A lot can change in 11 months.
Jets coach Rex Ryan sounds nowhere near as definitive now when he speaks about quarterback Mark Sanchez as he did in last November.
“This is our quarterback,” Ryan said of Sanchez on Nov. 18. “He’s going to be our quarterback for as long as I’m here, which I hope is a long, long time.”
He said those words the day after watching Tim Tebow beat his team with the Broncos. Now, he’s watching Tebow rot on his bench as the Jets struggle to win games.
Yesterday, Ryan said Sanchez remains the Jets starter “this week,” but refused to commit to Sanchez long-term.
“A lot of things can happen,” Ryan said. “I’m not going to deal with what-ifs because I’m telling you right now he’s our starting quarterback this week, barring injury. Things happen. I feel really confident in Mark. I’ve never wavered in that.”
The doomsday scenario everyone painted in March when the Jets acquired Tebow is coming true. The Jets have lost three of their past four games. Sanchez has been mediocre at his best and awful at his worst. That has led to cries for Tebow to get more playing time and to start.
Yesterday, owner Woody Johnson threw fuel on the Tebow fire by saying the Jets would keep him through the duration of his contract, which expires after the 2014 season.
“Are we going to keep Tebow?” Johnson said on CNBC. “Absolutely. He’ll be with us for three years. I think he’s going to be a real valuable asset in terms of helping us win games.”
Whether it’s a quarterback controversy or non-troversy at the moment, it is hanging over the Jets like a storm cloud threatening rain. Still, Sanchez and Tebow have put up a good public front, claiming they are not worried about the situation.
Sanchez said he believes he will remain the starter for the rest of the season and he tunes out the noise about Tebow.
“As far as, ‘Oh, who should play, who should not play?’ I don’t listen to that,” Sanchez said. “I just don’t. I’m not built like that.”
When it was pointed out that ESPN spends half its programming debating Sanchez or Tebow, he laughed.
“There’s a whole lot of other channels, man.” He said. “And there’s a power button.”
Tebow maintains he is not upset with his limited role, which has amounted to an average of eight offensive snaps per game.
“You just want to make them the best eight they can be,” he said in typical Tebow fashion.
The Jets’ coaching staff seems to be schizophrenic when it comes to Tebow. They talk about wanting to get him involved more with the offense, but also seem afraid he will have too much success and lead to more “Tebow” cheers. How else to explain not playing him at quarterback at the end of a 34-0 blowout to the 49ers or taking him out near the goal line last week after he got them to the 3-yard line?
Ryan said public relations has not influenced any of his Tebow decisions.
“None whatsoever,” Ryan said. “We picked him up because … Tebow’s a good football player, and he can bring our team certain elements that we thought were missing. … The decision of playing Tebow, that’s going to be my decision. It’s not going to be the public’s decision or anyone else’s.”
brian.costello@nypost.com