Jets open season on a sour note

By Chris Ruddick Sep 11, 2007, 20:26 GMT

- The more things change, the more they stay the same.

The New York Jets got their season off to a brutal start on Sunday against the New England Patriots at the Meadowlands, as they were outplayed in every facet of the game in an embarrassing 38-14 loss.

'They beat us in all three phases,' said quarterback Chad Pennington. 'When you play a really good team, you have to find an edge, and we didn't have any edge.'

Adding insult to injury was the loss of Pennington, who went down early in the third quarter with an apparent ankle injury, surprisingly to the delight of many, as Jets' fans displayed one of the most classless acts in recent history when they actually cheered him getting injured.

Pennington, who was the least of the Jets' problems on Sunday, returned for a series after that and, with a noticeable limp, threw his second touchdown pass of the game to Laveranues Coles. Pennington finished the game with 167 yards on 16-of-21 completions and two TDs.

'I've really never had a lower leg injury before, so I was just trying to walk it off,' Pennington said. 'I'm not going to lay there, I know that. I'm going to walk off the field, get it looked at, and try to get back in the game, which I was able to do and took it from there.'

Trailing by a touchdown at the half, the Jets allowed Ellis Hobbs to rumble an NFL-record 108 yards on the opening kickoff of the second half to put the Pats up, 21-7. Then on the ensuing drive after the Pennington injury, Tom Brady connected on a 51-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss, giving New England a comfortable 21-point cushion with over a quarter-and-a-half left in the game.

'Having those big plays the Patriots had - the kickoff returned for a touchdown, the long pass to Randy Moss, makes it tough,' head coach Eric Mangini said. 'There were a lot of positive things in the game and a lot of things we can build off of. It has got to be more consistent through four quarters. You can't come into halftime in one situation and then make it really difficult for yourself, as we did in letting up a long return.'

Defensively, the Jets allowed New England to do whatever it wanted, as they gave up 431 yards of total offense and put zero pressure on Brady, who improved to 7-0 against Gang Green at the Meadowlands.

The offense, aside from Pennington, was not much better. The offensive line, maligned all preseason, lived up, or down, to its advanced billing, as the group had Pennington on the run all day and allowed five sacks. It was amazing Pennington lasted as long as he did before getting injured.

Newly-acquired running back Thomas Jones, who missed most of the preseason with an ankle injury of his own, managed just 42 yards on 14 carries.

'I felt pretty sharp. I felt good physically,' Jones said. 'The trainers did a really good job of getting me back on the field. I felt like I ran hard. Unfortunately, we were behind and didn't get a chance to run the ball as much as we could have, but we just have to forget about this loss and move on to the next week against Baltimore.'

As far as Pennington's status for this week, well, your guess is as good as anyone else's. Mangini is from the Bill Parcells/Bill Belichick school of offering next to nothing when it pertains to injuries. So don't expect a definitive answer anytime soon.

'We'll review it during the course of the week like we do with every injury situation,' Mangini said. 'This is the same process for everybody that's injured. That's really all there is in terms of an update on him or any of the various injuries from Sunday.'

By all accounts, Pennington will probably miss at least this week's tilt with Baltimore, meaning second-year pro Kellen Clemens will receive his first NFL start. The star of the Jets' preseason, Clemens completed 5-of-10 passes in relief of Pennington on Sunday for 35 yards.

'It's my second year in the offense and I had a chance to get some live bullets this last week, so I'm going to go in there and do the best that I can,' Clemens said on Monday.

PATS STEALING SIGNS?

New England is reportedly being investigated for trying to steal signs from the Jets.

According to reports, the league has confiscated a video tape from a Patriots employee who was filming the Jets sideline during the rout. A violation of league rules, it is believed that the employee was recording the hand signals from coaches to the New York defense.

'The rule is that no video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game,' the league said in a statement from spokesman Greg Aiello. 'Clubs have specifically been reminded in the past that the videotaping of an opponent's offensive or defensive signals on the sidelines is prohibited.

'We are looking into whether the Patriots violated this rule.'

The league has not announced what footage was on the tape, but also said that it is looking into issues with radio frequencies that arose during the game.

If the league finds that there was a violation, fines and/or the loss of draft picks can be levied as a penalty.

CURTIS MARTIN TO BE HONORED

The Jets announced last week that they will honor former running back Curtis Martin at halftime of their game in Week 11 against the Pittsburgh Steelers on November 18.

'Curtis Martin is one of the greatest running backs to ever play the game and his impact on the New York Jets and the National Football League will never be forgotten,' said Jets Chairman and CEO Woody Johnson.

'While millions of people witnessed his amazing accomplishments on the field, few knew the depths of his philanthropy off the field. His drive to give back, especially to the New York area that became his adopted home, will be his lasting legacy from which all of us can draw inspiration. As a player, Curtis approached philanthropy the same way he approached the game: with humility and grace.'

Martin, who retired just before the start of training camp, is the Jets' all- time leading rusher with 10,302 yards and is the fourth all-time leading rusher in the NFL with 14,101 rushing yards on 3,518 carries (third all-time) and 100 touchdowns (20th all-time), including 90 rushing scores.

LOOKING AHEAD

Things don't get any easier for the Jets this week, as they face a banged-up Baltimore Ravens team that will be licking their chops to a get a win in front of their home fans, not to mention the fact they could be facing a quarterback making his first career start.

The Ravens lead the all-time series with the Jets, 4-1, including a 13-3 home win when the teams last met, in Week 4 of the 2005 season. Ironically, that loss by the Jets came the week after it was revealed that Pennington would be lost for the season with his second torn rotator cuff following a loss to Jacksonville.

The Jets' lone triumph in the series was a 19-16 overtime win at the Meadowlands in 1997, and New York is 0-2 in Baltimore since last winning there, against the Colts, in the 1983 season.

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