Hempstead, N.Y. ? With the game already decided, Chad Pennington marched the New York Jets down the field for a touchdown and then a two-point conversion.

The plays, which appeared meaningless at the time, allowed the Jets to end another loss on a positive note Sunday. They also helped Eric Mangini decide that he’s sticking with Pennington as his starting quarterback.

“His competitiveness in the last drive, to me that’s classic Chad,” Mangini said Wednesday, announcing he was making no change to the quarterback position.

“Chad will be the starter this weekend,” he said.

With the Jets struggling at 1-6, fans and members of the media have been calling for Kellen Clemens to start, mostly based on the second-year quarterback’s stronger arm and solid performance in Week 2 in relief of an injured Pennington.

“People are going to be people,” wide receiver Laveranues Coles said. “They all have their opinions and evidently it doesn’t matter because he’s still our quarterback. The most important thing is that the guys in this locker room stick together and leave the outside opinions where they are: outside.”

Mangini repeatedly endorsed Pennington as his starter early in the season, but declined to do so after the loss Sunday and Monday.

“It’s something I wanted to look at as a group and I wanted to look at all different elements,” Mangini said. “I thought that was important. I did. I feel this is the decision. I’m very comfortable with that.”