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Pennington hopes to play against Dolphins

Hempstead, NY (Sports Network) - New York Jets quarterback Chad Pennington hopes his injured right ankle has healed enough for him to play in the team's game against the Miami Dolphins Sunday.

"I've made a lot of progress and that's a tribute to our medical staff," Pennington said on Wednesday. "People inside and outside of the organization are really working hard, focusing on getting me better, rehabbing and working extremely hard around the clock. I'm making progress and I feel really good about the situation."

Pennington suffered the injury in the third quarter of the Jets' season-opener against the New England Patriots. He had his right leg twisted awkwardly beneath him while being tackled by New England's Jarvis Green. Pennington was able to hop on his left leg to the sideline under his own power and, after Kellen Clemens ran one play, returned for the next series.

With New England ahead 28-7, Pennington directed a touchdown drive that made it a 14-point game, capping the series with a one-yard TD strike to Laveranues Coles. The Patriots scored on their next possession to put the game out of reach and Clemens took over for good with 6:51 remaining in the contest.

Pennington threw for 167 yards and two scores on 16-of-21 passing. He was not intercepted.

Clemens, who was cheered by the fans upon his initial entrance as Pennington hopped off the field, started against Baltimore last Sunday.

"My goal was to be available on Sunday and I was available," Pennington said. "I left it up to coach [Eric Mangini] to make that decision. That's why he's the head coach. He makes those decisions. Once he did, I turned my focus to helping Kellen [Clemens] as much as I could on the sideline and giving him my knowledge of what I was seeing during the game."

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