Jets' wide receiver Laveranues Coles has a concussion and it was uncertain Wednesday if he'll play in New York's game against Washington this weekend. Coach Eric Mangini addressed Coles' injury during a conference call with Redskins beat writers. Mangini didn't mention Coles in his earlier news conference with Jets' writers. "Any time you have an injury it is scary," Mangini said. "With a guy like Laveranues who is so tough, you have to be careful and make sure you go through the same process that you would go through with every other player. That is what we are doing." The Jets' wide receiver didn't practice Wednesday and wouldn't address the injury because it's against team policy. Mangini was unsure if Coles will be ready to play Sunday against the Redskins.

It?s unlikely Chad Pennington will be willing to return to New York knowing that he is not the Jets' quarterback of the future. Instead, Pennington will want to position himself with a team where he has a chance to start ?- just like Kurt Warner did first with the New York Giants, then the Arizona Cardinals. Pennington is expected to surface on a team that is grooming a young quarterback not yet ready to play. There are two logical possibilities. The most intriguing is the Kansas City Chiefs, where Pennington would be reunited with his former Jets head coach, Herm Edwards. The others would be the Minnesota Vikings, a team that already has added former Jets quarterback Brooks Bollinger, and the Carolina Panthers, who recently brought in another former Jets quarterback, Vinny Testaverde.

The Chad Pennington era is over, The New York Post learned Monday morning. The scores of booing Jets fans and angry radio talk show callers will get their way next Sunday when the Jets play the Redskins at Giants Stadium. On the heels of Sunday's lackluster 13-3 home loss to the Bills, Kellen Clemens, who replaced Pennington with 3:32 remaining in the game, will become the starter this week and almost surely remain so for the rest of the season. Eric Mangini has little choice but to go to his backup quarterback - and probably a number of other backup players - after his Jets fell to 1-7 with an offense that too often looked hopeless.

Jets' linebacker Jonathan Vilma was placed on injured reserve Saturday with a knee injury, ending the one-time Pro Bowler's season after seven games. Vilma, who was hurt in New York's loss at Cincinnati last Sunday, missed practice all week and was listed as out on the team's injury report Friday. "This is a not a career-threatening injury, and the doctors expect a full recovery," said Mitch Frankel, one of Vilma's representatives.

While the Jets and Jonathan Vilma are still waiting to learn the extent of the injury, his long-term future with the team also could be in question. Vilma, whose contract runs through the 2008 season, has told those close to him he is unhappy in the Jets' 3-4 scheme and wants out. If Vilma decides to play hurt this season for the 1-6 Jets, however, his trade value could diminish. He has yet to perform well in the 3-4 scheme, playing nothing like the player who was the 2004 NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year and a 2005 Pro Bowler. The Jets were building their defense around him before Mangini arrived in 2006 and installed the 3-4.

Despite their worst start since 1999, the Jets still hope to salvage something positive from this season. They probably will have to do it without one of their top players, Jonathan Vilma. Their defensive leader faces the likelihood of season-ending knee surgery, the Daily News has learned. Vilma had a battery of tests the last two days, which revealed a "significant" injury, according to a person with knowledge of the situation. Vilma is said to be mulling his options, but the prevailing feeling is that surgery is inevitable.

The New York Jets are sticking with Chad Pennington as their quarterback. Two days after saying he would evaluate the entire team, including the starting quarterback, coach Eric Mangini announced Wednesday that Pennington will start against Buffalo on Sunday. "I went back through the tape, looked at it and felt very good about the decision-making process," Mangini said, referring to Pennington's performance in the Jets' loss at Cincinnati. "There were quite a few plays that I really liked." 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.

The Jets lost another game and Chad Pennington lost his biggest supporter Sunday, a staggering blow to his reign as the starting quarterback. For the first time since his job security became an issue three weeks ago, Pennington didn't receive a public vote of confidence last night from a seething Eric Mangini, who put the entire team on notice after a ghastly 38-31 loss to the Bengals at Paul Brown Stadium. Instead of declaring, "Chad is the starting quarterback," as he has done so many times, Mangini resorted to the time-tested, kiss-of-death: "I'll have to watch the tape."

Jets' tight end Chris Baker won't play in New York's game at Cincinnati after he was downgraded Saturday from questionable to out with a back injury. Baker, who has 12 catches for 124 yards and two touchdowns, was limited in practice all week and didn't accompany the team to Cincinnati. It was unclear when Baker was hurt, and it's against the Jets' policy to discuss injuries. He caught some flak from coach Eric Mangini after New York's 16-9 loss to Philadelphia last Sunday, when he openly questioned the play-calling in the closing minutes as the Jets failed to score from the Eagles 4. Baker, in his sixth season with the Jets, has been one of quarterback Chad Pennington's most reliable targets. The former third-round pick out of Michigan State had a breakout season last year, catching a career-high 31 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns.

Bengals WR Chad Johnson, speaking in jest, said he wouldn't mind being traded to the Jets some day. "That would be cool," he said. "I'd spice up the Big Apple."