Chad Pennington is enjoying his opportunity to lead the Jets' no-huddle offense. On Wednesday, the cerebral quarterback discussed the importance of communication when the Jets move into their hurry-up mode.
"It's fun. It does give the quarterback more responsibility," Pennington said. "There is more responsibility in communicating plays and making sure all 10 guys know exactly what to do, making sure they get lined up correctly, and making sure they have the correct splits. Communication is the total key to the no-huddle. It obviously causes the defense some problems and they really have to make adjustments. We are just trying to work on the efficiency of our no-huddle package."
Read below for Pennington's complete transcript
New York Jets' QB Chad Pennington, 10.18
On Detroit's pass-defense's stats…
Yeah, their stats are deceiving really. Their corners do a great job of anticipation, making plays on the ball. They are starting to be more aggressive in the passing game. They did a great job of reading the quarterbacks' eyes, especially the underneath coverage. You have to be very careful when you're reading your routes and making sure that you don't bring an extra guy over into the passing route that shouldn't be there. So you have to be very aware of how they read the quarterbacks eyes.
On Shaun Rogers…
We always prepare for all of the unexpected things. We know what type of player Shaun Rogers is. He wreaks havoc any time he's in the game; you've got to be aware of him. He definitely makes their defense better. He's a very good player and we'll be ready if he plays.
On the difficulty of balancing family with football…
It is very hard, especially during the season. Cole is at the age now where he is starting to understand a little bit and he's having a hard time with daddy going to work and being gone. I've just got to make sure that Mondays and Tuesdays, I give him a lot of time and attention. And then when I get home around nine o'clock, from 9:00 to about 10:00, it's full go, it's about as hard as we can go for an hour. So that's kind of how we work it out.
On getting off to a slow start…
We've faced some pretty tough defenses. So you have to give the defense credit. Miami is an excellent defense, Jacksonville, Indianapolis, New England, Buffalo; you go down the list and they have done a really good job of playing good team defense.I thought it was important last week that we did get points on our first possession in the first half, and we also got points on our first possession in the second half. So that was a step in the right direction. But I'm not overly concerned. You always want to get off to a fast start, but you can't win the game in the first quarter. But you can definitely lose the game in the first quarter. And that's what I've learned. It is a four-quarter ballgame and you'd love to get off to a fast start. But if you don't, you know that what you want to do in the first quarter is not do anything crazy or stupid to cost your team the game early.
On how Pennington quantifies the Lions' negative stats…
I'm very wary of those statistics, because when you look at the statistics, you can look at them and say, wow, we can put a lot of points on the board and do a lot of different things. But they have a lot of playmakers on their defense and they play very fast. They are a very fast defense. So you can't just walk out there and expect to just run up and down the field on these guys.The first game of the season, they hold Seattle, defending NFC Champions, to nine points and they have to kick a long field goal in the end. Last week, Buffalo, they did a very good job versus Buffalo of causing turnovers and stopping their offense. So I just think maybe a couple of games have maybe kind of thrown those statistics off such as versus the Rams and things like that. I think they are a team that's better than a 1-5 record, and they have had some very close ball games that could have gone either way. They could be sitting at 3-3 really easy. We can't really worry about the record. We've got to understand that we're playing a very explosive defense and a team with an explosive offense with their offensive coordinator, Mike Martz, knowing what they can do offensively, it's going to have to be a full, four-quarter team effort to beat these guys.
On what Pennington expects from Donnie Henderson…
I'm sure he'll be fired up about the game and things like that. And being around Donnie for two years, you know that he brings fire and intensity to his defense. That's how they play. They play with a lot of intensity; they play very fast. They don't play with hesitancy. So when you play against a defense like that, you've got to be focused on the fundamentals and what your core job is and the details of it because they can make things happen.
On having innovative plays in the offense…
Well, it's exciting. Our coaches are doing a great job of using our personnel every week and just playing to the strengths of our players. I think that's important, that you look at the weapons that you have, you play to their strengths, you do things to put them in good positions to make plays. That's what Coach Schottenheimer and all of the offensive coaches have done a great job of is trying to attack their weaknesses and play to our strengths. As on offense it really creates problems.
On seeing the new plays for the first time…
You have to take a double-look at it and look at what we're trying to get accomplished and what we need to do and those type of things. You know, they have been creative.
On his working relationship with James Dearth…
There are no problems. We have a great relationship. James and I are working hard every day after practice to get that fixed. (Laughter).
On high profile receivers in the league…
Well, playing the receiver position is very unique. It has become one of the positions in football where it's very individualized because of the statistics in fantasy football and those type of things.
I think still, the best receivers in the league, they still hang onto core values of what made them very good and the elite within the league, and that's the work ethic and spending the time, understanding routes and how to run routes and looking at coverage and understanding defense. Those guys, they understand that and they are able to put the total package together to where you just don't have one or two games of productivity throughout the season, Torry Holt and those type of guys, they do a great job of that.
On what Pennington expects from Henderson…
I think just with my experience with Donnie, I think you have to go into the game expecting the unexpected and not being surprised by a look or a pressure look that you haven't seen. He always does a really good job of throwing a new wrinkle in there and attacking the offense in a way that he thinks will help them. So you do have to expect that.
On Henderson being familiar with Pennington's game…
Well, he definitely understands our personnel so he can definitely talk to the guys about the strengths of our personnel. But we do have a new system, so that's a little bit different. But you do have to understand that he understands us as players. What I have to do and what we have to do as an offense throughout the week individually is focus on the fundamentals. With their great pass rushing, I've got to make sure that the ball security is key and not getting stripped and sacked and things like that. So it's those little details where they make plays and really cause opportunities for their offense; that I have to make sure that doesn't happen to us to where we put our defense in a bad situation and then their offense can get back out on the field.
