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Was Mark Sanchez rattled by the Jets’ trade for Tim Tebow. Santonio says “yes,” Sanchez, Tebow and Rex say “no.”
Santonio Holmes said on Wednesday – “I think since Day 1, it was a focus that kind of rattled him a little. I use that word only to say that, ‘Wow, how did this happen?’ Those were words that came out of his mouth.”
This quote caused quite a stir, and Mark, Tim and Rex refused to go along with this theory.
“I think (Holmes) made it a little more dramatic,” Sanchez told ESPN Radio. “When you read it in the paper, it sounds like a Lifetime movie script or something, (like) he’s talking me off the ledge or something like that. Anybody in that situation would have a couple of questions about a trade like that. But as soon as I talked to the team, I really started to understand that (Tebow) is an addition, he’s not changing anything. He’s here to help us.”
“I don’t know that he was rattled,” Tebow said. “He called me a few hours after (the trade) happened and we had a great talk and I (feel) like our relationship has been great ever since — even before that.”
“His motivation is much more than having Tim here,” Ryan said. “This is a competitor, No. 1. He wants to be great. I think he’s making strides to be that quarterback that we want here. I can’t tell you how happy I’ve been with Mark. After the season he was just like the rest of us, myself included. You’re hurt, you can’t wait to get back and that’s what he did.”
Okay, so what should we take from all of this?
I’m siding with Santonio on this one.
But first let me say, the timing of his quote wasn’t great. Why go there now?
The trade was five months ago. Tone, why go there five days before the team opens the season?
Somebody responded to my opinion that he shouldn’t go there with, “Well, he was asked about it.”
I don’t buy that as an alibi. We all control what comes out of our mouths.
I would have said, “That is ancient history, let’s talk about the Bills.”
But with Santonio, there is often no filter, which is great for the media, but not always good for the Jets.
Of course Mark was rattled.
Remember, it took Mark a while to address the media after the Tebow trade. The common theory back then was that he needed time to cool down so he wouldn’t say anything he might regret.
Sanchez had received a contract extension shortly before the Tebow trade.
He must have said, “What the bleep are these people doing – they just gave me a new contract, and now they bring in Tebow.”
Having Tebow as a #2 quarterback can be a nightmare for the starter. Just ask Kyle Orton. What a tough 2011 season it was for Orton in Denver. He was the starter until the pressure for Tebow to start became so great, the Broncos seemed to cave, and gave Tim the job.
So yes, I believe Santonio on this one.
But I don’t have a big issue with how Rex, Mark and Tim answered the questions related to this.
There is no way they were going to agree with the semantics here, and go along with the word “rattled.”
That would serve no purpose at this stage of the game.
September 8, 20112
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