EA Podcast: Episode 8 Featuring Chad Pennington

know it's a special a weekend when e'uroupe north Well obviously. Uh. I love coming up here and visiting sweet partners for the Jets and thanking them for their support and being part of game day operations. Talking with you on the podcast is always fun. And then also doing some entertaining myself with a group of three couples from Lexington, Kentucky who are having a New York Gicks experience. They've been to Seth Meyers or going to Yankees game, They're going

to the Jets game. They're going to do a facility tour, so part of that experience for them as well, do they have Yankees tickets for tonight because right now the Soaker I don't think that game is gonna take place. I know it's not looking to U dry, but they do have Yankees tickets for tonight Friday night game. Well, you're doing something pre game with the organization too. It's a special white eye. I'm hearing you're doing something for

the team right. Well, typically we hang out with our jet fans in the green room and then we take them down to pre game on the field. Let him much warm ups, talk to them there. Um, but there may be something else there is Chad's gonna be on the field. We're gonna have to find out the exact details on that. There's something about a new air raid air raid, Yes, yes, okay, I got yes, that's right, air raid. I'm all over it. So you're gonna be down there money your ear plus. Yeah, I know. It's

gonna be my first experience with the air raid. So I don't know what to expect really. So last weekend at Marshall, we gotta follow up with that. You weren't talked it into the school's journalism Hall of Fame down there. How did your event go? Well? It went really well. Um, the w. Page Pit School of Journalism and Mass Communications Hall of Fame. Uh, did you have a speech, had a little bit of a speech. I just rolled with it, you know, just talked about how special of the place

Marshall is and has always been. UM. And then we went to the Louisville game. You know, our quarterback was down out with a concussion, so we had to start a true freshman against the likes of Lamar Jackson. So you can only imagine how that went. UM. But it was a great experience that the crowd was electrifying. It was a great, great time there. It got a chance to meet country music singer Craig Morgan. Uh, really talented artist.

Unfortunately for Craig, his son I had had planned on coming to Marshall to play football, to walk on, and he died in a tragic boating accident all summer. But so he was up there, great family, uh and really good people. So that was neat. I've always been a Craig Morgan fan. Now the game itself, I was watching the bottom line because he told me you were there,

and there were a couple other games. I actually we were in Kansas City, so I was watching Stanford and u C l A. I think, oh, at et Saturday night, I've seen a score come through in the bottom of the screen. How did it get away from them so quickly? Well, it's the defense was actually playing well. It's just the offense had at one time six straight three and outs

and the defense just couldn't hold. It got to to seven with thirty five seconds left going into the halftime in Louisville went eighty yards and thirty five seconds and made it thirty five to seven. That was pretty much the game. Marshall's chances were slim and one, especially with their quarterback out um and and the defense held on as long as they could. But they're they're very explosive. The Clemson Louisville game is gonna be really interesting this

week in Death Valley. I'm interested to see that. Then you get a chance to talk to Lamar Jackson. I did not. I did not. We had numerous people we were entertaining, uh there in Huntington's so and and then we also had flag football games on Sunday that we had to get back to. So I did not get a chance to talk to Lamar. Alright, so break it down.

What do you think is gonna happen when Louisville goes into Death Valley to play Clemson, because a lot of folks right now we're saying, hey, maybe Louisville's got it this year. They got the quarterback, like you just muntioned, just they're playing defense. And that's one thing that I don't think people understand about this Cardinal team is it's more than just Bobby Petrino's offense. They are talented. This is a huge test. It is extremely difficult to play

in Death Valley. I have played in Death Valley before and came out victorious, but it's it's extremely difficult. And so for a true sophomore quarterback, this is a huge test for Lamar Jackson. Just the emotion of it. Um, and then also I did yes, yes, and uh, it's you and Randy Moss in your back pocket. No, Randy was gone already, it was and he was gone. It was Terry No Tommy Mawden's first year Clemson, Rich Rodriguez was the offensive coordinator. But um, it's a great place

to play. But it's gonna be interesting. I think Clemson will try to force Lamar Jackson to be a pocket passer. That's where I think he struggles right now in his young career. Wants to get out and run around and play backyard ball, and they're gonna try to force him.

It's a great matchup between Watson and Jackson. Do you see the same thing in Watson as you do in Jackson as far as more athletic than a pastor or you think at this stage of his career he's a little bit more advanced than Jackson in the pocket, No question, Watson is more advanced as a passer, more groomed and seasoned. Um he can operate in the pocket. Um, so yes, he there's a distinct difference there. Um. Jackson may be more athletic just as far as raw talent, but Watson

has come into his own nicely. As far as a quarterback is concerned, I think Jackson is learning how to be a quarterback. If you're a Houston Cougar fan, you have to be a rooted for Louisville because you get Louisville in your place later in the season. And Greg Wards speaking about great athletes who played a quarterback position,

he's another one. Well exactly in Houston now the American Conference, I mean they are that is awesome to see and to be able to see what they've been able to do and coming off that huge Bowl win last year against Florida Stay and beating Oklahoma early in the season. Um, yeah, they're they're very interested because that just makes their game with Louisville even bigger if Louisville beats Clemson in Death Valley.

What do you think about Houston's first The Big twelve is concerned and a lot of people talking about Big twelve expansion. Folks in Oklahoma don't want Houston in the Big twelve because that's part of UH their area where they're taking a lot of recruits from. So they gotta be in the competing with all these Texas schools to begin with. Now, if Houston goes from the American to the Big twelve, watch out. Do you think Houston should

be in the Big twelve? Well, Houston can be in the Big twelve because financially they have the support to do that. That's what it boils down to now in college athletics is can can you produce the financial support to hang with the Power fives? Houston? Can? They have the alumni base, they have the money, the oil money, have all of that to be able to compete financially

and obviously the big twelve nees Houston. Now. Teams like Oklahoma may not want Houston in there, but um, it would be a good move for Houston because the way college football is going unfortunately, you're going to have the haves and the have nots, and you need to be if you're going to be on that big stage, you need to be in the group with the halves. And Houston can't. They can do that, they have the ability

to do that. Do you get disappointed when you see a school like l s U remove Less Miles after four games? I know he's been there for a long time, but just the climate of it, it's just it's tough to see from an outsider's perspective, sure it is. It's very disappointing. I think it's a Black Island college football because we have taken an amateur sport and made it a professional style sport in a free market that is

not a free market. Um. You have student athletes who are getting scholarships to to play and coaches being paid millions of dollars, and then if a booster is not entertained enough, he can help pull the trigger on getting the coach fired. You've fired a coach who over eleven seasons average over ten wins a year, and and and most programs you're very very happy with that. So backflips at places like per New, no question. So it's disappointing. I think it's bad for college football and I hate

to see it. All Right, Jets, Chiefs, you went through the tape. I don't think there's really too much to review other than miss opportunities. We know that. But looking ahead the Seattle, this team, the New York Jets this week coming to the ball game one and two offensively and then finished last week. We talked about it. They moved the ball up and down at times, but now they're missing one of their key parts. And Eric Ducker, if you're Ryan Fitzpatrick, how does that impact you? Is

you going to this ballgame chat? Well? I still think for Ryan it's about decision making, and regardless of who you have out there at the skill positions, you still have to make solid decisions. And uh, typically when you have players like Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall, you typically tend to make a decision once or twice that you wouldn't make with most receivers because you trust him so much.

So with a guy like Eric Decker out now, you really have to focus on the decisions you are making and really evaluate the risk versus reward um because the reward is not going to be good enough for the risk that you're taking when you don't have an Eric Decker out there to make that play. So obviously he has to rely upon Brandon Marshall. He's got to rely upon his two running backs, uh Quincy and Noon. One

was gonna He's gonna be a huge factor. I think his development has now allowed the Jets at least to feel comfortable that when something likes that this happens, they can count on him to be a number two. Now he has earned that right to step into that role and do some of those things. But it's going to be different, there's no doubt about it. You mentioned the Noon and his development. Now you can see him play outside in the numbers that just have been doing this already,

or you can use them inside against Seattle. We know what that secondary has Earl Thomas Range free safety. He's a playmaker. Cam Chancellor, He's the guy seems like he gets it all gone for them. He gets them all pumped, big hitter, always looking for the knockout shot. Then you got Richard Sherman on one side. Jeremy Lane is back

with the Seahawks this year. But when you think about that secondary, if you're if you're a quarterback and it's a team that plays a lot of Cover three, Um, what does it mean to you when you're facing that kind of talent in a secondary? Well, I think, first of all, when you mentioned cover three, typically that means three deep, four under, and that also means one on

one coverage. Fortunately for the Seahawks on the outside, they've been able to win those one on one matchups because of Richard Shermon and Browner when he was there, and and those type of players. Um. So when you see that, you'd like to think trying to work inside. Now you have to deal with an extra player inside because now you have four underneath and not three. So I think that is it will still be a mix. I think Brandon Marshall still feels like he can go out and

compete with Richard Sherman because of his physicality. Um, but they're gonna be judicious on that. You still have to give him respect and realize that you're just not gonna make a living out there. Um, and you need to work inside. You need to get the linebackers, you need even even need to get Cam Chancellor on one on one situations. I don't think pass coverage would be his

cup of tea exactly. So UM, this is UH. This is a game where chain Ailey UH will be very creative, will be very judicious on his shots and where he and Ryan they have to be on the same page and making sure that they do everything they can to get the Jets to the fourth quarter, UH, in front of a home crowd with a chance to win. That that's the key, is the playbook? Scale back, How does it work when you develop a game plan throughout the week.

Because the Jets new Eric Decker was banged up. They didn't know he'd be out until Friday, but they practiced the entire week without Deckers, so they knew this could be likely that he's out of the lineup. Then Jalen Marshall, the rookie who's had his ups and downs here Earlin this season. He tores labor m so the Jets knew they'd be dealing without him. So now to your top four receivers here early in the season or out of the lineup. So how does that impact when you're devising

a game plan? How does that impact the offensive coordinator of the game, the quarterback during the week. Well, I don't think scale back is probably in the necessary phrase. I think different. It's gonna look different, Um, it's gonna feel different. I think some of the similar concepts that the Jets like to run will just be run by different people with different looks, different personnel groups, different formations. Let's remember the number one receiver is still there, the

top two running backs are still there. A Noon whir who we could say is a number two. Now he's earned that I think is there. Well, most teams will be happy to go with their number one, number two and or top two running backs. They would feel pretty good about that. So the coverage not empty by no stretch of imagination. It's just that it's gonna look different, and they're gonna be players that are gonna be caught upon to do some different things that you may have

not seen yet. How do you neutralize Russell Wilson. Here's a guy who's got the second old time the highest passer rating in NFL history, I know he's playing for a ton of years, but he's a gamer who's accurate with the football, doesn't make a ton of mistakes, is not the biggest guy, and he's been hearing that all throughout his life. But he just makes plays, and especially late, it seems like when the Seahawks need a play, he

delivers sure. And I think that probably what we have overlooked over the last few years for Russell Wilson's success is the success of their running game. And so with Rawls out, with obviously Marshawn Lance being retired, I think that's why you've seen a little bit of lack of production in their offense as far as scoring the ball um where they've relied more on field goals and things until this past week against San Francisco. So I think uh Number one is stop the run and and make

Russell Wilson drop back. Because if you stop the run, the play action and the half rolls, the half bootlegs, those aren't as effective because the run is not there. So now if you make him more of a dropback passer instead of a quarterback movement passer where he can get out on the edge, now that really plays into the hands of the Jets defensive pass rush. Huge week for the Jets outside linebackers. I would imagine when you

think about whether they're playing sub or base. Guys like Jordan Jenkins, a rookie out of Georgia who made his pro debut last week, Lorenzo Malden in his second year, UM Mike Catta panel, if he's up, if he's active. Those guys who play the outside linebacker spot, they gotta set that edge because you know, the Jets can bring the heat on the interior, and I think there's a lot of mismatches up front, man for man when you're

thinking about guys like Wolkerston, Richardson, Williams and company. But those guys on the edge, whether you run on four three or three four in the Jets are multiple in their fronts. They gotta set it well. And then that's the key is to set the edge. And so when you're rushing the passer, when you're rushing a quarterback like Russell Wilson off the edge, you're not necessarily rushing to sack him. You're rushing to contain him and make him stay on his spot. A lot of dropback passers, you're

trying to move them off of their spot. You want Russell Wilson to stay on his spot because of his lack of size and because of his running ability. So you have to understand that as a pass rusher, that's situational awareness that's gained preparation. Though I can't just rush him to sack him. I rushed to contain him, and then if we have a chance to sack him after we've contained him in the pocket, we do that make him a passer, create multiple decisions for him. This guy

has been hampered by injuries here early in season. I think you had a sprained ankle in Week one and then uh most recently against the forty Niners, suffered a niece brain. Now Wilson behind this offensive line, which on paper should have all sorts of problems with the Jets defensive line, you got a banged up quarterback. Do the Seahawks do what they do or even with Russell maybe not a pcent even though the Jets are treating I'm like, it's because they know what kind of compositor he is.

Do they move the pocket roll? Well, I think they experiment with the quick passing game. I think teams have had success with that that. Teams have also had success with crossing routes. Kansas City had really good success against the Just defense with crossing routes tight ends and receivers on those shallow five the six yard crossing routes that actually turned into fifteen to twenty yard gains because the defenders now behind or they did not pass it off

in time. So I think to help them with the running game, you're gonna see short passing game, you're gonna see ball out of his hand quickly. You can move him and get him on the edge. But I just think that the crossing routes and the quick outs and things like that with their receiver is probably the way to go in the passing games and then add the

down the field shot off the play actions. So judge, fans have been asking me this, in your eyes, what's been the problem with the crossing routes, And we talked about Kelsey last week. Bart Scott said, Hey, this is uh simple communication. The guys just got to communicate better. As far as those a lot of the little rubs you're getting there on the inside and creating space for

the Titans and the receivers. I think it's communication number one and then number two, and probably just as important as communication is anticipation, you know, really going back and looking at the first three games and seeing how teams are attacking you and anticipate those type of routes and force the opponent to run something different. Uh, So you're jumping those crossers, You're jumping all those different ways that they're trying to create those rub actions with picks and

things like that because of the man coverage. You need to anticipate that, force them to use another part of their game plan, and then once they choose to do that, to prove that they can do that, then you make the adjustment. But right now, there's been no reason not to continue to do crossing routes. They're there and they've been successful, So I think Seattle will do the same thing. Yeah. And then lastly, as far as the defense match up here with the Seahawks, is you mentioned Russell likes to

get the ball down the field. Don't They have the prototypical number one receiver, But Doug Baldwin already has twenty catches this year. Jimmy Graham's starting up here on the radar, a guy who really didn't fit with them and and didn't have any chemistry frankly with Wilson last year. And you guys got a guy like Curse and also lock it. But Wilson likes to throw the ball down the field. Kansas City was an offense where it's in there for

them to take shots. But Alex Smiths more of a guy, is gonna be more conservative with the football, make sure he doesn't make any mistakes. This is a different team they'll when you're facing Seattle right because they will take their vertical shots well. And the reason that they do is because they trust their defense, and their defense is being able to back them up when they may not

be as e fishing offensively because of their vertical shots. Also, their vertical shots have also come off of their run actions and where the running game has been successful in the past. So that's why stopping the run early and making them more one dimensional was really important. But there's no doubt because Seattle is gonna look at those first two games and see all those big plays that were

happening in the Buffalo and Cincinnati. The Jet did do a good job of eliminating the big play against Kansas City, where in the first two games they did not, So Seattle will try the big shot and the big play because they're going to make sure that the Jets proved that they can still stop that. Rivas said it was a must win in the locker room this week. This is the fourth game of the season, and you've been on the field, you been in a locker room before.

How would you characterize this game in terms of it's a it's a it's a the importance of it. Well, um, I think I think Vas talking about it being a must win is more about the sense of urgency that the team needs to have and to erase the memory of Kansas City more than it is saying, hey, if we lose this, it's over. I don't think that's the case. I just think that the team needs to have a

sense of urgency. The young guys need to understand there's a difference between being two and two and one and three. Those two records, even though they're one game apart, feel light years apart. When you're on an NFL team, when you've went one and three in the first quarter of your season, it does not is a terrible feeling, whereas two and two you made some progress, but you're not where you want to be, but you feel good about moving into second. You're not that far away, not that

far away. One three just feels really you have some ground to make. It feels really bad. And and I've been on teams that have been one in three and we've been able to fight through that. But it takes a lot of energy and exhaust your team to get back back on the winning side. And finally, here you see this playing out where if the Jets don't turn a football over, this is a low scoring game in a fourth quarter where they will have an opportunity to

win it. Yeah, I think that. I think that the Jets offense every possession needs to end with a kick of some sort. Uh if it does that place into their favor. Uh. If they're punting, then you're playing field position. If you're kicking, you're either getting three points or attacking on an extra point. And so I see it as a fifteen twelve, seventeen thirteen, eighteen fifteen. I see that possibly could be a lot of field goals, but that's okay.

If you're moving the ball and keeping your defense off the field and still getting those three points, that is a positive in this game, no doubt. About it, and that's a big thing for Fits. What what would you say to Fits Well, I think that the natural tendency coming off a game where you've thrown six interceptions. I've thrown five before in the pros and it's not a good feeling at all. The natural tendency is to try

to do everything you can to erase that memory. But you actually need to pull back a little bit and allow the game to come to you, um knowing that your shots are gonna be there, your opportunities to make a big play is going to be there. Don't go looking for the big play. Let the big play happen. Think about moving the chains, think about being consistent, and really think about your own mental mindset. That's so important that you are processing your reads, your process and information

and you feel good about where you are mentally. Don't try to make up for that. That's gone. It's over with and move on. Well, Chef Pennyson, good to see you up in New Jersey. We'll see you over at My Life. Absolutely, I thank you.