Quarterback Greg McElroy cleared up what happened last week when he was ruled out of the Jets’ season finale at Buffalo on Thursday morning because of a concussion.
McElroy said he was not hiding his symptoms after he got sacked 11 times in a loss to the Chargers on Dec. 23. He simply did not think his symptoms were that big of a deal.
“To tell you the truth, I didn’t really have any symptoms,” McElroy said.”After the game, I felt like I always do — tired, worn out. You feel, especially after you haven’t played in a couple years, you’re not going to have much of an appetite, you’re going to be tired, you’re going to be worn out, you’re going to have a bit of a headache, all of those things are normal for after the game.”
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It was not until Wednesday night, McElroy said, he realized something was wrong.
“I was trying to study, and the recall and information just wasn’t as fluid as it usually is for me,” he said. “Then we got into Thursday and I just didn’t feel like myself after the lifting workout.”
The concussion led to McElroy ending the season with just one start at quarterback. Mark Sanchez replaced him for the finale.
McElroy said he’s not sure what his situation will be in 2013. The coaches have not told him if he will be given a chance to compete for the starting job.
“We haven’t talked about hypotheticals or what’s in the future,” he said.“We’re just worried about right now. Obviously everybody is still disappointed; the loss yesterday is still resonating with a lot of us. It’s just a lot of disappointment.”
* Quarterback Tim Tebow did not speak to reporters yesterday, but his name still came up a few times.
Running back Joe McKnight said the media attention on Tebow wore on some Jets.
“Sometimes it got to us, but I don’t think it distracted us,” McKnight said. “It kind of messed with us a little bit, but we moved on from it after we finished talking about it.”
Quarterback Mark Sanchez was asked if the addition of Tebow had an effect on him this season.
“I’m not going to make any excuses about anything like that,” Sanchez said. “He worked his butt off while he was here and he tried to come in and help this team. That’s all I’m going to say about that. He’s a good teammate.”
* The Jets signed eight players to reserve/future contracts. The most notable are free safety Jaiquawn Jarrett, a second-round pick of the Eagles in 2011, and quarterback Matt Simms, the son of former Giants star Phil Simms. Matt Simms was in training camp with the Jets, but did not make the team. The other signings were: linebacker JoJo Dickson, defensive tackle Tevita Finau, tackle Dennis Landolt, wide receiver Royce Pollard, wide receiver Titus Ryan and linebacker Jacquies Smith.
Additional reporting by Brett Cyrgalis