The day after the Super Bowl, the Jets were already looking ahead to next season.
They reportedly signed troubled defensive lineman Mike Pennel off waivers and are pursuing former Seahawks offensive coordinator Jeremy Bates to fill the quarterbacks coach vacancy, the last open position on Todd Bowles’ staff.
Pennel, 25, has violated the NFL’s substance abuse policy twice. After serving suspensions for the first four and last four games of the regular season, the Packers released him on Jan. 9. The 6-foot-4, 332-pound tackle came to Green Bay in 2014 as an undrafted free agent and appeared in 16 games in 2015, making 25 tackles and registering a sack.
As for Bates, the MMQB.com reported the veteran assistant coach “comes highly recommended” by former NFL head coaches Jon Gruden and Mike Shanahan.
Bates, 40, has been out of the league for four years after spending 2012 as the Bears quarterbacks coach. He is no stranger to New York, having served as the Jets quarterbacks coach in 2005 under Herm Edwards.
Bates previously worked under Shanahan with the Broncos and Gruden with the Buccaneers, spending three years apiece at both places. He knows new Jets offensive coordinator John Morton well from their years coaching together at USC.
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