EA Podcast: Episode 20 with Chad Pennington

Jets manufacturer just one touchdown. We're able to move the ball at times, but it's a point scoring league in the Jets lost. So Todd came out on Monday and said, Ryan Fitzpatrick will leave my starter against the New England Patriots.

What was your immediate reaction. I have no problem with that decision at all, Eric, And the reason that I don't is that, um, you don't sacrifice the overall performance of your team, the overall mindset of your team, the attitude of your team, and the hard work that everybody has put in just for the sake of the the development of one guy, especially when the guy that you're saying is the starter this week holds a franchise record in touchdown in a season, has played well at times,

has been inconsistent this year, there's no question about it. But this isn't like, uh, you know this, Ryan Fitzpatrick can't get the job done. And so from coach Bowl's perspective, he's trying to generate some positivity in the locker room. How do you do that by playing good, solid football and winning games? And how do you do that You play the best player to give you the best chance

to win the game. And so right now he's saying that Ryan Fitzpatrick gives them the best opportunity to win a game because the development piece of it, um, in my opinion, is something that's talked about way too much. Yes, you have to develop players, Yes there's a time and place for that, but you have to be judicious in how you do that and when you do that, and don't sacrifice the rest of your team just for the development of one guy. No uh fits Tye. Bowls are clear.

I said that in order for somebody to jump ahead of them, he has to take the job away. So in Bryce Patty's case, what did you see from him against the l A Rams that you liked and maybe some things that you know, Chad is a former quarterback, that this guy has to work on here on the practice field before he gets his next opportunity. Well, some of the things that I liked. His deep ball to Roddy Anderson is fantastic. That was called on the left hand sideline on the Ram sideline early in the game.

The ninety nine yard drive, uh to begin the game against the Rams. That is extremely difficult to do, knowing how uh talented and efficient the Rams defense has been. UM. There were some times where it looked like he was going through his reads and trusting him to work and getting the ball out of his hands. So there were some positives there, but I don't think there was enough consistency there for the staff to say, Okay, he's really uh, you know, working his reads with his feet. Uh, he's

making the easy throws. One thing I learned as a young quarterback is that you have to hit the easy one, the ones that for all intents and purposes are a completion, whether it be checked downs or guys that are just wide open and nobody within ten yards, you have to hit. It's not like college where you get those opportunities back and you don't get those opportunities back, and that's very

difficult to learn as a young corterback. You have to hit them, especially when you're trying to generate momentum and a spark. And so if I had to critique Brush's first performance, he didn't get the easy ones and then um, every once in a while, he didn't trust his footwork and his feet to get him to where the ball needed to go and state on the receiver too long, which that's going to happen as as a young quarterback.

I understand that. But right now, in the situation that the Jets are in, you know, right now they're just trying to as a staff and generate uh some positivity with good football play and winning football games. And to me, you can't just sacrifice that just because you're saying you're trying to develop a guy. What do you think about his fort work and how he went through progressions because

you can see things watching film that we can't. You've been out there on the field going to number one, going to number two, going to number three, coming back

to one, or dumping down or whatnot. And also what did you see from him in the pocket, because remember this is the guy who made his first NFL start yet and as we all know and we know your feelings on the college spread is that, uh, it's a lot different playing at bler, playing that simple spread and looking to the sideline for your call and uh going up top all the time, or or not even having

a zero read just throwing a wide receiver screen out there. Well, I saw it for his first time out there and coming from a spread and being able to work within the Jet system now for a year and a half that it was not a losing performance. It wasn't. Was it a winning performance. No, it wasn't that either. Um is a performance. That was just a performance and uh and so you know for him, the way he operated in and out of the huddle, things like that, UM

was smooth. It seemed to be fine. Looking at it from afar UM and from a footwork standpoint, I don't know the specific footwork that the Jets quarterback that the Jets quarterbacks used, but at the same time, I do know that when when a quarterback is hanging on a receiver too long, I can see that regardless of what the footwork footwork is, and that's something and as young quarterbacks that have to work through and you have to

really learn how to listen to your feet. A lot of times Steven thinks it's the sixth cents that a quarterback has as far as we when to get out of the pocket win. Most of the time, it's listening to your feet. Your footwork tells you, Okay, it's time to get rid of this ball, time to move on to the next reads, time to throw it away, it's

time to run. All those things. It's not some type of six cents that we have a lot of times, it's actually very It's predicated on um specific footwork and specific timing, and so you know that's something that that

will continually have to be worked on. But I don't think that you're stunning the growth or development of Bryce Petty by him watching um Ryan's Fitzpatrick work, and and by the way, you're actually probably helping his development now because I would imagine that he is getting some reps with the ones now he's not just running the scout team with the help of Ryan Fitzpatrick in the state of the team, he is working in there, and also with Geno Smith being mean injured, he's getting some of

those reps, which is part of his development and you can. It's very delicate. And the problem in in the NFL is people are not patient, and people think that these players are robots and that you're playing a Madden game and you can just switch them in and out like pawns in a chess game, and you can't. You're dealing with emotions, feelings and all things that make as human beings and you have to make sure that you manage

that correctly. And you also have to look at the risk versus the reward, and sometimes the risk can be much greater than the reward when you stick in a young quarterback in some respects, Do you think this is a courageous decision, Maybe that's a wrong choice. Awards about Todd Bowles, but just tim saying this is what's right for my team, or you think it's just a clear cut that you go back to Ryan Fitzpatrick because you

know you played here. I always echo that every time we talk, is that you know what the fan base is saying. And also, if you listen to anybody in the media right now or read some of the articles, and there are a lot of talented people out there, the overwhelming majority are saying you have to go with Bryce Patty. So your take on just Todd bull saying sticking to his gun is basically in that situation, Well, I think it's a courageous decision because it's going against

what the status quo is saying. That's where it takes a little bit more courage, and it probably takes even more courage knowing that you're in the New York media market. So I do respect that, and it shows me that coach Bowles and his staff are worried about the men in their locker room. They're not worried about the outside entertainment value. And that's that's where you really have to

make those tough decisions. And you know, for anyone to say, well, that's what people want, well, we're not in this game to do what people want. We're in this game as coaches and players to perform at the highest level to make the best decisions possible. Yes, this game provides the lot of entertainment value, but from a player and coaching standpoint, if you're focused on the entertainment value, you won't be

in this league very long. And if decisions were made on me when I played based upon entertainment value, I wouldn't have been mentioned once in my career. I would have been minced about six times in my career, and so, um, thank goodness that didn't happen, and we were able to make it to the playoffs four times and reaches it is around twice, So um, it hain't happened. You know

a lot of a lot of different times. So that's what I respect the most is that this is a football decision, and football decisions don't go along with entertainment value most of the time. Now, how can you evaluate Bryce the rest of the way I know in the football world, Like you said, is a football decision. So it's week by week, right, So Todd Bull said, bottom line, Ryan Fitzpatrick gives us the best chance to win, period.

That's why he's playing this week. If you get mathematically eliminated from postseason contention at some point, does player evaluation at the quarterback spot ever come into play? If you are eliminated here because the Jets, everybody in the locker room,

you know this. They want to go on a six game winning streak here after the buy and go nine and seven and maybe a couple of teams fall apart and they have a miraculous run to the postseason, and you know what the outsiders are saying is that the season is over. You need to evaluate all the young talent you have inside the building, including the quarterback position.

So is there ever a time here, say the Jets go out and they play well this week, but they lose and their mathematically eliminated from postseason contention, which I

have no idea if they would be or not. Uh, is there ever a time where the player evaluation at that quarterback position comes into play more you emphasize it more sure there is um By the way, the three out of four times that I was able to help my team go to the the playoffs, three out of those four times people were saying the season's over, we need to do something different three out of four. And so I don't ever believe the season's over until it truly

is over from a playoff standpoint. And even from that realm, it's not over for those players. I mean, those players want to win football games. Regardless if the fan doesn't have any entertainment value because his or her team is not going to the playoffs, it still means something to go out there and work a whole week of work and go win a football game and find production. Because

those players are playing for their their livelihood. They're playing for They're not just playing for the Jets right now. They're not just playing just to play. They're playing to be a I waited by the Jets and the other thirty one teams in the league as well. And so there's more at stake than what we as fans things

at stake. And by the way, you can develop in practice, these practices aren't like some of the youth practices that I see where you go out and you stretch and you run a couple of plays and you call it up. These practices are designed to develop and to truly um look at players from a critical eye. And so it's not just about games. And there are plenty of times

and players know this. There are plenty times where you can see a player in practice and say he's not ready for a game, so I put him in a game if he's not doing those things in practice yet and making strides in practice. Just because you're gonna put him in a game doesn't mean he's just gonna flip the switch and do it completely different. That doesn't necessarily happen.

A matter of fact that it never really happens, and so part of the development process is a sally happened in practice, then you moved from practice to the game. It's not all about the games. What do you think is and fits his mind right now? It's been a wild season, obviously a turbulent ride for everybody in that locker room. You know that the Jets have started three quarterbacks this season. After the Arizona game, they turned to

Geno Smith against the Baltimore Ravens. Unfortunately he went down in the first half, and then Fitzpatrick came on in relief and the Jets actually won that ball game. They got on a little run, won a couple in a row, got the three and five. Then they had that game down in Miami, which was extremely winnable. They couldn't close the deal as we saw earlier this season, went the three and six. Uh and the Fits went down in Miami with the spring knee, and uh Petty got to start.

So now it's back to fit. So take us in his mind right now he's saying on the surface, he's saying all the right things. So Bright, I a tremendous competitor, a guy I think who really embraces every moment he has. Thirty three years old, twelfth season in the National Football

League sixth team. In a few weeks back, we talked about it right here on the podcast that hey, he didn't know if he'd ever start again for the Jets are probably any other NFL team when Genial got the call and uh, you know, the injury forced him to the sideline against the Rams, he was an emergency emergency quarterback.

And now here he is again against a New England Patriot team that last December, the last time he played him, he led the Jets to uh studying victory over the Paths, and boy, things have changed so this season he's really had to buckle up. But the good thing about it, I think is uh fits has experienced a lot of highs and lows in the NFL. Yeah, I think for him it is, um, here's where he is at least

here's where I would be right now. I'm just starving for a little bit of success and continuity and and trying to um, you know, get things you know, in in line and trying to have some and trying to get that going, you know. So um, I think that for him it's all about just positivity, creating some momentum, playing well knowing that, hey, I may not be in New York next year and that's okay, but I need to play well as a professional and put out good

film and continue to improve. Regardless if you played two years or twelve years, you still need to improve. You can still need to feel good about the work that you're putting in. So for him, I think it's individual based number one and trying to do that. And then number two from a from a leadership standpoint. As a captain of the ship, you gotta keep the ship together and you got to make sure that there's no frame and there's no divisions going on. Can you do that

by your leadership? Point blank? How does fits get Brandon Marshall and Quincy and Noon walk gone? Because if you look at the stats this year, I know the NFL is more than just stats, but obviously this is about a frustrating season for b marsh He was an ends on fourteen times last season and two times now after ten games without Decker in the lineup, teams are rolling

even more coverage his way. We all know that. The encouraging thing for the Jets that I've seen over the last four games offensively, that I'd be stoked about if I'm fits, is that you're running for an average of a hundred fifty one yards per game. Matt Forte is showing something as far as a lot of tread left on those tires. He's had some explosions. Explosion runs four over twenty yards when you combine the last two games, and then Forte and Paul combined for nearly two yards

last games. So for you as the quarterback, I'm putting you in Ryan Fitzpatrick's shoes. How do you get Marshall on a noon? What going again? Well? Number one, you've gotta stick to your rules and your progressions and not force the ball to them and and not have Sometimes you can have such a sense of urgency bad at backfires on you to where you want it too bad.

You're you're playing too hard, you're working, you're you're almost doing your overloading yourself and trying to because you're starving for success. And so I think you gotta take a big deep breath. You gotta relax, You gotta the biggest challenges is not going in this game going well. We're three and seven and Patriots are eight and two, and you know, we're not very good and they're really good. I think you just gotta take it for what it is.

It's the Jets versus the Patriots. You have good players, they have good players. You have strengths and weaknesses. They have strengths and weaknesses, and you're gonna try to work towards your strengths and manage those weaknesses and exploit their weaknesses and so um. That's that's very hard to do, and it's it's easier said than done. But for him,

it's just to stay within himself. When the players are there to be made to his playmakers, make them um, and then when they're not there to be made, and just make sure that you avoid the disaster and keep your team in the game. Here's something writing about right now, buddy. The Patriots since Brady came back in Week five, averaging thirty two points a game. Over Brady's six games span here as starting quarterback, Dave scored less than thirty on

two occasions. That was in the loss to Seattle, uh that while played game by the Seahawks on the road a couple of weeks ago, and also uh Patriots win in Pittsburgh with that being said, do you have a number in mind that the Jets are gonna have to score here this week in order to obtain a victory. I know they might not be talking about in the locker room, and I don't know how it works. Maybe you guys can give us, Maybe you can give us

some insight because you got in a locker room. You go in there saying, hey, we need this kind of number this week to win. Well, I think offensively you've got to go in saying we've got to score twenty eight points. Obviously, defensively, I think you go in saying, when they're in scoring territory, they've got to kick field

goals and it's a testdown versus still go things. And so you know, from an overall perspective, obviously in the defense, you're not going in going, well, we'll hold the twenty seven and we win. No, you don't. You don't think of it that way, do you think other Hey, we're going in with a game plan. We're gonna get after this guy. We've had a recipe for success in getting after this guy. We've got to make some plays, we've got to create the turnovers, we've got to reak havoc.

But when they do get into scoring territory, we must force them to kick field goals. As an offense, the Jets have to say we must score touchdown. We can't be one for five and the reds and I'm like we were against the Dolphin, but we can't, uh, you know, be bad on third down all those different things. We've got to be efficient and we have to score points, and those things can be done. And that's as simple as it is. I mean, let me remind you it was third team to ten the fourth quarter against and

what's the forty niners record? One and nine? Okay, so let's don't act like, well, this is such a juggernaut and the machine that it can't be stopped and the Jets have no chance. Now, statistics and and all of that will tell you that the Jets and chances of winning are obviously less than the Patriots chance of beating them. I get that. But at the same time, from a player's mindset, you're looking at it and you see it is what it is. They're making plays. Other teams aren't

making plays. But when teams do make plays, they got a chance to lose the game to pay. Yeah, we say it every week about the Jets defensive front, that they gotta win their battles, that the defensive line obviously uh are entering a ballgame chat where they have matchup advantages.

But if you're Todd Balls and Casey Rodgers this week and you're facing a Tom Brady, you just got Dion Lewis back who has a Legarrett Blunt in in the backfield who we don't now know at the time of taping here whether Rob Gronkowski and Chris Hogan will play this week, but as possible both could play, or maybe both could be down. I'm not sure at the time of taping here. But even with that, they got plenty

Even without those two, they had plenty of weapons. Martellas Bennett has been a tremendous addition to that ball club, not only from receiving perspective, but what he brings to the table as a blocker. Then you have Julian Edelman, that's Brady's number one target, Danny Amondola. Um. So there are a number of guys out there. A guy, a rookie receiver by the name of Malcolm Mitchell, Chad guy I'd never heard of before he showed up on the radar last week against the A four mention in San

Francisco forty Niners. So if you're bulls Casey Rodgers, are there specific guys that you want to take away? Well, the first and foremost that the recipe for success against the Patriots has always been to make Tom Brady uncomfortable. The more comfortable he is, you have no shot. And that was always the recipe with the Giants being able to generate a pass rush before. Make him uncomfortable, don't allow him just to work his footwork and stay in

that one spot, um, you know. And then from a weapon standpoint, I mean it's obviously you if Gronkowski plays, you've got to, you know, focus on him. Um, guy Julian Edelman, you got to, you know, make sure they're very speci epic. One thing the Patriots do very well is they take advantage of the specific talents of each player, and they don't necessarily ask a player to do something he's not capable of doing. Malcolm Mitchell, people forget that was a heck of a college football receiver from the

University of Georgia. And just because he's a rookie and on the Patriots doesn't mean he's and he hasn't played. Doesn't mean he's necessarily behind or come out of nowhere. It's just that he hasn't had his opportunity though how talents they are and how they're working him in. But a guy has got some talent um, so you know, it's it's certainly a full team defensive effort and everyone realizing where they fit into the puzzle and trying to stop the Patriots and be successful. Do you run more

for dials Lineman this week? Or you're more traditional three four? The Jets they have showed different frauds to pending who their planning, who the opponent is very game plan specific. We know that do you do you do more four three this week? Or more three four? And like you mentioned before, the recipe against Brady and what a lot of teams have been trying to do lately, of course, is rushing for and dropping seven and clogging those lengths.

I think it's you have to be multiple. I don't think you can just line up um and play one front or one coverage against somebody like Brady and the Patriots. Once they get a beat on what you're doing, you will be exposed because there's always weaknesses in every front, in every coverage. It's just a matter do you have the right place called at the right time, and can you make those adjustice to get to those weaknesses. And so against the Patriots, you you have to be It's

similar to how they approached things. They approach things that are very game plan specific. They don't want to be pigeonholed into one style of offense or one style of defense as an organization and team, and I think when you play them, certainly want to explore your strength and managing weaknesses and put your players in the best positions

to be possible. But you've also got to work UM in a system where you can be multiple and you're giving different looks, You're giving different um coverages and making sure that it's not the same thing. All right, Saturday, Ohio State Michigan, who you got in that onehigh state? Yeah, you think obviously on paper evenly matched. Is it because they're playing at home or is it because Michigan is

dealing with some quarterback problems. I think it has to do with the quarterback issue, and it looks to me like that, you know, Ohio State, even though they've won some close games, they're playing just a little bit better as a team compared to Michigan right now, just in that in that swing of things where they are in the season. Washington Washington State at the Apple Cup, Well, that's a tough one because I expected Washington State to do better this past week. Um, but going to Pullman

is extremely difficult. Um, I'm gonna say Washington. Okay. So if Washington wins that game, they probably just need one more and they'd be in the final four. Do you think, yes, yes, I knew they're packed twelve champs with one one loss. I think that they would be the fourth seed. Okay, all right, And how about my my alma mater here, the Florida Gators who upset Alis you on the road last week. They're going into tall I asked you to play Florida State. Wow, this is a toss up. Oh

my goodness. Um, I know, right, but that was very impressive on what they did uh in Baton Rouge to be able to do that in face um let ad heir steves faced with all the injuries that they have. Uh, part of me says go with the Gators because they play extremely good defense. They're tough and you've got that freshman quarterbacks, a sort of State that has had some

ups and downs. Then the other part says they're banged up and trying to go into Tallahassee against an offense that's a little bit more efficient and better than l issues offense. I'm gonna go for State. Oh the seminars at home, and last college pick of this week is there Ball Old Alabama and Auburn. Can anybody stop this runaway train that Nick Sabans got going on right now? Yes it can be stopped, Oh, no question about that. But will it be stopped is the bigger issue, and

I don't think that will not this week? Okay? And then Thanksgiving special here? Uh, who are the top three teams in the National Football League? As we turned to post Thanksgiving football Chad, because you know it, uh, the grizzly veterans of this league always say, don't start talking about who's good, and we're separating themselves until after Thanksgiving.

So give me the top three teams in football. As we turned the page here, I will say, um, I will go Patriots one, the Cowboys too, and I'm gonna say the Raiders three. Wow. Wow, Seattle not in Champenny to top three, and he's got the Raiders in the top three. That's something else. They're definitely making, uh their voices heard here, and it could be a three A three, okay, okay,

we'll watch that. And I know, I know how you feel about that ground attack and every quarterback loved an offensive line and a great running back and Dallas got something going special here right now, I'd have to get and I just look at that. When I said the Patriots ahead of the Cowboys. The reason I do is that if they played head to head, I just think it would be that the Patriots would have the advantage. But you know, certainly without them playing the head to head,

is be very easy to put the Cowboys one. Yeah, I'd have to go Patriots one, Seattle to Dallas three, and then I put the Raiders up there at four. Maybe right now, I'm not willing. I've been impressed with their car, I really have. I think he's uh, you know, done extremely well. I think Jack del Rio has done a really good job of providing stability and continuity and consistency within that organization. And you can see it. And because he looks like you know, I've always known coach

del Rio to be a coach, especially defensively. You know, they the scheme is simple, but they're really good at and allows their athletes to really take advantage of what they're doing. And so I think that whole mindset is across the board with that team, is that they are really creating consistent to see continoony. But he was still allows all of their extremely talented players to come to forefront and make place for him. I know you hate this word, but car has some real natural armed talent.

He makes them throws sometimes where it seems like he's just winging it, but he has a great faith in that arm. And I know he's a tremendous passer and he is a bright kid. We talked to him down in Mobile, Alabama senior ball a couple of years ago, and that's one thing that stood out about Cars that he was mature beyond his years. Yeah, I've been impressed and he's done a really good job. Nice win yesterday, had some great comeback wins throughout the season and some

distal circumstances. Um he's really just he's willing and dealing him. He is in his wheelhouse right now and in a really good spot at the quarterback Chad Pennington's favorite Thanksgiving food, Oh, favorite Thanksgiving food. Um, well, I'm I'm looking at the total plate and I'm envisioning my plate. And it's got turkey, it's got my potatoes, it's got dressing, it's got a role on it, and all of it has gravy on top. Everything on the plate has gravy on it. The gravy

is what makes it. Of course, this guy comes to the line of scrimmage and he's got to identify not only the mic linebacker, what he's calling out protections. You gotta see everything, and that's how you even approach Thanksgiving dinner. Good catch it up, Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family. Thank you,