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Rex Ryan's new plan for fixing Mark Sanchez invokes images of Robert DeNiro's no-nonsense character in "Meet the Parents." Essentially, Ryan is pointing to his eyes and warning, "I will be watching you."
Smart move by the coach.
Short of benching Sanchez, which apparently isn't a consideration at this point, this is the best way to deal with the rookie's ball-security issues.
By challenging Sanchez to reduce his turnovers, and by announcing he's putting "that responsibility on my shoulders," Ryan is turning up the heat on the Jets' franchise quarterback.
Say hello to Rex Ryan, ball cop.
In a sense, Ryan is making this personal. It's like he's telling Sanchez, "If this continues, you'll have to deal with me." And if the interceptions continue to pile up, Ryan will have little choice but to bench his QB. But for now, the coach's new hands-on approach at least creates a much needed air of accountability.
Sanchez has been coddled since the day he arrived, and it's about time his seat got a little warm. There's nothing wrong with tough love from the coach. Sanchez must be made to understand that there are repercussions for being careless with the football.
If a cornerback repeatedly gets burned, his rear end will be on the bench. Obviously, it's not quite the same deal with Sanchez, a neophyte playing the hardest position in sports, but that doesn't entitle him to a lifetime of free passes.
There's a locker-room credibility issue here. If Ryan allows the turnover madness to continue, he could lose his veteran players, who might smell a double standard.
By making Sanchez his pet project, and by letting the world know about it, Ryan did the right thing. It's probably too late to save the season, but it's not too late in Sanchez's development. Now he has to get his coaches to do their thing. Evidently, Sanchez isn't responding to coordinator Brian Schottenheimer, whose star pupil is regressing before our eyes.
Schottenheimer has reduced the burden on Sanchez by emphasizing the running game - the Jets run a league-high 55% of the time - but there are other ways to skin the conservative cat. How about throwing to the check-down receivers when the primary reads are covered?
In Sunday's loss to the Patriots, Sanchez attempted only three passes to his backs. For the season, the backs have only 23 catches. A year ago, Brett Favre completed 86 balls to the backs. Clearly, this is where they miss Leon Washington, but if they got the gray gunslinger to dump it off, the coaches should be able to accomplish it with an impressionable rookie.
