Mangini might have given media major clue

On Tuesday, Jets coach Eric Mangini was asked who the starting quarterback would be in the team's Thursday preseason game at Cleveland. At first, the answer he gave seemed like no help. But upon further review . . .

"There are a lot of factors that go into that, so I'll get together post­practice and watch the tape." said Mangini. "I'll spend some time with Mike (Tannenbaum) and with the staff, see what their input is and then make a decision after that."

Very interesting quote.

Notice Mangini mentioned he had to consult with Tannenbaum about who will be the starter in Cleveland.

Tannenbaum acquires players, and Mangini decides who plays. That is the set-up. Tannenbaum doesn't tell Mangini who should play. So why would Mangini have to meet with Tannenbaum about who the starter would be in Cleveland?

Now, in retrospect, we can read a little more into what Mangini meant by that quote.

Perhaps Mangini needed to meet with Tannenbaum about his quarterback rotation because he didn't know who would still be on the roster.

Tannenbaum is currently attempting to trade for Green Bay QB Brett Favre, and it's possible that one of the Jets quarterbacks could be included in the deal, so that might impact the QB rotation on Thursday night.

Say Pennington is traded to Green Bay in a Favre deal - obviously he would be out of the rotation.

And since Green Bay has plenty of young quarterbacks (Aaron Rogers, Brian Brohm and Matt Flynn), they might want to bring in a veteran backup like Pennington.

So perhaps Mangini was actually helping the media on Tuesday with that answer.