Website hits and London

New Jersey – If the Eagles truly soured on Nick Foles, which is questionable at this point, the Jets would certainly be interested . . .

We had a report a few months ago, in Jets Confidential Magazine, that we had heard from industry sources, that NJ.com, the Star-Ledger’s website, had incentives for writers based on click throughs on their website articles.

So this blockbuster report, the other day, should come as no surprise.

“I think (general manager Howie Roseman) is looking at quarterbacks,” a league source told NJ.com. “He’s kind of soured on (Nick) Foles, and I don’t think he’s alone. The organization isn’t sold that he’s the guy going forward.”

Foles was 6-2 as a starter last year, and 6-2 as a starter this year, before getting hurt.

This story got a lot of hits for the website – a lot mentions on ESPN and NFL Network. It was a bonanza for NJ.com.

Chip Kelly said the report was nonsense.

“I don’t know where that stuff comes from,” Kelly said, per PhillyMag.com. “I know this, I know I control the roster. And I think you guys can say first-hand, I don’t talk to anybody. So whoever says they have a source in terms of what’s gonna go on with roster maneuvers or people going up and people going down, they never talked to the right person because that comes from me, and that never was the case.

The reason I bring up this story is three-fold.

First of all, to point out what is going on at websites desperate for traffic – more click throughs, more advertising money.

Secondly, if the Eagles source on Foles was right, the Jets would certainly be interested in the off-season. But it’s too early to say they have soured on Foles, who will be out a while after breaking his collar-bone last week. And a problem with the story is it said the Howie Roseman soured on Foles. And like Kelly pointed out, it’s the coach who has final say on personnel, not Roseman.

Thirdly, people are getting way ahead of themselves on this Sanchez thing in Philly. Bart Hubbuch is down in Philly for the Post making a big deal about this. Sanchez played three quarters for Foles last week, and threw two touchdowns. He also threw two picks.

I hope Mark does great in Philly. I’ve always liked him. So this post isn’t rooting against him.

But this trumped up angle that the Jets made a mistake moving on from Sanchez based on three quarters of relief work, is a case of people getting a little crazy.

Let’s see what he does over the next month in relief of Foles. Let’s see if he’s learned to read defenses better, not lock on his first read.

Let’s see if he’s improved his pocket presence.

Let’s see.

There is a lot more to be written about the Sanchez-Philly story over the next month . . .

The London game is great financially for teams that struggle to sell tickets.

Why do you think the NFL sends teams like Jacksonville, Atlanta and Oakland over there?

But the announcement today was a little strange regarding the Jets and Dolphins playing there next year.

Yes, Miami is a team that can certainly use a London game. The gate is often a struggle for them in South Florida.

However, one Dolphins home game, that always does well at the gate, is the Jets game, with so many New York-New Jersey transplants down there.

So it’s surprising that was the game they chose to farm out to England . . .

November 6, 2014

Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Friday.