Mark Sanchez seemed to have won his battle with rookie quarterback Geno Smith this preseason for the starting job until Week 3, when Sanchez injured his shoulder playing behind backup offensive linemen. Now, he is afraid the team will place him on injured reserve.
Sources close to Sanchez say he believes the team wants to forge ahead with Smith during what figures to be a trying 2013 campaign, and that his hurt shoulder provides good cover to be done with him altogether.
A source close to Sanchez spoke to USA Today and said the "organization has turned its back on Mark and is prepared to move on. It is ready to start fresh with Geno." The same person also said Sanchez's injury, and a subsequent move to the IR makes things "cleaner and easier."
Publicly, the Jets are not showing their hand. Rex Ryan was quoted saying "If Mark's healthy, then, yes, I would say he'll be part of this team," but refused to rule out injured reserve. He only said IR "is not what we're looking at right now."
After showing promise in his first two seasons with the Jets, winning four playoff games on the road and reaching the AFC Championship in his first two seasons, Sanchez's play plateaued then declined as his supporting cast was weakened.
Last season Sanchez was benched for a seventh-round pick in Greg McElroy, and had the worst statistical season of his career. He completed 54.3 percent of his passes, the lowest mark of his career, and threw five more interceptions (18) than touchdowns (13). He also fumbled the ball 14 times, raising his turnover total to 32.
Unfortunately for the Jets, Smith did not light up MetLife Stadium either. Smith didn't prove to be a sure upgrade over the veteran Sanchez, tossing three interceptions in his only preseason start. In the same game, Smith ran out of the back of the end zone for a safety when the Giants applied pressure up the middle. He also had a "brutal" practice when he continued to work out on a sore ankle he injured in Week 1 of the preseason.
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