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Jets New Flight Plan: Players Want Peyton Manning Badly
By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 11, 2012
Modified Jan 11, 2012
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By
Ben Yakas
Published Jan 11, 2012
Modified Jan 11, 2012
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We all realized a long time ago that it's very very hard being a Jets fan, but it seems the Jets players are only just realizing that fact now: after weeks of total disarray, highlighted by locker room bickering and woeful losses, the Jets have parted ways with embattled offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. That might not be enough to satisfy disgruntled players, who have started to badmouth QB Mark Sanchez and publicly plead for future Hall of Fame QB Peyton Manning to come to NYC. Wait...does that mean we could corner the market on all the Manning Face in the world?
Several players spoke out anonymously about Sanchez to the Daily News, painting a picture of the third-year quarterback as thin-skinned and lazy. “We have to bring in another quarterback that will make him work at practice,” said one player. “He’s lazy and content because he knows he’s not going to be benched.” Another team source said, “So many games, he looked defeated before he ever took the field. He didn’t have much confidence in what he was about to go do. You could tell throughout the week in practice. He never felt comfortable with some of the things we were doing. It was too much for him.”
Sanchez has finished 29th, 29th and 27th in completion percentage, and his passer-rating rankings were 28th, 27th and 23rd, in his first three seasons. Teammates don't think he has the mental toughness to last in NYC: “They don’t want to be truthful with him,” one prominent player said of the way that the organization has handled Sanchez. “They treat him like a baby instead of a man. He goes in a hole when someone tells him the truth.”
Another team source said teammates are annoyed exactly because of that reason “They see him with a sense of entitlement. He’s been given all this and hasn’t done anything. They call him ‘San-chise.’ They make him the face of the organization. They gave him the captain tag. He’s not a captain. He should have never been a captain.” Jets center Nick Mangold wasn't impressed with the anonymous quotes: "If "unnamed sources" want to attack Mark, man up and put your name to it," he tweeted today.
As for Manning, the Indianapolis Colts—with whom he's spent his entire 13-year-career—have already voiced their intention to select highly-regarded Stanford quarterback Andrew Luck with the No. 1 pick in the draft—which could mean Manning will be headed elsewhere. One team source called it a "no-brainer" to pick him up if possible: “If you have a chance to get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning and you don’t do it, then you’re stupid. If I could get a healthy 36-year-old Peyton Manning, then, hell yeah, I would trade Sanchez.”
The team thinks it may have an advantage wooing him, since they have consultant Tom Moore, who was Manning’s offensive coordinator and mentor during their decade-long run together in Indianapolis. “We already have his coach—Tom Moore,” one well-respected player said. “Plus, he’s a field general and will get everyone lined up. He will get his playmakers the ball. We can win a Super Bowl with Peyton.”
But the culture of the Jets—such as talking anonymously to the local papers—might be a serious turn off for Manning: “I don’t think that he’ll come here,” a member of the Jets organization told the News. “We have to change the perception of our organization. We’re not the organization that players said they wanted to play for a year or two ago. We’re starting to come across a little flaky. We talk the talk. We don’t back it up. We’re out of control. There’s no discipline. It’s a mess right now.”
Perhaps it's not out of reach though. In addition to Schottenheimer, the team has also parted ways with offensive line coach Bill Callahan as well as receivers coach Henry Ellard, and seem ready to overhaul their whole offensive strategy. And there's one X factor in all this that hasn't been remarked on much: Rex Ryan. Will the toe-loving loudmouth General of the Jets prove to be a deterrent to the conservative-leaning Manning, or might they bond over both being huge pains in the butts?
Tagged
disarray
football
jets
manning face
mark sanchez
nfl
panic
peyton manning
Rex Ryan
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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