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It’s time for a helping of Jets Website Whispers for the weekend, heading into the Jets big game on Sunday against Pittsburgh. Enjoy . . .
I realized before Marty Mornhinweg’s press conference yesterday, that nobody had ever asked him about what happened to Mark Sanchez in the third preseason game – why he was put in the fourth quarter behind a backup offensive line.
Between now and then, he was never asked.
And he was right in the middle of that situation.
Now with Mark Sanchez going on IR this week, I decided to ask Marty what went into that decision to play Sanchez in the fourth quarter.
Q)What went into the decision to play Sanchez in the fourth quarter against the Giants?
Mornhinweg: I’m not getting into that. Let’s move on.
QWas it your decision to play Sanchez in the fourth quarter of the Giants preseason game?
Mornhinweg: I’m not getting into it. Let’s move on.
So he refused to answer the question.
I understand that this question seems a little late, but he man was NEVER asked, and with Sanchez going on IR this week, I thought somebody needed to ask him.
My position on this fateful decision has been consistent – it was a bad decision, and here is why . . .
Mark Sanchez was clearing winning the quarterback competition this summer.
The Giants game was Geno Smith’s last chance to go out, play well, and perhaps win the job.
He played very poorly with a performance that included three picks and a safety.
So to me, Rex and Marty needed to say, “We can’t put Mark in the game – after what we saw from Geno tonight, he’s not ready, so we can’t put Mark in behind a backup line, we need him for the opener.”
Was it Rex and Marty’s decision to play Sanchez in the fourth quarter?
It’s unclear at this point.
It might have been John Idzik’s decision.
According to the New York Post, Sanchez was screaming at Idzik in the trainer’s room after the game for having him play.
And the fact that Sanchez was screaming at Idzik, certainly makes it seem like the GM wanted him to play against the Giants. So perhaps and Rex and Marty were just following pregame orders.
This true story will come out one day . . .
As you know by now, Antonio Cromartie hyperextended his knee in practice yesterday.
He’s 50-50 for the game on Sunday.
One thing about Cromartie, there have been a history of scares, that turned out not to be as serious as originally thought.
Like this summer, it looked like he suffered a serious shoulder injury, but came back later to practice.
I’ve seen it happen several times, where it looks like “Cro” suffered a very serious injury, and it turned out to be minor.
I’m not saying he’s a drama king. Not at all. But I think he gets very scared when he gets hurt, which is understandable, and often the initial reaction and body language, make it seem like it’s very serious, but when the dust settles, it’s not.
I think at the most, he misses one game with this injury, but there is still a chance he can play on Sunday.
But you know what, the Jets are pretty deep at corner, even without “Cro” and Dee Milliner.
They still have Darrin Walls, Kyle Wilson, Isaiah Trufant and Ellis Lankster.
And remember, Josh Bush was a cornerback for most of his career at Wake Forest, so he can swing over there . . .
As we have discussed throughout the week here in the premium section, there was clearly something up with Kellen Winslow.
He refused to talk to the media after the Jets-Falcons game, and then all week in Florham Park.
And now it came out today, he has been suspended without pay for four games for violating the NFL policy on performance enhancing substances.
He likely knew this was in the offing all week.
The guess here is that he took something to help improve the condition of his problematic knee.
You should see this guy during the week – he does everything under the sun to make that knee operational. It’s a constant process with the trainers . . .
October 11, 2013
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