Jets observations

More Jets: A tale of two quarterbacks

TAMPA, Fla. – Quarterback Chad Pennington raised some eyebrows among the media with some curious behavior during and after the New York Jets' preseason opener.

After getting sacked and being forced into a fumble in the second quarter, Pennington made about 25 throws on the sideline in front of a member of the medical and training staff. Pennington did the same thing last year after he re-injured his right (throwing) shoulder when he was ultimately knocked out for the rest of the season.

After the game, Pennington didn't address the media for approximately 45 minutes until all the other players had left the locker room. That's highly unusual after a night game on the road. Pennington said he was fine and was merely taking a long time looking over the game statistics.

• Rookie quarterback Kellen Clemens marched the Jets down to the 2-yard line on his two-minute drive at the end of the first half. That included a 2-yard run on a first-and-goal play when Clemens got a healthy taste of the quickness of the NFL.

"I started to take off and [the defense] closed up fast, real fast," Clemens said.

• The Jets got a lot of mileage out of rookie offensive linemen D'Brickashaw Ferguson and Nick Mangold last Friday as each played the entire first half.

Ferguson looked every bit the natural at left tackle, showing off the quickness and strength that made him the No. 4 overall pick and the clear choice as the top offensive lineman in the draft. Ferguson doesn't look like the most robust run blocker right now, but he should be able to grow into that part of his game as he gets older.

Mangold, the No. 29 selection and the first center drafted, was called for a false-start penalty in the first quarter, but the play ended up being meaningless later in the drive. Mangold appeared to have made progress from the offseason minicamps, where he sometimes looked confused. He had no obvious errors in his blocking work.

The Jets have an excellent situation for both rookies with veteran Pete Kendall sandwiched between them at left guard. Kendall will help both young talents along, especially Mangold since Kendall finished last season as the Jets' starting center and has played the position consistently during the early part of his career.