Pennington Breaks Wrist

[MrRant 0]

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- Chad Pennington landed hard on the turf after being tackled from behind and immediately clutched his left wrist.

 

Just like that, another starting quarterback was seriously injured in the preseason.

 

Pennington dislocated and fractured his left wrist in the Jets' 15-14 victory over the New York Giants on Saturday night and is out indefinitely.

 

He was tackled from behind by Brandon Short after throwing away a pass with just under two minutes remaining in the first half and landed awkwardly on his wrist.

 

Pennington had X-rays at Giants Stadium, which revealed the fracture-dislocation, and was taken to Lenox Hill Hospital in New York for immediate surgery. The Jets do not know how long their starting quarterback will be out, and said Pennington's status would be determined after surgery.

 

Vinny Testaverde, who turns 40 in November, entered the game in place of Pennington.

 

"We ran a blitz ... I came up the middle untouched," Short said. "Chad rolled to his right. I must have grabbed his legs right as he threw the ball, and he fell down on his arms and was just lying there.

 

"I asked him if he was all right, and he just kept lying there until the trainers came out. It's unfortunate to see someone go down like that."

 

This is the second time in as many weeks a starting quarterback was injured in an exhibition game. Last week, Falcons starter Michael Vick broke his right leg against Baltimore and is expected to be out at least six weeks.

 

"It's really unfortunate because we don't want to see anyone get hurt," said Giants defensive end Michael Strahan, who did not play because of a toe injury. "For him to get hurt like that in a preseason game is just a shame."

 

Pennington replaced Testaverde in the fifth game of last season. Testaverde started 1-3, and Jets coach Herman Edwards decided a change was necessary.

 

The young backup engineered a tremendous turnaround for the Jets, who ended up winning the AFC East and finishing the regular-season 9-7 after a 2-5 start.

 

Pennington led the NFL with a 104.2 passer rating and 68.9 completion percentage. He finished 275-of-399 for 3,120 yards with 22 touchdowns and six interceptions.

 

His favorite target was Laveranues Coles, who left in the offseason for the Washington Redskins. In the preseason, Pennington was building chemistry with new addition Curtis Conway, along with Santana Moss and Wayne Chrebet.

 

Against the Giants, Pennington was 4-of-12 for 58 yards before getting hurt.

 

Testaverde, meanwhile, took his new role as backup with class. But the 17-year veteran saw limited time in the preseason before Pennington's injury. In the first three games, he played one series and went 1-of-3 for 8 yards and an interception.

 

He saw his first extended action Saturday and finished 5-of-11 for 48 yards.

 

Now Testaverde becomes the starter again. Two weeks ago, Edwards said he wanted to figure out a way to get Testaverde to 40,000 yards passing. Testaverde is 442 yards away from the mark, which only eight others have reached.

 

Even though they lost, the Giants (0-3) finally got their offense going. After scoring just one touchdown in their first two preseason games, they got touchdowns on consecutive possessions.

 

Kerry Collins guided a 21-play, 95-yard drive that ate up 9:58 of the first quarter. Collins threw a 1-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Visanthe Shiancoe on fourth-and-goal to start the scoring.

 

On their next possession, Collins threw an 88-yard touchdown pass to Ike Hilliard to make it 14-0. Hilliard had an outstanding game, catching seven passes for 150 yards.

 

Collins also looked good and played into the third quarter, finishing 13-of-23 for 198 yards with two touchdowns and one interception.

 

Nothing went right for the Jets (2-2). They wanted to work on their running game against the Giants, but starter Curtis Martin had 10 carries for just 14 yards. The Giants dominated the first half, and the Jets' only points came on a 40-yard field goal by Doug Brien.

 

Brien kicked two other field goals, and the Jets took the lead in the fourth quarter when Chad Brinker scored on a 2-yard run.

 

Game notes

Several others were injured Saturday. For the Jets: DE John Abraham (back spasms) and T Chris Smith (ankle). For the Giants: T Chris Bober (ribs), TE Marcellus Rivers (thigh bruise), LB Nick Greisen (hamstring), G Sean O'Connor (sprained ankle); LB Dhani Jones (sprained ankle).

[Guest Choken One]

Yep...Woody Paige's Theory gets another point added.

[Vern Gagne 0]

What theory is that?

 

That sucks. Forget the Jets doing anything if Pennington is out.

[Guest Choken One]

That Preseason play is uneccesary for starters and only causes injuries and that NFL should cut back on them.

[the pinjockey 0]

So the Travis Henry injury adds another point I guess?

[Guest Choken One]

I guess...Is he the Bills running back?

[the pinjockey 0]

Yeah. He apparently twisted his ankle and left in an inflatable boot. They say he is ok, but whenever someone leaves in medical gear there has to be something to it.

[Guest Choken One]

Well...Good thing they Got McGahee right?

 

He can teach Henry how to make a MIRACLOUS recovery...

[Vern Gagne 0]

I don't think it's unnecessary for starters. They don't have to play alot, just play enough to ready for the regular season. Get the game rust off.

[The Ghost of bps21 0]

Henry could have gone back in if it were a real game, they were just being cautious.

 

He'll be there week 1.

[Cartman 0]

F-U-C-K Jets Jets Jets!

 

This is good news, although i figured them to finish last by far in the division anyways, this just makes them much much worse. Bring on Interceptaverde!

[razazteca 0]

So who are the QBs for the Jets? Vinnie and who?

[Guest The Voices In Your Head]

Brooks Bollinger, the rookie from Wisconsin.

[Bored 0]

You know they don't have a preseason in college football and it doesn't seem to really matter that they don't. The best solution out there that would please the NFL money machine is to expand the regular season to 18 games if they were to eliminate preseason. This would of course mess with single season records (and eventually career records) although it was once a 14 game season until the late 70's.

[Bored 0]

Report is Pennington is out at least three months which would mean a late November return at best. Ouch.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

The NFL is slightly different than college football.

 

The preseason is also used for evaluating rookies and making the last second cuts that they have to.

[kkktookmybabyaway 0]

You know they don't have a preseason in college football and it doesn't seem to really matter that they don't.

Yeah, they just have non-conference play.

 

I'm all for preseason because it gives late-round picks and undrafted free agents a chance to shine. However, you also run the risk of having a starter get hit with an injury...

[Bored 0]

The NFL is slightly different than college football.

 

The preseason is also used for evaluating rookies and making the last second cuts that they have to.

And what does college football do...just throw freshman out there on the field without knowing if they can play yet? There are player cuts in college too.

[Vern Gagne 0]

College Football rosters consist of like 80 to 90 guys. It's very unlikely a freshman will see significant playing time when the season starts. The Depth is also greater, and alot of times even the top ranked freshmen are 3rd or 4th on the depth chart. Teams can be alot more cautious.In the NFL alot of rookie are either starters or backups who see significant playing time. Teams need to see what they can do in a game situation.

[MarvinisaLunatic 0]

The Jets are done. They are looking in to Ray Lucas as the backup. Now, Testaverde is going on 40 years old, and he needs 400 yards or so to get 40,000, and he'll get that, but my gut says that if they sign Ray Lucas he'll be the starter by their 4th game or so unless Vinnie pulls out some sort of miracle.

 

As for the debate on preseason games, I doubt there will be fewer preseason games, mainly because Owners love having 2 more home games that they can profit off of since most season ticket owners are required to purchase tickets for preseason games.

[Lightning Flik 0]

This makes me optimistic about my NFL pool.

 

Yes, harsh thing to say, but I forgot the draft date and I still had my autodraft with Vick. With this incident, my opponent doesn't have a starting QB either for my first matchup. So I'm not getting squashed.

 

Yet, he's more screwed than I (Vick's back by week 3 at least, Chad's pretty much gone a long time). So I feel bad for him.

 

However, I'm really wondering about pre-season injuries. I mean is it just a little absurd that we've got the starters going down a lot this year? Or is it just more in our face this year? Cause I've heard more about starter injuries now then before.

[Guest Salacious Crumb]

It happens all the time.

 

You just have big name players going down this year as opposed to linemen, secondary and 3rd and 4th wide receivers.

[Spaceman Spiff 0]

The Jets are done. They are looking in to Ray Lucas as the backup. Now, Testaverde is going on 40 years old, and he needs 400 yards or so to get 40,000, and he'll get that, but my gut says that if they sign Ray Lucas he'll be the starter by their 4th game or so unless Vinnie pulls out some sort of miracle.

As a Dolphins fan, let me say:

 

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAH!!!!!

 

::remembers Lucas's starts w/ Miami::

 

::grimaces::

[NYU 0]

Poor Chad. Breaks his wrist on Saturday. His father-in-law dies of leukemia on Sunday. I really feel bad for the guy, and truly hope he could bounce back from this. Jets for Superbowl in 2005 !!

 

As for Armando Testaverde....