E-Boland & Gang Green

By Ken Berger

Some thoughts and observations on day two of minicamp:

* Though Kellen Clemens has impressed through four practices, Chad Pennington doesn't appear to have much to worry about so far. Patrick Ramsey struggled with his accuracy this morning in his turn with the starting offense. In the two-minute drills late in the afternoon session, Clemens was intercepted twice, Brooks Bollinger once, and Pennington once -- all in the red zone.

* While no one has jumped out in the QB competition in terms of unseating Pennington -- least of all, Ramsey, whose performance has been the most uneven -- Pennington still looks to me like he has a long way to go. I don't know how to interpret the fact that Pennington, the only playoff-tested, experienced starter in the competition, hasn't been head and shoulders above the other three through four practices. I'm not seeing a drastic dropoff in velocity on his throws -- if any -- but I'm also not seeing the decisiveness and confidence I'm used to seeing from him. One obvious reason for this is the fact that he's still trying to get back to 100 percent physically, and doing that in competitive drills with a new system is extremely difficult. The other factor is something that never in a million years would've happened under Herm Edwards: Pennington is spending a significant portion of his practice time with the second-team offense. I'm not sure how this is going to help his timing and grasp of the new offense. But I understand that it's only June, that this is the early stages of the offensive installation, and that Mangini is trying to stay true to his word by dividing the reps equally among the four quarterbacks. By the time training camp starts, this derby will have to be narrowed down to the best two, and if Pennington is one of them -- I can't imagine he won't be -- he will need all the reps with the starters he can get in order to prepare himself.

* I am not a fan of charting field-goal kickers in practice. But for those who have asked for this information, Mike Nugent struggled late in the morning practice, missing 3-of-5 attempts with two bouncing off the left upright. He rebounded in the afternoon, making 7-of-8.

* Yesterday, I mistakenly referred to TCU cornerback Drew Coleman as an undrafted rookie. He's a sixth round pick. At least I was right that his name would keep coming up. He had another interception today.

* Kerry Rhodes had the play of camp this morning, coming over from his safety position and leaping high for an interception in the middle of the field on a pass by Ramsey.

* Center Trey Teague's injury apparently is a broken left ankle, and he may not be ready for training camp. That means the Jets could have two rookie starters on the offensive line: left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson and center Nick Mangold.

* Jonathan Vilma brushed off questions today about his new role in the 3-4 defense and how taking on 300-pound guards could hinder his ability to run sideline-to-sideline and make plays. He was reminded that his fellow Miami alum, Ray Lewis, complained bitterly in Baltimore when he was forced to play in a "two-gap" scheme similar to what the Jets will be running. In the previous 4-3, one-gap defense, offensive linemen who might try to peel off to the second level and block Vilma were "covered up" by the defensive linemen -- or at least they were supposed to have been (see James Reed). In a two-gap defense, a linebacker may have to take on blocks from offensive linemen, which doesn't seem to me to be the best use of Vilma's talents -- especially considering his size. This is something that will bear watching when the actual competition begins in preseason.