The Quarterback Controversy That Isn’t reared its ugly head at the start of Jets mini-camp Tuesday.
Just listen to Tony Sparano, the new offensive coordinator, gush about Mark Sanchez:
“This guy has tremendous passion to learn, and to get better,” Sparano said. “[He’s] not afraid of criticism, OK? I think that’s important at that position. … Sometimes you have to say, ‘This isn’t where the ball goes. We don’t want it here, we need you to do it this way. And at the same time, you got to be able to tell him, ‘That’s exactly right.’ He threw a ball today to Dustin Keller down there in the red area that is exactly the way we coached it. Exactly the way we talked about it. But not every quarterback can throw it that way.
“I’ve been really impressed with what he’s done and how hard he’s worked on his own to learn this system, and the amount of time that he’s put in that way. But also, physically the improvements that he’s made.
“His lower body strength is completely different than it was before. His physical strength is completely different right now, but his lower body strength … that’s where you get your power, that’s where you get your torque, that’s where you get all the things that you need to throw the ball with the kind of velocity that you want to throw it with.
“And right now I’ve seen him make, in practice, just about every throw that I need to see him make.”
A few more days around Sanchez and Sparano will be calling him Johnny Unitas.
In Matt Slauson’s mind, there will be no quarterback controversy this season.
“No. Absolutely not,” Slauson said. “We are planning on No. 6 being there. No. 6 is the one that’s going to take us all the way.”
The best-laid plans of mice and Jets too often go awry. But it is, of course, the only way to think in the middle of June.
When no one, aside from Tim Tebow, wants to hear the ungodly wails for the personal punt protector in the distance the first time Sanchez throws an interception.
“One thing, just being a competitor, obviously it’s going to [tick] him off,” Keller said. “Everybody is predicting it’s going to come so it’s not going to be a big surprise. He’ll be ready for it, it’s going to [tick] him off. Then he’s just going to come back with touchdown for touchdown to let everybody know that he is the guy.”
Never mind that Sanchez had a pass batted down yesterday by Quinton Coples, never mind he almost threw an interception to Darrelle Revis. You try practicing without a hamstrung Santonio Holmes and Stephen Hill. Besides, he did thread that needle over the middle to Keller and he did find Chaz Schilens in the right corner of the end zone against Revis. And lo and behold, who was there to slap hands afterward with the Sanchise? Holmes Sweet Holmes!
“I feel like if you really are in tune to the organization, you know what’s been invested in this guy, how much time he’s invested in this team also,” Keller said. “That you have to ride with him throughout the whole season, no matter what.”
Easier said than done for Jets coach Rex Ryan. Tebow, because of his following, is virtually every starting quarterback’s worst nightmare.
“Obviously, our fans’ opinions are very important, and we want them to think the most of all of us,” Keller said. “But it really comes down to the guys in this room, and the guys in the room are so confident in Mark. We know he’s going to get it done.”
Except that management’s actions spoke louder than anyone’s words when it made the trade for Tebow. You either believe in your young franchise quarterback or you do not. Sanchez has no one to blame but himself for trying to take that next step and slipping on a green-and-white banana peel instead.
“None of us played really well last year, evident by our record,” Brandon Moore said. “I think all of us were about average.”
But average won’t cut it anymore for Sanchez.
“His feet look great. … His arm looks strong. … He just looks great, and he looks very confident out there, I think he has a great feel for Coach Sparano’s offense,” backup quarterback Greg McElroy said.
If the Jets were right about Sanchez when they drafted him, he will have the requisite mental toughness to prevail.
“I don’t know how Tebow’s addition affects him,” Moore said. “He seems like the same guy, if not better, in his approach to me.”
I couldn’t take it anymore, so I asked Sparano how Tebow, who threw some bullets but also bounced a ball at Terrance Ganaway’s feet, has progressed mechanically.
“Every day I see a ball come off of his hand that is better than it was yesterday or in the last time that we practiced,” Sparano said.
Imagine what Sparano might see by September. Perhaps, if Sanchez should start 0-4, it would be the timely Death of The Quarterback Controversy That Isn’t.