After Jets coach Rex Ryan took a scathing shot at Mark Sanchez, calling the quarterback’s timeout Sunday night the stupidest play in football, both are saying their relationship is just fine.
Sanchez claims he can’t think of anybody he would rather play for, and the coach said the Jets have a winner and its franchise quarterback.
“Well, I think Mark is an outstanding quarterback. I like the guys that win, and I think Mark is a winner,’’ Ryan said. “We’ve won a lot of games. Have we won the big one yet? No. We haven’t won the big one yet. I think if we do, then maybe everybody will look at Mark in a different light.
“But I think he’s a terrific quarterback. The thing that you’re excited about is that when you get that right — when you draft the right guy to lead your franchise — that usually is a good sign for you for 10 years. And I think we have the right guy.’’
Ryan was singing a different tune after Sunday’s 37-16 loss to New England, when Sanchez called a timeout with 1:24 left in the first half. He squandered a chance to burn another 15 or 16 seconds off the clock and gave Tom Brady time to engineer a go-ahead touchdown, with Ryan calling it “the stupidest thing in football history.’’
For his part, Sanchez — preparing for tomorrow’s game in Denver — insisted all was well in the Jets locker room and the coach-quarterback relationship.
“Things with Rex have always been great. If anything, it’s more and more fun,’’ Sanchez said. “I think these points in the season, the high points and the low points. … It’s easy to be the quarterback when you’re on a three-game win streak, but when you lose a tough divisional game, that’s a good test for a young quarterback, for a third-year head coach. That’s a good test for us.
“But, as far as relationship, things are great. He’s the best coach I can think of to play for and we have a great time together. He’s always had us ready to play.’’
Sanchez said he wasn’t offended at being publicly chastised.
“If something like that is going to get under my skin, I’m in the wrong line of work. That’s on the quarterback. I’ve got to be better than that,’’ Sanchez said. “I’m better than that. It shouldn’t have happened. Even if he takes the blame for it, then he’s protecting me, I know that.’’
Sanchez also got sacked five times and threw a pair of second-half picks, one returned for a TD. His 81.5 QB rating ranks 18th in the NFL, and with 14 turnovers, he hasn’t taken a step forward statistically in his third season.
“I don’t like losing. You don’t like playing poorly, not playing well enough for your team to win. That’s frustrating and that’s personal,’’ Sanchez said. “You want to put your team in the right positions. At times I did, and at times I didn’t.’’