If the Jets had simply lost, simply been blown out by the Patriots today, and started the season 0-1, there’d be enough hysteria in the Meadowlands and at Hofstra and all over Green-ville.

But that they lost, and were manhandled, and now face an uncertain immediate future for quarterback Chad Pennnington, well, that’s a legit early crisis.

Pennington’s not Tom Brady, but he’s all the Jets have got.

Pennington sure doesn’t have Brady’s arm, or Brady’s rings, or Brady’s arsenal.
But he is as important to the Jets as Brady is to the Patriots. So it was as painful for Green Nation to watch as it was for Pennington to endure as the quarterback got smoked on a blitz by New England’s Jarvis Green, to watch him stay down for a while, then get up limping and go down again, and get up and go down one more time, like a wounded animal. Finally Pennington hopped off the field on one leg, his right ankle dangling, and with two hands on his facemask he slammed his helmet into the turf at Giants Stadium.

This isn’t a crybaby quarterback we’re talking about. This is a guy tough as they come.

But this is also a guy who has proven injury prone, and whose injuries have cost the Jets and their long-sufferers entire seasons. When he has remained healthy (three seasons), Pennington has gotten the Jets into the playoffs every year.

He came back, limping and heavily taped, to lead a touchdown drive (with a QB sneak on one leg).

That doesn’t mean he’s OK for next week or beyond.

“I have no idea,� Pennington said. “The doctors are taking a look at it. I’m sure I’ll see them frequently this week and we’ll see what happens.

“I’ve never really had a lower leg injury (that’s Mangini-speak) before, so I was just trying to walk it off. I’m not going to lay there, I know that. I’m going to walk off the field and get it looked at and get back in the game, which I was able to do.�
Was that foolish, down 28-7 in the middle of the third quarter against one of the better teams on the planet?

“I have a lot of respect for this game,� Pennington said. “I don’t make my decision on looking into the future. I make my decision on the present and whether or not I can help my team at that time. And I felt like I could help my team, and we were able to go down and score.�

He finally pulled himself out after a 10:28 field-goal drive that put the Pats three scores up, knowing they’d be “pinning their ears back” and coming at him, and that he’d be a “sitting duck.”

We have to wait to find out if he’ll be a sitting or standing QB next week in Baltimore, or beyond.