Rex had no choice

East Rutherford – Rex Ryan didn’t want it to get to his point, but it did, and he did what he had to do.

I know this is just a sport.

And it’s not life and death, as the Javon Belcher tragedy showed us on Saturday.

But I do feel a little bad for Mark Sanchez.

When you are around a team, you see the human side to these stories; Rex Ryan with his arm around Sanchez in the locker room after the game, and Nick Sanchez waiting for his son outside the locker room.

It’s tough.

But it had to be done.

Sanchez was struggling mightily against Arizona.

And the part that made it worse was the Jets were giving him what he needs, the formula that usually works for him – great defense and a strong running game.

Even with those elements, he still didn’t get the job done today.

So before the Jets slim playoff hopes went by the wayside, Rex made the change in the third quarter, and Greg McElroy did a nice job, giving the Jets just enough for a slim victory.

Mark has lost his confidence.

It’s not a lack of effort – the guy works his tail off – he practically lives in the complex.

He’s just not getting the job done, and Rex did something he probably should have done in Seattle – he made an in-game quarterback change.

Sanchez threw three interceptions in the first half, and then nearly had a fourth on the final play of the Jets’ first possession of the second half – when CB William Gay almost picked him off.

The second possession of the second half ended with a sack by Gay coming off the edge. This probably should have been a hot read of some kind. It just seems like hot reads have gone by the wayside with Sanchez. I have mentioned this many times before. When a defensive back is blitzing, and everyone else is accounted for, it’s up the quarterback to block the free man, so to speak, and how he does it is with a hot read. For whatever reason, this is rarely happening, and the defensive backs are getting a lot of sacks and pressures.

Mark is just out of whack right now, and needs to sit back, perhaps for the rest of the season, and watch, reflect, and try to get his mojo back.

And McElroy is the perfect game manager to take over.

Unlike some quarterbacks who hate being called “game-manager,” McElroy embraces.

And that is what the Jets need now – a game-manager to compliment their running game and defense. They aren’t looking to be “Air Coryell.”

Playing quarterback in the NFL is so, so difficult, an enormous mental puzzle to solve.

McElroy is one of the smartest quarterback prospects to come out in recent years – 43 on the Wonderlic and a Rhodes Scholar candidate.

And doesn’t make a lot of mistakes, something Sanchez has done too often this year.

December 2, 2102

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