Erik Boland: Inside the Jets

By Tom Rock

Only a few hours left until we can officially term this miserable 4-12 season as "last year." Phew!

The players cleaned out their lockers at Hofstra today, some of them for the last time. Chad Pennington spoke about wanting to be a starting quarterback "here or wherever," seemingly re-opening the door to his return to the Jets. I can't see him wanting to come back. Even if he is named the starter or wins the job in training camp, Kellen Clemens will be over his shoulder the whole year. That's a yucky situation to be in.

The Jets don't seem willing to meet Laveranues Coles' request for a contract extension. He just turned 30 this weekend -- Happy belated birthday, LC! -- and said that the Jets have told his agents that they are concerned about his age and diminished production this year. Coles said he wants to play beyond the next two years for which he is under contract. That's a bit of a change for a player who was talking about his professional mortality at this time last year. Worst case scenario, he said, he'll come back and play his two years for the Jets and then become a free agent. He said he wants things to be resolved peacefully (in fact he said that about 10 times), but he didn't rule out a holdout during OTAs or training camp to get his deal.

As for Kellen Clemens, when he was asked what he needs tow ork on during the offseason, he spoke about his nutrition. That's right, after finishing with the lowest passer rating in the NFL, Clemens said he needs to eat better to manage how his body uses energy.

I'll let you fans chew on that.

By Tom Rock

That's right. Ben Graham is back in uniform after last week's benching in favor of Jeremy Kapinos. The Australian punter could provide just the spark the Jets need to topple the Chiefs. Kapinos wasn't awful in his debut, but I wonder how much Graham's relationship with kicker Mike Nugent as the holder played into the decision to go back.

Anyway, Kapinos is inactive. So is WR David Ball, who was added to the active roster and then made inactive. Quite an eventful day for David. Chris Davis, Andre Dyson, Adrien Clarke, Jacob Bender and Sean Ryan are the other inactives. Tuiasosopo is the third QB.

So, does anyone think Mangini will give Chad a chance to take the field one last time? It would certainly be a concession on Eric's part that Pennington won't be back. But it would also be a classy move to let him play a series or two. Not that there's any guarantee of a rousing ovation. I suspect that the only people in the stadium today are those who are angry at something: The Jets, Herm, their families, life. Happy people are generally avoiding the area today.

There's still a hint of perfection in the air from last night's game. They scrubbed teh end zones and have painted in the Jets logo. That was a concern of mine, as you may recall. I'm glad it worked out.

J.P. Pelzman just came over to lay claim to the term "Eric Hicks Bowl" since he's been released by both teams this year. Also of note, Adrian Jones is now a member of the Chiefs. He's inactive. Just like old times for Adrian.

By Tom Rock

How difficult will the Jets schedule be next year? Well, that could be up to the Jets.

Right now their opponents have exactly a .500 record. They are a combined 110-110 (counting the records of division opponents twice since they play them twice). Obviously everyone plays this weekend, but the Jets control their own strength-of-schedule destiny in a way. They play the Chiefs on Sunday, and will play the Chiefs next year.

So essentially, if the Jets win on Sunday, their schedule next year gets easier.

Just something -- anything -- to add a bit of significance to this game.

Thanks to Dave Tratner for that insight by the way.

By Tom Rock

Eric Mangini was asked today if a team can win with a quarterback who completes 52 percent of his passes. Hmmm. That just so happens to be the percentage of passes that Kellen Clemens has completed this year.

“It depends on what 52 percent you’re completing,” he said. “If they’re all touchdowns, it’d probably be okay.”

In Clemens’ case, they are not. In fact, only 1.8 percent of Clemens’ passes have been for touchdowns while 4.4 percent have gone for interceptions. In fact, of the 33 quarterbacks who have thrown at least 14 passes per game (the NFL barometer when measuring statistics), his four TDs are the lowest in the league, tied with Rex Grossman. Clemens’ 59.0 passer rating is the second lowest and his completion percentage is the second lowest (he barely edges out Trent Dilfer for worst NFL quarterback in those regards).

“You want to see the efficiency of moving the team down the field and being able to score,” Mangini said. “That’s where I want to see progress.”

Maybe he’ll see it on Sunday. And everything will be OK.

By Tom Rock

The when's haven't been decided, but the who's and the where's have. With the standings solidifying around the league, the Jets will play a third-place schedule next year and now have a complete list of their opponents. Here they are:

Home Games: New England, Buffalo, Miami, Denver, Kansas City, Arizona, St. Louis, Cincinnati.

Away Games: New England, Buffalo, Miami, Oakland, San Diego, San Francisco, Seattle, Tennessee.

So, with the understanding that a lot will change around the league between now and September, any early predictions for a Jets record in 2008?

By Tom Rock

Here’s how low things have gotten when covering the Jets this final Wednesday of the season:

We all stood in the locker room surrounding Jeremy Kapinos for a quote on the punter controversy. That's him on the right during his college days. He seemed almost poised for a great metaphor when talking about his days at Penn State under Joe Paterno, but he couldn’t finish when he said “Him changing practice around is like asking, well, I don’t know what it’s like asking.” Sigh.

A good portion of Mangini’s press conference was dedicated to an analysis of the Flight Crew – and there were times when the conversation was between members of the media so really Mangini didn’t have to be there for it. I'm guessing he wishes he wasn't.

And one of the few notes I jotted down during practice was the fact that Kellen Clemens hocked a loogie and it might be an early sign of an upper respiratory infection. Could sideline him for the playoffs.

Things will at least be more entertaining this afternoon when we get Herm and Ty Law on the conference call. Ty has been a mentor to Darrelle Revis for a few years (they went to the same HS in Pennsylvania and DR’s uncle was a high school teammate of Law’s).

As for Sunday’s tilt – the Play to Win the Game Game – it looks like Kellen Clemens will start. He took most of the reps in the segment of practice that we saw (didn’t even miss a snap to discharge that mucus) and seemed fairly active in both the shoulder and rib area.

I heard tickets to the Jets-Chiefs game are selling for around $25 per. That means that it’s almost more expensive for your car to go to the stadium and sit in the parking lot than it is for you to go and watch the game.

I’ll end the day on that thought.

By Tom Rock

No newspaper will be published tomorrow, but since this whole web craze is sweeping the nation I have to supply some content online. www.bahumbug.com.

In the interest of the holiday season, the sanctity of the happy family huddled around a tree, the innocence of a young child's face as he or she peers at a pile of presents, I'll skip most of the Jets stuff. Too depressing. There's time later in the week for that. Plus I just filed a Jets story that will run on the newsday site. That's more about football.

But I did want to give a shout-out to T-Rac, the Titans mascot with a name that sounds suspiciously like mine. He's going to the Pro Bowl (the Jets can't send a player but the Titans even have a mascot going) and deservedly so after watching him perform on Sunday.

My favorite T-Rac moment: When he came out from the tunnel dressed in a pink bunny suit carrying an air rifle. It took a moment to put the pieces together on that one, but Ralphie shooting his eye out wasn't a difficult stretch.

Anyway, Merry Christmas to everyone who chooses to accept such wishes, happy holidays to everyone else. This time next week we'll be in the locker room for baggie day as the players pack up and head out. Who'll be back? Who wants to be back? Who'll be back but doesn't want to be back? It's a long offseason. For now, though, more egg nog please.

By Tom Rock

Well, Adrien Clarke is benched. You'll be happy to hear that. He's one of the Jets inactives. So is Jacob Bender. Looks like it'll be Will Montgomery trying to slow down Albert Haynesworth. Other Jets inactives are Ben Graham, Marques Tuiasosopo, Chris Davis, Andre Dyson, Sean Ryan and Kareem Brown.

Notable inactives for the Titans are CB Nick Harper and C Kevin Mawae.

With Tuiasosopo the third QB, that means Kellen Clemens is healthy enough to play if he has to. And that means he could start. Although in Week 2 Chad was healthy enough to be the backup and didn't play. I think you'll know who the starting QB is when I do, which is when the Jets offense comes onto the field in the first quarter.

Brad Smith anyone?

By Tom Rock

I know what you’re thinking. Who’s gonna start? Well, both guys were out on the field warming up and both looked pretty good. So whether the Jets go with Ben Graham or Jeremy Kapinos as their punter is truly a game-time decision.

Update on that: Graham is inactive and it’s Kapinos’ job today. Just what the Jets need: a punter controversy. I guess they really need to see what they have in Kapinos before they head into the offseason. Mangini will just say that Kapinos gives the Jets the best chance to win.

As for the other controversy -- the REAL one -- Kellen Clemens was on the field earlier and looked pretty good. He probably didn’t get the reps that Mangini wanted him to during the week, but we only saw him for 30 minutes. Still, it’d be pretty rotten of the Jets to trot Chad Pennington out for a media session and then not play him.

Chad, by the way, hasn’t been spotted out warming up on the field. Hmmm. I guess the quarterback will be a gametime decision.

I’ll pop back a little later with the inactives.

By Tom Rock

Chad Pennington came up short of saying he wants out when he spoke this week. His father apparently has no such qualms.

In an article by Mark Burgess in this weekend’s Knoxville News Sentinel, Elwood Pennington, Chad’s father, says it’s time for Chad to move on when this season ends.

“After you become an eight-year veteran, you see it as a business and you know how the organization does things,” Coach P said. “With the new coaching staff and organization, they’re going to go in a different direction. Chad doesn’t fit into either’s plans as far as the future is concerned. He’s at the end of his career and he wants to be somewhere he can compete for the starting job, win games and maybe get to a Super Bowl.”

Mr. Pennington also says that Chad gave his heart and soul to the Jets, fighting through injuries and even taking a pay cut last year. The elder Pennington also said that he doesn’t understand Mangini’s reluctance to name a quarterback this week (even though he cleared the situation on Wednesday, essentially saying that Kellen Clemens is the starter even though he’s probably not healthy enough to play this weekend).

"I don’t know what their thinking is, or what they’re trying to accomplish by doing that," Elwood said of the quarterback shuffle. "It looks to me like if I have a quarterback — Kellen or Chad — I’m going to hang my hat on one of them and let them know I’m behind them. They haven’t really committed to either one of them.”

By Tom Rock

The WatchDog already covered this, but I wanted to put it out there again. I don't want anyone crying to me after the fact saying they didn't know about this:

What’s better than getting out of the cold, having no lines for food and beverage and being at the game but feeling like you are in your own living room? Watching the game with Jets all-time great JOE KLECKO! Now, here’s your chance to do just that! Jets fans will have the opportunity to bid on the “Jets Joe Klecko VIP Experience” when the Jets host the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, December 30th. All proceeds will benefit the New York Jets Foundation.

The winning bidder will receive an exclusive experience which includes:

2 Suite Tickets for Party Suite 425
Parking Pass (to receive pass, payment, shipping and contact info must be submitted immediately upon close of auction, or tickets will be placed at will call)
Food and beverage
Experiencing the game with Joe Klecko

There are only 18 packages available so bid now!

Buyer beware: We are talking about a game between the 3-11 Jets and the 4-10 Chiefs. That said, it's for a good cause (the New York Jets Foundation).

By Tom Rock

It's probably hard for people who covered this team in the past to hear that Laveranues Coles won the award for being the most helpful to the media. When he first arrived here, he was a surley dude. Even he admitted that he's some a long way when we presented him with the plaque (and then took it away a minute later) in the press room just a few minutes ago.

There are legendary stories of Coles' run-ins with my predecesor here, Ken Berger. Apparently Coles once called him "little media man" when they came across each other in the revolving door to the indoor practice facility. Another time Coles asked Ken what he was doing. "Doing my job," Ken said. "That ain't no job, writing paragraphs," Coles said. "Why don't you go down to Jillian's and get a real job."

We sent an email picture of a smiling Coles holding the hardware to Ken. It's true, Ken. I swear.

By Tom Rock

The beat writers and other assorted media types voted on this year's winner of the Eskenazi Award, also known as the media good guy award. Well, we didn't really vote. Didn't have to. Laveranues Coles won like Castro in Havana -- who else are you gonna vote for?

There was some consideration for Kerry Rhodes, who has been terrific. And some even brought up the possibility of giving the award to Pete Kendall for a third year in a row just for making our summer so enjoyable. He was definitely the star of training camp. I also liked speaking with Jerricho Cotchery (athlough his disappearing act after his finger injury was a strike against) and Darian "The Human Blog" Barnes, who was sent on his merry way a few weeks ago. Hope ninja school is going well, Darian!

But Coles was the guy, from the beginning of the season to the end. Always accessible. Always quotable. Mostly always friendly. Even when he was going through concussions and ankle sprains, even when his best friend was benched as the quarterback, he was there.

Congratulations, L.C. And I'm sure it won't be the last award he picks up this year. The players cast their votes for the season awards today, and I'm sure Coles' name was circled quite a few times.

By Tom Rock

Now that Parcells has signed with the Dolphins -- he has signed, right? -- it presents an interesting All-Bills division for the Jets. Next year Eric Mangini (assuming he's the coach of the Jets and not the coach of the, um, Dolphins) will have to answer Bill questions six times.

Twice he'll be swarmed by questions about Bill Belichick.

Twice he'll be hit by questions about Bill Parcells.

And twice he'll be pelted by questions about the Bills from Buffalo.

There'll be no escaping it. Six games, almost half the season, with Bill-related press conferences.

The Jets are the most Bill-less team in the division. They don't have a Bill or a William in their starting lineup (Will Montgomery, a backup guard, is the only one on the roster) and they don't have one on their coaching staff, their pro personnel department or in college scouting. In fact, breezing through the staff directory in the media guide, the only other Bill I came up with in the organization was William Senn, who is VP of the Practice Facility.

No wonder they're 3-11.

By Tom Rock

OK, it's a bit of an overhyped headline. But Pennington certainly hasn't refuted any theories about his possible desire to play elsewhere next year.

"You always want to contribute on the field," he told the Tennessee reporters in a conference call today (we get him tomorrow). "Being an athlete and a competitor, that is how you can help your team the most. That is always my goal, to be on the field and to help lead us to victory. Right now, my focus is just doing everything I can to help us win, whether that is playing on the field or helping Kellen on the sideline. That is my focus. Then, obviously in the offseason I’ll just have to look at and evaluate some things and see what we need to do next."

He's under contract to play for the Jets next year, so just by him saying he'll need to "evaluate some things" means he's got one foot out the door. Not that the Jets will cling tightly to the other foot, trying to yank him back in.

Chad has always maintained that he feels he's an NFL starter. Just as a side note, that's the kind of message Kellen Clemens needs to start sending out. He was asked today if he thinks he's done enough to establish himself as the Jets' long-term quarterback solution and he went wishy-washy with an answer about that being something the front office will have to determine.

Take the bull by the horns, cattle rancher!

As for the possibility of playing on Sunday in his home state -- and the sight of one of his best games last year -- Pennington said he hasn't been inundated by ticket requests.

"This may be a surprise game where I sneak in there and have a chance to play but not have to deal with a lot of ticket requests because it’s a surprise," he said.

By Tom Rock

Kellen Clemens showed great pocket presence at practice today. He hardly ever took his left hand out of his pocket.

Clemens’ performance – or lack thereof – made it pretty clear that he won’t be able to play by Saturday. It also made it clear that he’s fighting a shoulder injury and not just “a rib.” He barely participated in the 30 minutes that we saw, and struggled to take part in the few things he did. At one point someone tossed him a football underhanded and Clemens, keeping that left shoulder immobilized with his hand in the pocket, just knocked it down with his right hand and picked it up after it stopped rolling.

Mangini also made some clarifications. He said Clemens is the starting quarterback of the Jets, but whether or not he plays on Sunday will be determined by his health and the number of reps he’s able to get this week.

In other words: It’s Kellen’s job, he just probably won’t do it this week.

Elsewhere in the Jets’ plodding march toward Dec. 30, Laveranues Coles spoke fondly of Bill Parcells in regard to the news that he had been drafted by the Tuna. He said Parcells is always friendly and proud of him whenever they run into each other.

He said the Jets were the only team that interviewed him away from the combine that year, and recalled meeting with Dan Henning at an Olive Garden in Jacksonville. He said he liked the all-you-can-eat bread and salad. When someone asked him what he had to eat, he rolled his eyes. “I just told you. Bread and salad.”

By Tom Rock

The Jets cut defensive end Eric Hicks who -- was it an award or a slap in the face? -- was named the practice player of the week after the win over the Dolphins. For a 10-year veteran to get that award must have caused steam to start spewing from Hicks' ears. Hicks was a pretty good player and a good guy who just never developed in the system. Too bad. Hope he lands someplace next year.

The team also cut Adrian Jones. Wrong one, I know you're thinking. They should have cut Adrien Clarke. Well, they spell their first names differently, so the pun doesn't work. Unless you say it out loud without writing it down. In that case, well done.

Jones was a starter for 16 games in 2005. He was penciled into the job last year but got beaten out by Anthony Clement and hasn't started since. He's been inactive the past six games, too, so he must have known this was coming. He was also arrested for drunk driving last year, an incident many (including me) would lead to immediate banishment by Mangini. I guess it just took a little longer than anticipated.

The Jets haven't announced any signings to fill the roster. They'll probably have former Patriots DL Kareem Brown pick up some of the slack from Hicks' departure. They don't have any d-linemen on the practice squad. They have Robert Turner and Clint Oldenberg, offensive linemen, on the practice squad, but they'll probably go in a different direction since calling a player up from the practice squad so the team has enough guys to practice doesn't make sense. Maybe a WR with Coles so iffy? Shaine Smith from Hofstra, anyone?

By Tom Rock

That's because I won't have to go all the way to Hawaii to cover any of the Jets in the Pro Bowl. None of them made it (so far, there were a few alternates). Not that I would have been sent to the islands to cover it anyway. But I'm sure it's a big load off the minds of the powers that be back in HQ.

Leon Washington, probably the Jets' best chance for a ticket, was named a first alternate as a kickoff returner. Safety Kerry Rhodes and cenetr Nick Mangold are third alternates. Third alternates? They have a better chance of playing in this year's Super Bowl than this year's Pro Bowl as a third alternate. I think I'm a fifth alternate, to put that in some perspective.

Anyway, it's the first year since 1996 that the Jets will not send a soul to Hawaii. They were also blanked in 1995. Boy, I can't believe the Jets couldn't get one guy on the roster during those years. Who was the head coach for those seasons?

By Tom Rock

The Pro Bowl teams will be announced this afternoon on NFL Network. Leon Washington and Kerry Rhodes have certainly played themselves into the conversation for a trip to Hawaii.

What's your thoughts on this? Does anyone from the Jets deserve to get lei..., um, you know, those flowers around his neck? Why? Why not?

I hope whoever goes sends our best regards to Leonard Peters.

By Tom Rock

It took me almost a full day to place it, but I knew I had seen that Bill Belichick post-game smile before. In honor of Glauber's look-a-likes and this time of the year:

By Tom Rock

Mangini just wrapped up his press conference. When Cannizaro said he would go out on a limb and guess that Mangini wouldn't have much information about the quarterbacks, the coach smiled. "Good limb," Mangini said.

So here's what we got. Kellen is being evaluated -- tests are being done today -- but even if he is completely healthy Mangini has not said if he will start on Sunday against the Titans. That leaves plenty of room for Chad Pennington to elbow his way into the starting role. Considering that Clemens will likely be pretty limited in practice this week, it almost sounded as if it will be Pennington.

There were about 10 people in the press room today. If a quarterback controversey falls in the forrest and no one is there to hear it, does it make a noise?

By Tom Rock

Well, that’s it. Season’s over. Just the two exhibition games left.

I was amazed at how drained all of the Jets looked after the game yesterday. I won’t say “drowned rats” because that would be too easy and make the Patriot fans stand up and cheer, but they were definitely exhausted mentally and physically. It’ll be tough for them to get up for the last two games, and interesting to see how Mangini tries to get them going. That finale on Dec. 30 could have both coaches yelling “Play to win the game!” from the sideline.

No player availability today. Moral victory Monday. The players deserve it. They did work very hard and put a lot of effort into this game against the Patriots.

One issue I do have with the players is their growing insistence of answering questions one way before the game and another after the game. A few of them said yesterday that they were miffed about the size of the point spread and the lack of respect they were getting going into New England. Really? Because when we asked THE SAME QUESTIONS during the week before the game they mostly blew it off as if it didn’t matter to them. They did the same thing when they were underdogs against the winless Dolphins. Well, now we know that they really do pay attention to those things no matter what they say.

How does a player answer the point spread and respect questions honestly during the week? They can’t just come out and say that they are using it as motivation, which they later admitted that they were. Why not just say something like “How would that make you feel?” or “How do you think it makes us feel?” At least then we wouldn’t have the contradictions from Friday to Sunday.

Just on a side note: Watching the highlights of the games last night, every time I saw Jessica Simpson in that Tony Romo jersey I couldn’t help but think about that Carrie Underwood song where she wrecks the dude’s car. That’s one vengeful American Idol. Maybe Tony should think about hiring someone to stand guard over his Camaro or whatever he drives these days. He seems like a Camaro guy.

By Tom Rock

I feel a little powerless right now. In fact, I am powerless.

This is my second year on the beat, but I made a rookie mistake by leaving my power adapter at home. So I'm blogging on Glauber's computer. In fact, I'm dictating to him as we speak. So I guess I can't complain too much about Glauber needing to get a bottle of water on the way up to Foxboro. (Oh, well. I guess I just did.)

Just about to kick off. I'll post later tonight if there's enough juice in my battery. (Insert clever one-liner here.)

By Tom Rock

That’s what Kerry Rhodes said. He knows the coach won’t like it much (at least not on the outside), but he said it anyway.

When asked about the Patriots playing to defend their coach, Rhodes let loose:

“Well, we feel the same way,” Rhodes said. “We believe in him, he’s our guy and we’re going to stick with him whatever situation he’s in. If they think he’s a cheater, or whatever the situation is, then they think about us the same way. That’s how we feel about it and we’re going to come out and fight for him. We’re going to fight to the end.”

Rhodes said he wasn’t alone in that sentiment, but most players won’t talk about it because they know Mangini would not approve. What made Rhodes say it? Who knows.

Click below to read what Rhodes thinks of another coach ...

By Tom Rock

Since football season only lasts another few hours – the Mitchell Report goes public at 1 p.m. and all other sports take a back seat after that – I thought I’d make one last pass on this whole spying issue with the Jets and Patriots.

Glauber was on WFAN this morning talking about the story and did a great job. Both he and Boomer both used the term “apples and oranges” to refer to the incidents of last January and September. They are correct. Taping defensive signals from a sideline and taping a game from an end zone perch are two different things. But they’re more like apples and pears, a little more closely related.

Like Mr. Miyagi said to the Karate Kid: “Different. But same.”

All you need are three words to tie the stories together: Jets, Patriots, videocamera.

And although the Jets will never admit to it, I’m not so sure the first incident didn’t lead to the second. Think about it. The Jets had their camera kicked out of the playoff game. The VERY NEXT GAME that the Jets played – which also happened to be against the Patriots – the Jets kicked a Pats cameraman out.

Tit for tat. And I'm not talking about Gate D.

Just so happens that NFL Security gets involved in the September incident at Giants Stadium, the film is stuffed into a secure box, winds up in the Commish’s office, and a half million dollars later here we are.

So yes, the acts were apples and oranges in terms of their legalities. But they are cousins in the same family tree of this rivalry, part of the evolution of disdain that has grown between New England and New York.

By Tom Rock

Per Carl's request, I'll work on getting the audio from the Belichick conference call posted. In the meantime here's the transcript of what happened. It was one of the first lines of questioning for the Pats coach.

Q: Bill, how is Tom Brady’s right shoulder? He’s been listed for about four years now with that injury.

A: (long pause) Right.

Clearly Belichick knew the team would not be practicing when he said he'd have a report after practice. As John Lennon wrote: "We're playing those mind games together / Pushing the barriers, planting seeds."

By Tom Rock

Things get stranger and stranger. Just got the participation report from the Patriots and, well, all it says is "Team Did Not Practice." If that's not a taunt at the Jets, well, I'm not sure what is. The message is that the Patriots are good enough to beat the Jets without even having to practice.

Ha! Maybe Allen Iverson will give the Pats a motivational pep talk this week!

Everyone for the Jets practiced at least in a limited capacity today. Kellen Clemens made his debut on the report. Though he particpated fully, he was listed as having a thigh injury. Hope it heals faster that Brady's shoulder.

By Tom Rock

That was one of the keys that Bill Belichick mentioned when going through his spiel about the Jets. He said C.J. Mosley has played well. He’s right, but if the Pats are that concerned about stopping Mosley, well, it’s just more evidence of Bill’s football-induced OCD.

Another pleasant day chatting with the two coaches, who shared wonderful stories about how they used to catch butterflies together during downtime in Cleveland. Yeah, right. There was definitely a chill from both ends. Someone in New England even asked Belichick who his favorite ballboy from his Cleveland days was. Bill said it was his son.

Here’s my question for y’all. So much is made of the postgame handshake, especially between these two. Do you think, considering everything that has happened in the last two years and the last three months in particular, that they could just not shake hands at the end of this game? Or maybe they'll have some kind of secret handshake like Homer and Barney.

"The handshakes and the high-fives and all that, right now my attention is on the New York Jets," Belichick said. "High-fives, I really haven’t thought too much about that. Cartwheels."

Cartwheels? What are your thoughts on what will happen and what the consequences might be.

By Tom Rock

Rather than have two different areas to discuss, just go over and check in with Glauber. He's hosting a discussion on his blog on how the latest revelations skew the lore of Spygate and the fallout that hit the Patriots.

If you REALLY want to leave a message here, go ahead. But I think it's better to funnel all of the activity into one forum.

By Tom Rock

One of the fun parts of this week is monitoring the comments that fly back and forth between the teams. Seldom are they aimed directly at one another, but there is often some purpose or intent when they are made.

So it's interesting that on his weekly chat with WEEI Monday morning, Bill Belichick brought up Mangini's decision to replace Chad Pennington with Kellen Clemens. Here's the nugget I got after listening to the 39 minutes -- yes, 39 minutes! -- of the show on the weei website:

"They must have a lot of confidence in him because they took out Pennington who is, we know how good Pennington is. Pennington took them to the playoffs last year. Pennington, I think he's an outstanding quarterback, I really do. So for them to feel that confident in Clemens, they must really like what Clemens did."

Hmm. So, what do you think, Jets fans? Is Belichick second-guessing Mangini? Is Belichick maybe trying to stir things up in NY, knowing that creeps like me will write things like this? Would Belichick be interested in acquiring Pennington (who just happens to be close friends with the Patriots' best receiver) as a backup to Brady and an insurance policy? Is that the reason for the glowing review?

Let's hear from all you conspiracy theorists and armchair shrinks out there.

By Tom Rock

I’d be willing to guess there were only two NFL coach press conferences today where the subject of Michael Vick was not brought up: Here and in New England. That’s because we have bigger fish to fry. Oh, wait, sorry about that. Don’t want to get the Humane Society all riled up. Bigger carrots to steam, I guess.

There were a few moments early in Mangini’s presser where questions about the Browns game came out. I was particularly curious about the TD catch by Jamal Lewis on which he was wide open out of the backfield. At first glance it looked like Shaun Ellis, who was lined up in LB territory outside the TE, might have had to stick with Lewis rather than rush the QB. But after watching the tape it was David Harris who tripped over the leg of his own player and was unable to stay with Lewis on the route. I asked Harris for confirmation on that later (since Mangini didn’t answer it directly) and he said, Yup, it was his guy and he got caught in the crowd.

After a few of those pesky Browns questions, it was on the reason all of those cameras and reporters were on hand. The drum started banging Sunday evening in terms of the Jets-Patriots buildup, and it continued today.

Most of the answers were pretty standard stuff. Mangini said the Spygate thing is a league matter and he appreciates our interest in it but has nothing more to say. I asked him about the idea that the scandal sullied the three previous Super Bowl championships by the Patriots, especially considering that Mangini has three rings from those teams. “They’ve won and continue to win with good, sound execution, good sound preparation. That’s the way that they prepare each game and for each opponent.”

The players were equally schooled in their responses, although Kerry Rhodes did let a few zingers creep into his responses and Laveranues Coles was unintentionally funny when asked if the Patriots play angry because of the spying stuff. “They wear helmets and facemasks,” he said. “How would anyone be able to tell if they are angry?”

It’s going to be an interesting week. Would it be more interesting if the Jets were 10-3 instead of 3-10? Certainly. But there is still a lot of drama to be squeezed from what is really a meaningless game between a team that has all but clinched home field throughout the playoffs and one that has been eliminated since, well, really since the middle of September.

By Tom Rock

For those of you blog readers in Japan, fire up the DVRs! Yours truly was interviewed by a TV crew from a station in Japan while covering the Jets game on Sunday. A few of us were, in fact. The question was: Which NFL teams do you think will win the wild cards? What we had to do was take stickers and place them in the box of the teams we liked.

In the NFC I went with the Giants and the Vikings. in the AFC I went with the Jaguars and I took a chance on the Bills.

That's when the host said turned to me and said, in English: The Bills? What made you pick them?

Well, I like their defense and I think they have some good toughness and I like them to beat the Browns next week.

Then the interviewer turned to the camera and said something in Japanese which, I can only assume, is roughly translated into This guy is an idiot, even the people of Japan know that Buffalo is terrible.

Not sure when (or if) the segment will air. Props to anyone who can find it on YouTube or elsewhere.

By Tom Rock

Just announced the inactives. Jerricho Cotchery will play today. So will Laveranues Coles. They're both playing hurt. Cotchery hadn't practiced since last Monday but came out on the field with a new contraption on his broken finger on Friday morning. I haven't seen him on the field yet, but if he's active, he'll obviously be put to work. Coles is playing on his sprained left ankle.

That's bad news for Chris Davis, the WR who is now inactive. He joins a list that has very few surprises and included Tuiasosopo, Andre Dyson, Mike DeVito, Jacob Bender, Adrian Jones, Jason Pociask and Kareem Brown.

The doors to the stadium have been opened and it's pretty sparse. I suspect it will not a rockin' and rollin' place to be when the game starts at 4. Parking does not seem to be an issue with a lot of no-shows.

Jets are wearing green over green. Browns are white over white. Both are fairly hideous uniforms.

By Tom Rock

David Harris picked up a league-wide honor and was named Defensive Rookie of the Month for November. Pretty impressive considering that he only started playing significant snaps after Vilma was hurt in late October.

Vilma, by the way, was on the Jets sideline in Miami, still using crutches. I was surprised not to see Vilma at the Sean Taylor funeral on Monday. That doesn’t mean he wasn’t there – it was a big crowd – but I didn’t see him there and probably would have considering his crutches.

Vilma had said he wanted to be backing NY for the Browns game. Spoke to some of his buds on the team and it doesn’t sound like that’s in the plans. Mangini was asked if he was rehabbing or he