News: Sanchez Sits One Out
Although Mark didn’t participate in today’s activities, his coach is optimistic that he’ll be playing this coming weekend against Tampa Bay.
Quarterback Mark Sanchez was held out of practice Monday, but coach Rex Ryan still said he is “optimistic” that the banged-up rookie will be able to start for the Jets (6-6) when they visit Tampa Bay (1-11) on Sunday.
“I remain optimistic that he’ll be able to play,” Ryan said today on a conference call with reporters, taking the same viewpoint he did Friday when Sanchez first was diagnoses with a sprain of the posterior cruciate ligament of his right knee.
Since then, Sanchez has had three long days of treatment here at the Jets’ complex over the weekend as he rehabbed and worked to strengthen the knee. Ryan would not commit to whether Sanchez will be able to practice Wednesday, when the Jets have their first full workout of the week in preparation for the Buccaneers. Backup Kellen Clemens was set to get the first-team snaps in today’s late-afternoon practice.
“We feel really good about how he’s progressing,” Ryan said. “He’s so much better” physically than he was a few days ago. After the game, Sanchez’s right knee was so stiff he could not bend it.
Anything can still happen, but it looks like it’s pretty likely that Sanchez will play.
19 Responses to News: Sanchez Sits One Out
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Brendan says:
I pray Sanchez plays. Clemens, good guy and all that, just isn’t going to win games for us. And with our rushing attack, I think teams would be even more likely to crowd the box against Clemens than with Sanchez. Sanchez does have more experience starting, after all.
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Bent says: If it’s about pain tolerance, which it supposedly is, of course he’ll play.
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Jets-Fan-4-Life says:
Nooooooooooo!!!!!!!!
Start Ainge, start O’Connell, Start Meredith our Dental Hygienist Cheerleader….start anyone but Kellen he sucks!!!!
If Kellen starts then Tampa Bay is going to win….
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Bent says:
Why? He won three games in 2007 with a team nowhere near as good as this one and certainly didn’t lose to anyone as bad as these Bucs.
Sanchez will start, I’m sure of it, but if Clemens plays, there’s no reason for the jets not to win.
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Justin says:
I don’t think Clemens can tie his shoes without messing up.
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john l says:
i disagree to all who say ” kellen sucks “. i believe kellen is as tough as they come. If kellen starts i think it’s actually a good thing. 1 it gives sanchise a chance to fully heal. 2 it gives sanchise a chance to experience a real game from the sidelines and mabey see some things he would not see behind the center. 3. this game is doable for kellen. BUT rex has to let kellen play kellens game ( what that is i have no idea) but what i mean by that is don’t scare the crap out of the guy on the sidelines like the buffalo game. kellen had to learn a thing or two from chad about the play action pass so run the ball and occasionally use the play action and let the defense win the game
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Oy.
“2 it gives sanchise a chance to experience a real game from the sidelines and mabey see some things he would not see behind the center. ”
Like how to properly fall down without being touched? Or how to throw a hook shot to the defense?
“BUT rex has to let kellen play kellens game ( what that is i have no idea)”
That’s the point. He has started 8 games, but we don’t know what he can do. At least Sanchez has shown us glimpses of great play and he’s still a rookie. Clemens is making rookie mistakes after being around for almost 4 years.
Look, by all accounts Kellen is a great person. He’s been nothing but supportive of Sanchez since the get-go. But the fact remains that he simply isn’t as talented as Sanchez. Kellen has mobility, but Sanchez moves better. Sanchez stands taller in the pocket. I understand the whole “give him a week of practices” argument, but it’s not like this is the first time he’s ever played with the 1′s. He did it all training camp. He knows this playbook as well as anyone on the roster, so it’s not like they can’t call all the plays (but for some reason they call the most basic plays when he’s in). And after Sanchez dinged his knee against Carolina Clemens should have been extra-ready in case Sanchez hurt his knee again. He didn’t look ready. It looked like he was woken up from a nap and had to go play in an NFL game. Sorry, but Clemens just isn’t good.
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Ben Nevis says:
Bent-
I have to agree with Brendan and Justin and Jets-Fan-4-Life. If Sanchez is out this Sunday, playing Clemens could cost us the game, even against such a terrible team as the Bucs. And here’s why:
1. Kellen C has no pocket awareness, his footwork is terrible, and he fumbles way too often. Just look at the last game: he almost LOST the game with a fumble deep in our end. He had no sense of the pocket, no sense of who was coming at him, no agility on his feet, no ability to slide or roll out, and on top of all that, he has bad hands.
2. Clemens has no consistency as a passer. As Brendan pointed out above, opposing Ds are going to crowd the box even more than they did with Sanchez, and it’ll work. Just look at the last game: as soon as KC came in, their (rather terrible) D was able to go a long way toward shutting down our run game, which up to that point had been dominant (as it had been dominant the last time we played the Bills). It’s because with Clemens in there, the threat of the pass had evaporated.
For more examples of KC’s inconsistency as a passer–the lack of a genuine threat he presents through the air–just look at how awful he was in the preseason, look at how awful he was in 2007, look at his interception total that same year. Yes, Sanchez has thrown a lot of interceptions as well, but, unlike Clemens, MS can actually win a game for us through the air, he can engineer an effective drive the length of the field, and be consistent with his passing all the way into the end zone. He can be enough of a threat through the air that our ground game is one of the best in the league. With KC at QB, our run game disappears.
3. Simply put, Sanchez, even in his rookie season, is a leader. Clemens is not. The team has no real faith in him. He hasn’t given them any reason to have faith in him. With Sanchez, even with all his many rookie faults, the team can come together behind him, and play their heart out, from the O line to the RBs to WRs to the TE.
All of which is to say, even against one of the worst teams in the league (ie, the Bucs), Clemens could easily lose the game for us.
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p.s.
There’s one more thing on which I agree with Brendan: by all accounts, Clemens is a very nice guy, and a supportive team mate. He just doesn’t have anything near all the obvious talent and ability and expertise that Sanchez has–and KC has already been in this league for several years!
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jadden says:
I agree with all of the above,Kellen is just not a good NFL QB he can’t do anything you want a QB to do.Maybe he’s still hunted by our old O-line or something but it seems like everytime he drops back he’s going to take a sack,fumble,or throw a pick.
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sec133 says:
If the Packers win tonight.. what will the playoff picture look like for the Jets????
Thanks in advance.
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J-E-T-S says:
we need green bay to win, thats all i know
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sec133-
If tv Packers win tonight there’ll be four teams in the Wild Card hunt at 6-6, the Jets, Ravens, Fins & Steelers, all four of whom will be chasing the Jags (one game ahead of the pack), and Broncos (two games ahead of the pack), though the Broncos still have a real shot at overtaking the Bolts in their Division.
The Jets and Fins both have a shot at overtaking the Pats for the Division. But the problem for the Jets is that they lose all the tie-breaks: with the Fins or Pats for the Division (or the WC), and we also lose the tie-break with the Jags for the Wild Card.
So we have to win out, and several other teams have to lose one or two games for us to get in.
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the pack won everyone!!! we’re still in it.
ok here’s my take kellen…when they drafted him i thought that this guy would be the one take us somewhere…but over the years i’ve slowly come to the realization that he’ll be nothing more than a #3 and at best a #2…he does have a cannon for an arm,that is the one good thing to him though…one other point,look at the other qb who came from oregon, joey harrington. he took the lions to a superbowl win…emmmm…all i’m saying is, is that PUT BRAD SMITH IN
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jcjets says:
According to the newspapers its a tear, and not just a sprain. TB is the easiest game left on our schedule so it might be beneficial to let Sanchez rest against TB, and come back strong for the Falcons, Colts and Bengals.
But can Kellen get us a win? I think if he plays we will see a very stagnant offense but one that has enough to score enough points to pull out a victory.
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This Tampa game isn’t a “gimme”. With Freeman as their QB they have been a different offense. Granted, he’s prone to the same mistakes as our own neophyte, but we shouldn’t bank on Freeman imploding. Instead, you prepare for them like he’s going to play the game of a lifetime, and if that’s what you’re expecting, we need Sanchez in there. He’s had an extra 3 days of rest, so I see no reason why he won’t play. The kid is a competitor and he’ll want to lead his team out there and continue the strong play from the past 2 weeks.
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Fire Tannenbaum (WOJF) says:
If Sahchez plays and gets hurt I will… nothing, I guess, it will just be the same old Jets once again.
This is a 1-3 week injury, a sprain is defined as a partial tear.
Rest the kid, start Clemens and hand the ball off 40 times like you will anyway with a double braced Sanchez in the back field.
Ben Nevis, I have no idea what you are talking about, watch the second half of the 2007 BAL game and every claim you make about Clemens is debunked. In his first NFL start he rallied the team back vs. Rex Ryans defense with a lot less talent around him that Sanchez has now. If McCarreins does not drop a perfectly thrown ball they might actually win it.
HE fumbles too much, as opposed to Sanchez? Pocket awareness? Passing consistancy?
Are you kidding me?
Sanchez is the future, but other than a stronger arm, which you curiously fail to mention, he does not provide any advantage right now.
Sanchez has been HORRIBLE this season, his stats after 8 games were identical to Clemens, with a lot more talent around him.
He has been losing games for this team, not winning them.
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FT-
Did you watch Clemens last week? Did you watch him in the preseason? He as just plain awful.
And I don’t think one half of one game three seasons ago proves very much at all, as far as KC’s skill set.
Yes, Sanchez has lost us several games–his turnovers have been murder. But there’s just no evidence that Clemens would have been any better in the turnover dept. In fact, in Kellen C we get all the weak spots of Mark S with none of the positives, no pocket awareness, no footwork, no arm, no leadership.
Clemens may be the worst QB on our team–he’s already proven how bad he is, without showing any real upside. I’d rather start Ainge or O’Connell or even Brad Smith over Clemens–and even with all his rookie mistakes, I’d take Sanchez over all the other four QBs on this team combined.
i hope sanchize plays, but Kellen should be working overtime this week and preparing as if he is the starter. he was thrown into a difficult situation in the bills game, but he needs to do better than that