Is it Tebow time in New York? (Ed Mulholland-US PRESSWIRE)
Just when New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez received a vote of confidence from his head coach, the team’s owner, Woody Johnson, is reportedly pushing for a change, according to an ESPNNewYork.com report.
Johnson could reportedly “push” Rex Ryan and Mike Tannenbaum to start backup quarterback Tim Tebow, who came off the bench to lead the Denver Broncos to the playoffs last season.
“Two people who know Johnson, and know how he runs his football operation, believe he will push his football people to start Tebow,” the report said Tuesday.
Johnson has made no secret of his love for the left-handed Tebow, who comes in on specific plays. The involved Johnson also pushed the team to bring in Brett Favre before the 2008 season.
The Jets are in a free-fall after losing cornerback Darrelle Revis and, likely, wide receiver Santonio Holmes, for the season.
Sanchez struggled mightily in Sunday’s 34-0 loss to the San Francisco 49ers, when he completed just 13 of 29 passes for 103 yards and threw an interception. He also lost a fumble.
“I’m not ready to make a quarterback change,” Ryan said after the game. “We have to get better play at quarterback. We have to get better at a lot of things. You look at yourself first, and there are things that clearly we all need to do.”
—The New York Jets placed wide receiver Santonio Holmes on injured reserve with a Lisfranc injury and signed veteran wide receiver Jason Hill.
Holmes was not given the designated to return label, which each team can use for one player on injured reserve for the season, meaning Holmes’ 2012 season is over.
The Jets sought a veteran receiver after Holmes’ injury, releasing unproven Patrick Turner earlier in the week.
Hill, who has played for the Jacksonville Jaguars and San Francisco 49ers, was cut by the Denver Broncos at the end of training camp. He caught 25 passes for 367 yards and three touchdowns with the Jaguars last season, starting all 10 games he played in.
Hill should be familiar to Jets fans, as he called cornerback Darrelle Revis “overhyped” last season.
“This is a league full of great players,” Hill told the Florida Times-Union, at the time. “I think sometimes they get overhyped. I talked to Drew (Coleman), Drew played there. He says it’s just the aura of New York. They got a big media. That’s not the Jacksonville paper, that’s the big New York Times paper so they get more pub. That’s what it is.
“He’s been playing the game, Revis, just as long as I’ve been playing. This is a game full of good players making plays. He just made a lot more plays on TV than we’ve made being here in Jacksonville.”
Hill ended up sitting out a 32-3 Jets win.
—Kansas City Chiefs tight end Kevin Boss is expected to miss the rest of the season with a concussion he suffered in Week 2 against at Buffalo.
According to the Kansas City Star, doctors told Boss he wouldn’t be cleared to play this season.
Boss was signed as a free agent to be a complement to Tony Moeaki. He was replaced the past two games by Steve Maneri.
—The Miami Dolphins signed cornerback De’Andre Presley off their practice squad.
Presley signed with the Chargers as an undrafted free agent in May and joined Miami’s practice squad on Sept. 2 after his release in San Diego.
The versatile Presley played cornerback, wide receiver and running back at Appalachian State. He also returned punts and kickoffs and had 3,670 total yards in 2010.
The Dolphins signed defensive back Julian Posey to fill Presley’s spot on the practice squad.
—The New England Patriots re-signed inside linebacker Bobby Carpenter and released defensive lineman Terrell McClain.
Carpenter, a six-year veteran drafted in the first round by the Cowboys in 2006, has played with the Dolphins and Lions since being dealt out of Dallas. He signed with the Patriots in April but was released on Sept. 1 in final roster cuts.
McClain was signed last week. The former third-round pick started 12 games with the Panthers in 2011.
The Patriots also made two practice squad transactions, signing tight end Alex Silvestro and releasing offensive lineman Thomas Austin.
—The controversial ending to the Monday Night Football game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks was worth a quarter of a million dollars in winnings for a Canadian man, according to an ESPN.com report.
Gino DiFelice won $725,274 on a $5 bet, when the Seahawks’ last-second victory meant that he picked all 15 games correctly on his betting ticket. Canada’s provincial governments allow for citizens to bet on sports events.
Seahawks wide receiver Golden Tate was credited with a touchdown after he and Packers’ M.D. Jennings appeared to both have possession of Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson’s Hail Mary pass at the end of the game.
DiFelice told reporters that his 12-year-old daughter, Mia, helped fill out his ticket. He typically submits three tickets; one is picked by him, and each of the others is filled out by each of his two children.
“The winner was the ticket my daughter consulted me on,” he told the QMI press agency of Canada. “The funniest part is, the ticket I made all of the picks myself, I only got four right.”
—Preparing for San Francisco weapon Colin Kaepernick presents another headache for opposing teams. Just ask Buffalo Bills head coach Chan Gailey.
“Yeah, it’s a lot,” Gailey told reporters as his team prepares for Sunday’s game. “That puts a lot of stress on your defense to prepare for that week in and week out. He’s done a good job of running what they’ve put in and done a good job of keeping it varied so it’s not the same all the time.”
The 49ers unleashed their latest offensive threat in Sunday’s 34-0 drubbing of the New York Jets. Kaepernick ran for 50 yards on five attempts.
Gailey said the Bills would probably use backup quarterback Tyler Thigpen in practice this week to simulate Kaepernick. Thigpen ran 113 times for 656 yards and four touchdowns during his senior year with Coastal Carolina, in 2006.
