But apparently the Mangini Rules include a Statute of Limitations.

Pennington revealed on the first day of training camp that during his subpar 2007, he wasn't dealing with a high-ankle sprain, as was believed at the time. His injury was even more serious.

"It was really tough," Pennington said after the Jets' morning practice at Hofstra, their first one of 2008. "I had two torn ligaments in my right ankle. It was an injury (where) I could have easily taken three weeks off. You guys (media) know how I am. I don't believe in that. If I can walk and play and function I'm going to be out there regardless."

That injury, suffered when Pennington was sacked in the season opener, forced Pennington to miss one game. He returned on Sept. 23 and threw two touchdown passes and ran for a score in a victory over Miami, but obviously was hurting. The injury made it difficult for him to push off when throwing, and this hurt his distance and accuracy.

He said the injury "showed me (how) your base is so important. If you don't have that base, it really causes problems. ... The first two months of my offseason (I had) to re-center my body. My whole body had shifted to the left. I had to really concentrate on getting things back to the middle."

Pennington also has tweaked his mechanics to try to add velocity and distance to his throws. He and Kellen Clemens are competing for the starting quarterback job.

"There are a lot of things I'm tweaking and changing because I want to get better," he said. "I want to become a consistent thrower down the field and really take my talent and accuracy and use it to my advantage down the field, intermediate, short, wherever the ball needs to go. ... I know I have the arm strength to complete all my throws and make every throw."

Pennington added, "I think I've become more of a body thrower. You look at the good throwers in this league and they really use their bodies well. They don't leave their arms hung out to dry where sometimes you don't get your body in position. (Then) it's an all-arm throw, and it doesn't matter how strong your arm is, it causes an inconsistency."

"I think that there has been improvement there," Mangini said. "With Chad, he's always trying to improve his whole game."

Quite true, as this isn't the first time that Pennington has taken a hard look at his mechanics. In Sept. 2006, he talked about how he had been too much of an "arm thrower" and how he had used karate during the offseason to help improve the torque of his hips. That was after he had fought off three other competitors, including Clemens, to win the starting position in training camp.

So what he's going through now isn't anything new.

"I think any man that's competitive, when your job is on the line," Pennington said, "you're going to step up. Step up to the challenge. Answer the call and don't back from it, and that's the position I'm in."

Pennington seems more determined than ever, and he has been fairly sharp early in camp. If anything, the rumors of a possible trade for Brett Favre seem to have motivated him even more.

CAMP CALENDAR: Camp closing date is to be announced. The Jets will practice on Aug. 2 at Hofstra University's Shuart Stadium.

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