For a moment, it looked like a significant step forward for Mark Sanchez and the Jets.
There he was yesterday, standing behind center in an 11-on-11 full team drill during the team’s OTA session — the first time he’d done that since his February knee surgery.
As of just last week, there was mere hope that Sanchez would participate in 11-on-11s in next month’s minicamp, but coach Rex Ryan was proceeding with caution, not wanting to rush anything.
PHOTOS: JETS’ MAY 27 OTA PRACTICE
But there was Sanchez yesterday taking the snap from center Nick Mangold and handing the ball off.
As it turned out, it was an unauthorized 11-on-11 visit behind center by Sanchez, who’d snuck into the huddle.
Ryan immediately walked over to him for a chat, which was light-hearted with laughing, not yelling, involved.
“I was like, ‘Oh, what were you doing?’ ” Ryan said. “He said it was only a running play. I said, ‘Hand the ball off and run away.’ ”
Ryan said Sanchez is “probably ahead of where he thought he’d be,” but he still wants to be cautious with him since he hasn’t scrambled in the pocket yet or done any change-of-direction cutting.
“He feels right,” Ryan said. “He’s pushing us all the time.”
Sanchez had a previous commitment and wasn’t available for comment after practice.
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Ryan, along with team owner Woody Johnson and general manager Mike Tannenbaum, took in a dinner with Magic Johnson recently at Manhattan Italian restaurant, Il Postino, where they picked his brain on numerous topics related to winning.
It started when they met Johnson at the Floyd Mayweather–Shane Mosley fight in Las Vegas last month and made a tentative date to have dinner when Johnson was in New York.
“It was an opportunity,” Ryan said. “He was tremendous. This guy was not only a champion, but he was one of the best teammates.”
Ryan said Johnson talked about “doing things the Laker way” when he played, which means buying into the team concept. This is something Ryan is always trying to instill with the Jets.
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It looks as if rookie kicker Clint Stitser is headed for the street after yet another shaky performance in yesterday’s OTA session.
Working the two-minute drill, Stitser missed a 48-yard field goal attempt some 30 yards wide left and well short. Moments later, he pulled a 30-yard attempt wide left.
“That young man I don’t think is ready,” Ryan said. “We’ll probably move on.”
When they release Stitser, that will leave Nick Folk as the only kicker on the roster until they sign someone else.
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Rookie draft pick Vladimir Ducasse continues to work with the starting group at left guard ahead of Matt Slauson as the Jets try to groom him as Alan Faneca’s replacement.
“The competition is still open, but it means something [that Ducasse is working with the starters] because he’s showing he deserves running with the first team,” Ryan said.
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Ryan said he doesn’t want to “cat” Vernon Gholston, meaning jinx him, by talking him up too much like he did a year ago, but he praised his work since changing from linebacker to defensive end.
“In the first team drill, he split two guys and would have had a sack,” Ryan said of Gholston. “That’s three practices in a row that he would have had a sack.”
The reason Gholston, who still doesn’t have an NFL sack, can’t sack the quarterback is that, by rule, there is no contact in the OTA sessions.
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Asked who’s impressed him the most in the OTA, Ryan praised receiver Braylon Edwards, who made an acrobatic touchdown catch yesterday but was called for offensive pass interference by the referee.
“I love the way he’s competing; it’s great to watch,” Ryan said.
He also singled out linebacker Kenwin Cummings, saying: “He put on weight, but he looks quicker and faster. He looks like a different guy to me this year with the way he’s moving in the open field.”