TAMPA, Fla. — Kellen Clemens hardly wore a look of triumph or satisfaction on his face after the Jets’ 26-3 win over the Buccaneers yesterday.
Despite starting his first game in 23 months and helping the Jets win, Clemens’ demeanor was somewhat bittersweet, because his personal performance wasn’t as productive as he would have liked it to be (12-of-23 for 111 yards and a 65.7 rating).
Clemens did, however, do the one thing the Jets coaches demanded he do and that was protect the football. He didn’t turn the ball over and that was one of the differences in the game.
“I feel good about it,” Clemens said. “I’d be lying if I said that I hadn’t come in with higher expectations. But I did whatever was necessary — no turnovers. I got us in and out of some plays we didn’t want to be in — so I did my job.
“I don’t think that I certainly blew the top off of anything, but I did what was required of me.”
With starter Mark Sanchez at home rehabbing his sprained right knee, this game was an opportunity for Clemens to showcase himself — to the Jets if they want to re-sign him after the season as Sanchez’s backup or to another team if the Jets let him go.
“I felt like we left some plays out on the field that we’ll need to make later on, especially if we can win out and get into the postseason,” Clemens said. “Don’t get me wrong; I’m stoked. We came down and got a win when we needed it. I’ll be smiling on the plane ride home, but [the bad plays are] still pretty fresh in my mind.”
Coach Rex Ryan praised Clemens, saying he “did a great job of managing the team.”
“No turnovers at that position is a winning performance,” Ryan said.
Clemens lamented that the Jets had to settle for field goals, after linebacker David Harris picked off the Buccaneers’ first pass of the game and again after the Jets converted a fake punt.
“It was difficult to get into a rhythm early on,” he said. “Our defense did a great job starting the game off with a turnover and then we convert a fake punt and to come out of both of those drives with field goals was frustrating. We wanted to start faster than that. I wanted us offensively to put together more consistent drives. Third down wasn’t at the level we expect (5-for-18).”
With the defense so dominant and the running game going fairly well, Clemens, who is 4-5 as a starter in his career, conceded he was trying to stay out of the way.
“We leaned on our strengths, which is obviously the running game,” he said. “I just didn’t want to do anything that was going to swing momentum back into Tampa’s favor.”
Asked what he envisioned of his first start since the end of the 2007 season, Clemens said, “The one thing I did envision was us winning. Obviously, the bottom line is to get a win and we’re excited to get out of here with our playoff hopes still very much alive.”
Ryan, who’s giving the players today off, said he will evaluate Sanchez when the team arrives home, but the Jets expect Sanchez to resume his starting role next Sunday against the Falcons at Giants Stadium.