo Spikes with a Achiles tear. But the Jets don't just have a bug, they have malaria.

I just had Metstradamus, a die-hard Mets fan, try to blame me for the Pennington and Fiedler injuries!! He thinks that because I was at the Jets-Jags debacle, that it's my fault that he lost both of his QB's for the season in the same game. Why would I use my powers to hurt the Jets? The Cowboys or Eagles? Absolutely. The Pats or the Skins? With pleasure. But I have always had an affection for Gang Green. The first pro football game I ever attended was a Jets-Pats game in 1981 at Shea Stadium. Even though I'm a Giants-Yankees fan....I would never ever use my powers to hurt the boys from Hempstead.

but you have to admit, for a Rhodes Scholar candidate, Pennington was pretty dumb to try and come back early from his injury. Bravery is one thing, but if you can't help the team, then don't make matters worse. He hasn't been 100 percent or even close to it since the middle of last season. And it's not as if he had a cannon to begin with. I understand him wanting to help the team, but he has done more to hurt them than help. He killed them in the Pittsburgh playoff game and hasn't thrown a NFL spiral in a about a year. When he was healthy, he had an average NFL arm. Now he has the worst arm in the league of any starter.

This thing has been botched since day one. The Jets should have had Chad get his surgery as soon as their season was over. Instead they wait until February. Now I don't know of a major league pitcher who has shoulder surgery in February and comes back in August. He came back wayyyyyyy too quick. Pennington is now having his second shoulder surgery in a year. This mook has got a long road ahead of him. Hopefully the Jets fans will layoff Chad when he gets back. He was so awful in the game, that they were cheering when Fiedler came in and booing when Chad came back!!

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Meadowlands, last week will probably be the only time that Giants fans will be happy after a 22 point loss. Eli Manning's performance in a very hostile environment was impressive to say the least. Who knows what would have happened if Burress wasn't benched in the first quarter by Coughlin for being late. We still would have gotten our doors blown off, because LT went completely nuts. The Chargers were 0-2 and needed that game to stay in the playoff race because they have a killer schedule. But I loved the way Manning handled himself with the hostile crowd and everything else going on. This kid made some great throws and with this offense, he can have a sick year. Now if the defense can get their act together, we might have a chance to turn some heads....