Erik Boland: Inside the Jets

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.”