Running back Joe McKnight said he believes the lack of fan support for Mark Sanchez played a role in Jets coach Rex Ryan’s decision to bench him.
“I think it did,” McKnight said Wednesday. “Any time you’re the starting quarterback and you’re on the football field and you’re trying to call plays and you got the people that are supposed to be rooting for you screaming for the other quarterback, that’s kind of frustrating.That kind of takes you out of the game. And I think that’s kind of made it tough for the coaches to make their decision.”
McKnight played with Sanchez at USC and has been one of his biggest supporters.
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The Jets placed rookie WR Stephen Hill on season-ending injured reserve. Hill sprained his right LCL in the win over the Jaguars on Dec. 9. Hill had 21 catches for 252 yards and three touchdowns. … TE Dustin Keller (ankle), G Brandon Moore (foot, hip), WR Chaz Schilens (calf, ankle) and CB Aaron Berry (hamstring) did not practice. … The team signed CB Donnie Fletcher off the practice squad.
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Safety LaRon Landry signed a one-year contract with the Jets this year, mainly because he was coming off an Achilles’ tendon injury that hurt his value. Now that he has played 14 games and nearly every play this year, Landry is looking for a long-term deal.
“Would I sign another one-year [contract] here? No. Not at all,” Landry said.
Landry said he feels he has proven to teams he can stay out of the trainer’s room.
“Can I stay healthy? I think I’ve answered that,” he said.
Landry has some interesting offseason plans: “When it’s over, I’ll do what I do every year: Head back to Arizona, do my work, get big as [bleep], get fast as [bleep], get strong as [bleep].”
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Chargers coach Norv Turner is likely going to be fired in San Diego. If the Jets fire offensive coordinator Tony Sparano, Turner is an obvious candidate. Yesterday, Turner said he would be open to returning to an assistant’s role.
“I think people that know me know that I’m a coach,” Turner said. “I like coaching. I want to coach. I think you get to a point where there are things that are important to you. If I continue to coach I want to be in a good situation, a place where you have an opportunity to win and be in a situation that there are coaches I’ve worked with and been around.”
Turner and Ryan had a war of words last year when Ryan suggested he would have won the Super Bowl had he gotten the Chargers job instead of Turner in 2007. Turner said there are no hard feelings.
“I think Rex and I had a little tongue and cheek thing going on there,” Turner said. “We’ve seen each other since and laughed about it. I think Rex knows the respect I have for him.”