East Rutherford, N.J. — It could end up being the most important incomplete pass of the preseason.
Chad Pennington aired out a 45-yard pass for Justin McCareins, only to watch as the ball sailed just long. Yes, his surgically repaired shoulder felt just fine.
Pennington led one scoring drive and finished 9-of-10 for 86 yards in his first game since offseason surgery to repair a torn rotator cuff, helping the New York Jets beat the Minnesota Vikings, 28-21, Friday night.
"When he threw that long pass, I knew he was going to be OK," Jets coach Herman Edwards said.
So did the rest of his teammates, who were thrilled to have their starting quarterback on the field again. Though he looked rusty in his first two series, Pennington showed he belonged back in the huddle on his third drive, starting with the incompletion. Pennington, knocked throughout his career for his relatively weak arm, joked it was the first time in three years he had overthrown a receiver.
"I was wondering who that guy was throwing that ball," McCareins said.
Following the errant pass, Pennington found his rhythm. The show stopper was Pennington's 20-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles in the second quarter to tie the game at 7, a beautiful pass down the middle that hit Coles in stride.
"The first two series were pretty ugly but the third series was very important to get the tempo together, go down and answer their scoring drive," Pennington said. "I was just happy to be out there. I hate sitting and watching."
It was the last play of the game for Pennington.
Daunte Culpepper looked just as good for the Vikings (1-1), going 11-of-13 for 146 yards while leading them on one scoring drive. Minnesota staged a second-half rally with two scores from their third and fourth stringers, tying the game at 21 before Cedric Houston scored the game-winner on a 10-yard TD run with 5:52 remaining.
Titans 24, Falcons 21
Atlanta - Atlanta showed off its big-play capability. Tennessee won the battle of the backups.
Rookie DeAndra Cobb scored on a 101-yard kickoff return, and T.J. Duckett had a 72-yard touchdown run, but Shane Boyd threw a late touchdown pass to fellow rookie O.J. Small that gave the Titans a victory.
Michael Vick played nearly the entire first half for the Falcons, looking especially good on the opening possession. He hooked up with fullback Justin Griffith on a 23-yard pass, then broke off a 21-yard run when no one was open. After Warrick Dunn ran for 18 yards, Vick lobbed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Brian Finneran.
Bengals 24, Redskins 17
Landover, Md. - The good news for Carson Palmer and Patrick Ramsey is that they have three more weeks to get ready for the regular season. From the look of things, both need all the time they can get.
The young quarterbacks each had one nice throw for a touchdown but mostly struggled for the second straight week.
Ramsey threw two interceptions. Palmer threw one, and they combined to complete just four of their first 16 passes in Cincinnati's victory over Washington.
Palmer started 2-for-9 with an interception against the first-string Redskins defense before putting together two scoring drives against Washington's backups. He hit Kelley Washington on the run for a 45-yard touchdown pass.
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