Odds and Chad?

Chad Pennington has said it has occurred to him that the deck might be stacked against him in his ongoing battle with Kellen Clemens to be the Jets starter this season. The theory goes that the Jets would like to see Clemens, 24, beat out the 32-year-old Pennington because of the age difference and to also validate taking Clemens with their second-round draft pick in 2006. "I've thought about that and weighed all the different scenarios," Pennington said after yesterday's morning practice at Hofstra. "But really, it just doesn't matter. It doesn't matter if I feel that it's stacked against me or not. All I can do is go out here and practice and play well and put as much good stuff on film as I can and then let them make the decision." Which is what Pennington did two seasons ago, the last time he had to win the starter's job. That training camp, Eric Mangini's first as coach, featured a four-way competition between Pennington, who was coming off shoulder surgery, Brooks Bollinger, Patrick Ramsey and Clemens, then a rookie. Pennington won the job easily. "The only [difference] is I feel much better now than I did two years ago, in terms of coming off surgeries and things like that," Pennington said. "But it's pretty regular and pretty consistent. That's one thing you have to give coach Mangini, he's consistent. Whether you agree or disagree with him, that doesn't matter, he's consistent and that's all you can ask for."