Jets cornerback Antonio Cromartie could have easily been on the opposite sideline this week.
During the free agency period in July, it came down to the Jets and the Raiders for Cromartie’s services. Oakland had just lost Nnamdi Asomugha, and the Jets had just lost out on Asomugha, who signed with the Eagles. Both teams turned to Cromartie.
According to a source, the Raiders offered substantially more than the Jets’ four-year, $32 million bid. But Cromartie enjoyed his first year with the Jets, and felt he had a better chance to win with them.
A source said Raiders owner Al Davis personally made a plea to Cromartie, but in the early morning hours of Aug. 1, with training camp about to begin, Cromartie agreed to a deal with the Jets.
The move worked out for the Jets on Sunday. Cromartie had a huge game against the Jaguars with two interceptions, two long kickoff returns and even a rush on offense.
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The Jets failed to mount a rushing attack again on Sunday against the Jaguars, but coach Rex Ryan said he isn’t concerned.
The Jets rushed for 101 yards, but 29 of those came on scrambles by quarterback Mark Sanchez. Lead back Shonn Greene had 49 yards on 16 carries in the 32-3 victory.
“I’ll take winning by 29,” Ryan said. “I’ll take winning by one. I wasn’t disappointed in the way we ran the ball or did anything offensively. I thought we did a great job.”
If there were ever a week for the Jets’ ground game to get off the ground, it’s this one against the Raiders. The Bills averaged 8.7 yards per rush against the Raiders on Sunday.
“We haven’t been as consistent as we’d like,” guard Brandon Moore said. “There’s definitely been some drives in there we can draw some positives from. [Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer] alluded to it — we’ve got to be consistent for 60 minutes. I think when we do that we’ll be pretty good.”
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Plaxico Burress had no catches Sunday. Ryan said the Jaguars took him out of the game with double coverage, showing how much respect he still gets despite being out of the NFL for two full seasons.
“Almost every single snap in that game he was doubled, almost every single snap,” Ryan said. “That just shows, does he still have the respect and everything else? Absolutely. He is a special player and people know it.”
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Ryan said Sanchez is “fine” after getting drilled by the Jaguars’ Matt Roth in the fourth quarter on an incomplete pass to Burress, a play call Ryan said he wishes he could have back because it put his quarterback at risk. . . . Wide receiver Santonio Holmes said his knee/quad issue gave him no trouble Sunday, and it was never a question in his mind whether he would play.