Transcript of a selected player interview with Jets beat reporters after Monday's morning training camp practice:
QB CHAD PENNINGTON
On if he was happy to see TE Chris Baker back on the practice field…
I see Chris back out on the field. I know he's been working extremely hard to get everything ready for camp and to get back into practice shape. I'm sure he will take it one practice at a time and keep working.
On how much he is looking forward to Thursday's preseason opener at Cleveland…
The one good thing about preseason games is you know that most of the dog days of camp are coming to an end once the preseason games start. Now you have to really focus in on game-type situations and getting back into the feel of playing in the game. It's just a lot different from practice. It's not where everything is scripted and you go from period to period. A game is a game and it takes a little bit to get back into it and make sure you're in the flow.
On if the QB competition is won during the preseason games…
You would have to ask Coach that. I'm sure he evaluates everything. I don't know how he weighs them. He hasn't expressed one way or the other how he weighs the games vs. practices and things. We'll just have to see what Eric thinks about that.
On if common sense would suggest the QB competition is won during the preseason as opposed to training camp…
I've tried to use common sense before and sometimes it didn't work. I wouldn't use that as an example. We'll see. There are a lot of things involved in playing the quarterback position. Stats never tell the story. Sometimes they may help to tell the story, but they never are the story. Especially in preseason games, when you're working a lot of guys in and out, trying to get looks at a lot of different guys and working with different players. There are things that you try to iron out and there are things that you really can't control.
On if he thinks there will be any significance in which QB starts Thursday…
I really don't know. Week to week we would flip the coin to see who would start the practices. Based on history, probably not. It's all based upon performance. We'll take it from there.
On Baker being an all-around TE…
Chris brings a style to our offense where he can not only block but he can run and catch the football. One thing he's really worked on over the years is his route-running, being crisper in his routes and having a higher tempo. He's really gotten better at that. Because of that, he has become a complete tight end. I'm looking forward to him getting back into the swing of things and seeing what he can help us with.
On the progress of adjusting his mechanics…
I'm still working on it. I think I'll be working on it for a while. I don't think you change something that you've done for 25 years in one off-season or just a couple of months. When I don't have my mechanics correct, I really focus on the results and still getting the ball there. When my mechanics are correct and when I'm doing the things I want to do, I can really tell a difference.
Things just seem so much easier. They don't seem like it's a grind to get the football there, like I'm using every bone in my body. It just seems a lot easier — things just come out a lot easier. I just keep working on it. The biggest thing is, now when I warm up or I'm throwing against air, I have pretty consistent mechanics.
Now the transition is to take that and while I'm reading the defense and having to make a decision, letting your body and your muscle memory take over and you not have to think about that. That's the big challenge right now.
On not wanting to think about his mechanics and assignments in the heat of the moment…
It's about feel. I can make a throw and tell myself, "That feels right" or "That doesn't feel right." I can start to feel that, so that's a positive, too. Once you start to feel it and know what feels right and what doesn't, then you can start making some positive steps forward.
On if there are things he is still working on to improve…
There are a couple of things I have been trying to focus on. No. 1 is ball carriage, No. 2 is the shoulder turn with the football, and No. 3 is staying loaded on my back foot and not getting stretched out or overstriding, where I stay nice and compact and let the ball come out with a lot of torque and a lot of velocity, where my body is taking over and not just leaving my arm out to dry.
When you're an arm thrower, you kind of leave it up to chance every day based upon how you feel as far as your timing. What I try to do is develop a consistent system of throwing that incorporates my body to where every day, no matter how I feel, because my body's helping me, it's consistent and the ball's coming out and you're not having as much inconsistency. You still may miss a throw every once in a while, but the velocity is always consistent.
On if he is pleased the Bret Favre situation appears to be nearing an end…
In this league you'd better not ease your mind because you never know what may happen. You don't stay on edge with being nervous and having anxiety, you just stay focused on what you have to do to get better. Whether it's Favre or anybody else in this league, they are looking to put the best man out on the field. They'll replace you in a heartbeat.
I just caught a glimpse of it as I was eating breakfast just to see what's going on. I couldn't figure it all out. It's too complicated for me. For me, it's business as usual.
On if he wished Favre had taken the money…
No. It doesn't matter whether it's Brett or anybody else, all organizations are going to put the best guy out there.
On what he has noticed about FB Tony Richardson…
Veteran leadership — he brings a vet perspective. He's been around for a long time. He's been great for our young guys because he works every day. The crispness of how he works and how smooth it is and how he goes full-speed and does not take a drill off. That's great for our young guys to see.
A vet like that could come in and not take it serious. He takes every rep that he has very serious. That's part of being a professional. He's showing our young guys how to be a pro. When you're a pro, you do it right or you don't do it at all. He does it right.
On the impact he perceives Richardson having on the Jets running game…
He's been one of those guys who has been a lead blocker for a number of leading rushers, a number of really good running backs. That's pretty impressive. That's because he understands angles. He understands how to get through to the second level and cover up the linebackers and do all those things to allow the backs to break through.
On WR Chansi Stuckey…
It's normally very hard, especially when you get injured your rookie year, to come in your second year and make as much progress as he's made. He's done an excellent job of staying focused throughout all of last year, trying to learn as much as he can, even though he wasn't playing, and then applying that through the spring and then through training camp.
A neat thing about Chansi is he was recruited as a quarterback and went to Clemson as a quarterback, so when you talk to him about route-running, he understands what we're looking at, what we're seeing and why we say some of the things we do. That really helps him in the slot because in the slot, sometimes it's not about full speed, it's about having a knack to get open.
