THAT WILL DO IT: Greg McElroy gets dumped on his head by Corey Liuget during Sunday’s loss to the Chargers. McElroy was sacked 11 times and yesterday it was revealed he suffered a concussion. (AP)
It’s never a good sign when Rex Ryan opens his press conference by saying, “You’re not going to believe this one.”
Ryan was not kidding.
The Jets quarterback carousel took an unexpected turn yesterday when the team discovered Greg McElroy had a concussion and ruled him out of Sunday’s game with the Bills. Ryan immediately named Mark Sanchez his starter on Sunday, bypassing Tim Tebow yet again.
“I’m going to start Mark Sanchez,” Ryan said. “The reason I’m starting Mark is we have two practices and one walk-through to get ready for Buffalo. Mark has had success earlier in the season against Buffalo. He’s very familiar with them. That’s the reason I’m going with Mark.”
McElroy suffered the concussion in Sunday’s 27-17 loss to the Chargers, his first career start. The second-year quarterback was sacked 11 times in the game, but never told the team’s training staff that he felt any symptoms of a concussion. He came clean yesterday morning when he had headaches while lifting weights.
Around 9:30 a.m., McElroy and trainer John Mellody walked into Ryan’s office and told him the news. Ryan said he was “stunned.” Ryan then pulled Sanchez and Tebow out of a quarterbacks meeting and told them in the hallway that Sanchez would start Sunday.
“Obviously, Tim’s not happy with that as you’d expect,” Ryan said.
Perhaps after cooling down, Tebow told reporters that he knew why Ryan chose Sanchez with the short amount of preparation time the Jets have left.
“I understand,” said Tebow, who is again Sanchez’s backup and would have to get the call if Sanchez is hurt. “I told Coach I definitely understand. Obviously, you’re a competitor, you want to play, but I understood his decision. I just let him know, just like always, I’ll do whatever I can to help the team.”
The Jets quarterback drama never fails to provide storylines with this team. In the last five weeks, the Jets have gone from Sanchez to McElroy to Sanchez to McElroy and back to Sanchez, leaving Tebow watching every move. His frustration boiled over last week when Ryan named McElroy the starter, creating an ugly situation where Tebow was not used last week against the Chargers after he asked out of the Wildcat, according to sources. Tebow denies he ever told Ryan he did not want to be used in the Wildcat.
Ryan again refused to address what was said last week between him and Tebow, but expressed empathy for the backup quarterback the Jets traded for in March.
“I can understand,” Ryan said. “There’s no doubt. I can definitely understand the frustrations of not getting the opportunity to play as much as I’m sure he would have liked.”
Now, Sanchez is back in the lineup a week after losing his starting job following his five-turnover performance against the Titans. It is a chance for Sanchez to finish a terrible 2012 season on a positive note.
Offensive coordinator Tony Sparano said the switch at quarterback won’t affect the team’s preparation.
“It’s another bump in the road here and something, obviously, we’ve become a little bit accustomed to dealing with,” Sparano said.
Sanchez spent Wednesday running the scout team, imitating Bills quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick for the Jets defense. Now, he’s suddenly been thrown back in the lineup.
“I guess you didn’t expect it that quickly and anticipating that things went the way they were going as of [Wednesday] when we spoke, that I’d be taking the backup reps and supporting Greg and getting him ready to play and then things totally flipped today,” Sanchez said. “That’s why it’s a good example of how this league works and you’re one play away as a backup, so I need to be ready.”
It’s a tough break for McElroy, who looked like he would have two games to show what he was capable of. You never know what will happen with these 2012 Jets, particularly with the quarterbacks.
Ryan was asked if this is the strangest season he’s been a part of.
“I would say that’s pretty accurate,” Ryan said pausing and then adding, “and we’ve had some strange ones.”
brian.costello@nypost.com