Jets Pass on Whether Pennington Is Throwing

[Ainsley 0]

While the Jets have been retooling their roster, their off-season program began this week, with quarterback Chad Pennington returning to New York to continue his rehabilitation from shoulder surgery, General Manager Mike Tannenbaum said yesterday.

 

Tannenbaum said the Jets were happy with Pennington's progress, but he would not discuss specifics, not even to confirm that Pennington had begun throwing again, something that Pennington had already told reporters. Pennington had been recuperating in Florida, but is now under the supervision of the Jets' trainers and strength and conditioning coaches.

 

Tannenbaum also said the Jets would more likely try to move up in the first round of the draft by trading the 29th pick rather than use it to select a player. The Jets acquired that pick in the three-way trade completed yesterday that sent defensive end John Abraham to Atlanta.

 

Tannenbaum said the Jets intended to have Abraham play under the one-year franchise tender of more than $8 million. But the Jets never considered signing him to a long-term deal, and a person familiar with the Jets' thinking who was granted anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter indicated the Jets were concerned with Abraham's durability and about his reliability after an alcohol-related driving incident in October 2003.

 

"If they're living in the past, they're living in the past," Abraham said in a conference call with reporters Tuesday night when asked about that reasoning. "We're trying to worry about the present and the future. The incident happened three years ago. Nothing happened before that situation or after that situation. I'm moving on. I'm happy where I'm at."

 

Speculation has centered on the Jets' packaging their two first-round picks to move up to No. 2 in the draft, giving them the chance to select a top quarterback, either Matt Leinart, Jay Cutler or Vince Young. Tannenbaum would not comment specifically on what the Jets might do.

 

"We have flexibility not only in the draft, but in free agency," he said in a conference call. "We're very comfortable where we sit."

 

 

http://www.nytimes.com/