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All that mattered was the health of quarterback Chad Pennington, who appeared to suffer a right high ankle sprain on the Jets first drive of the second half.

That promising season, which included talk of possibly challenging the Patriots for the AFC East crown, suddenly was in doubt.

Jets fans had this nightmare before. After rehabbing from shoulder surgery, Pennington tore his rotator cuff Sept. 25, 2005 in Jacksonville, the third game of the 2005 season. Pennington went under the knife again, Brooks Bollinger became the starter and the Jets endured a miserable 4-12 season.

After that game, Pennington said he'd have to be dead not to be back on the field the next week. On Sunday, he was more reserved about his chances of playing in Baltimore next weekend.

"My mindset hasn't changed as far as trying to play," Pennington said. "I'm going to everything I can to be available. That's not going to change. Based on my past experience, though, sometimes that's out of your control."

The injury occurred with 10:06 left in the third quarter, when Jarvis Green blew past D'Brickashaw Ferguson and pulled down Pennington for the fourth sack of the game. Pennington, who appeared to roll his right ankle, attempted to quickly get up, but soon hopped off the field.

As he reached the sideline, Pennington flung his helmet towards the bench in frustration and Kellen Clemens went behind center to the cheers of some of the 77,900 in attendance.

"When I was the backup and I came in, the crowd cheered for me too," Pennington said. "I would hope that our fans would support anyone whose out there. They gave him a cheer and I'm glad that they did. He needs support, the whole team needs support and there's nothing wrong with that."

Pennington returned to the game in the Jets' next possession and, with his right ankle heavily wrapped, he bravely orchestrated a 9-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Laveranues Coles. For the game, Pennington was 16-of-21 for 167 yards and two touchdowns.

"That says a lot about him," Coles said of Pennington's return. "He's a tough guy, he's fought through quite a bit. Just being a part of the team he leads, and being a teammate of his is just great."

With the game already out of reach, Pennington decided to call it a day with 6:51 left in the fourth quarter and Clemens, who was 5-of-10 for 35 yards, finished the game.

As for what's next for Pennington, who was noticeably limping in the locker room and in the interview room after the game, that remains to be seen. He'll likely go for an MRI, although Eric Mangini was typically hush about that. His status for the Jets' next game in Baltimore is very much up in the air.

"He left it in my hands," Pennington said of Mangini. "With six minutes left down 31-14, I had to, for the first time, be brutally honest with myself as far as injuries are concerned and say, without the threat of the run, I'm kind of a sitting duck back there."

Pennington wasn't the only Jets player injured. Pro Bowl returner Justin Miller, who has been dealing with a hamstring injury throughout preseason, was pulled from the game late in the second quarter after Brady hit Moss for a 33-yard reception.

"It was not coaching based," Mangini said of the decision to pull Miller.

If would have been understandable if Mangini pulled Miller because of his performance, although the entire secondary -- sans, perhaps, rookie Darrelle Revis -- was picked apart by Brady, who was 22-of-28 for 297 yards and three touchdowns.

Brady had all the time in the world to throw, thanks to the Jets' non-existent three-man pass rush.

"They did a good job pass protecting," Jonathan Vilma said. "They did some things different on the offensive line to hold us. They did a good job with that. They kept their backs in and their receivers got open."

David Barrett had a game to forget. After being burned by Wes Welker on an 11-yard pass for New England's first touchdown, he was part of zone defense that included Vilma and Drew Coleman that got torched for a 51-yard touchdown pass to Randy Moss.

Moss, who missed nearly the entire preseason with a hamstring injury, had nine catches for 183 yards.

"I give them credit, they made plays, " Barrett said. "We just have to go there and correct the things that we did wrong and get better next week."

Leading by a touchdown at the half, the Patriots took a commanding 21-7 lead on the second half kickoff as Hobbs broke an attempted tackle by Chris Baker at the 20-yard line and returned the kick 108 yards to set an NFL record for longest kickoff return.

It was just one of several big plays the Jets surrendered.

"That was tough to swallow," Vilma said. "The good thing was that our offense went out there and put together a pretty good drive. It's tough for us because we're usually pretty good on special teams, but on that play we weren't."