Damien Woody was on the Jets when they made back-to-back runs to the AFC Championship Game. The former offensive lineman turned ESPN analyst has watched the team steadily decline since his departure and paints a bleak picture for The Post’s Justin Terranova as the Jets prepare to play the unbeaten Texans on “Monday Night Football.”
Q: Is the amount of blame Mark Sanchez is getting for the Jets’ struggles fair?
A: There’s no question that he’s not playing well. At the same time guys around him aren’t playing well. They have no weapons, especially now with Santonio (Holmes) hurt.
Q: So, you don’t think Tim Tebow is the answer?
A: If you replace Sanchez with Tebow, the Sanchez era is over. You gave him that contract extension. Basically you have to live with him for this year and next year. So, if you bench him now it’s over. You lost him basically.
Q: It seemed part of the reason the Jets brought Tebow in was to put more pressure on Sanchez. Knowing Mark, do you think that was a wise move?
A: I guarantee you when they had their first few practices and Mark saw him throw, he was like, ‘it’s not a competition. This dude can’t throw, so how is my job threatened?’ There’s no way Tebow can threaten you. It’s a passing league.
Q: Being able to run the ball and stop the run were the staples Rex Ryan wanted to build the team on when you were there. So is this an indictment of him or has the talent level dropped too far?
A: Talent, personnel, there has been a steady decline. The talent is not there. When I was watching the game [Sunday], the 49ers are what Rex wants his team to be. One of the first things Rex said when he came to New York is he wants to build a bully. Well, that’s what San Francisco is. They come there, they kick your teeth out and that’s it. Rex was looking at it first-hand on the field on Sunday.
Q: Any hope they can turn it around?
A: It’s not looking good right now. … They can’t block, they can’t run, they don’t tackle, they can’t throw it and they can’t catch it. That’s why they are not a good football team. … It’s not like it’s going to get any easier this week. They are going against the best team in the league. People were saying the 49ers were good, wait till they see Houston. The Texans are even better on offense. Things could get ugly on Monday night. I hope it’s not, but unless they get those five things fixed it’s not going to be pretty.