I hope if he is in that situation again he does the same exact thing. We needed a first down there, he doesn't get it if he slides. The guy is a football player, any top Qb is diving on that exact play, it is ridiculous to think otherwise. You slide when you are past the first down marker or not going to get a first down not when you are right at he marker. It was a gutsy play, everything was done right except that he banged his knee on a shitty surface. Maybe he needs someone to teach him how to dive?
He needs to learn how to hover just above ground. Michael J. Fox has been called in for his work in Back to the Future.
I suggested that the other day. When did Joe Girardi ever even reach base let alone slide? Rickey would do it, hell put him at WR, he can probably catch better than Edwards.
I seem to remember Girardi as a head first slider anyway, maybe that is how he taught Sanchez? Now he just needs to teach him not to bang his knee on a crap surface.
You guys are looking at this the wrong way. The top QBs don't need to know how to dive because they move the ball by throwing it, not needlessly risking big hits to pick up 5 yards. Sliding or not the guy has taken off and run way too much the last couple of weeks. Either he gains confidence in his ability to throw the ball downfield without turning it over and that solves these stupid running problems or he remains petrified of turning the ball over and eventually seriously injuries himself and becomes another QB bust.
Chad first ruined his shoulder, ironically at Buffalo, not sliding after he had gotten a first down running.
Six yards isn't asking much, most QBs with mobility will do what he did. would you rather him force the ball into coverage like he was doing?
I love Sanchez's heart...but this kid has got to start listening to his coaches. All that hoopla and effort spent this week getting him to slide to avoid another injury...and what happens? He hurts himself and his team by not doing what he's been coached on all week. Mark, you don't want to slide? Fine. Then don't run. But....that said, I've seen more injuries to qb's in the pocket than when they run. Tough to try and change the way a player plays. Remember his first td run against the Titans in week 3? It gave me a mild heart attack, but it made it clear to me what kind of player he is. "That's just the way I've been playing since I was little," he said. "I don't know if the coaches were thrilled about it, but it worked out and there were no injuries. So, it was a great play." Think Sanchez would have given up the 1st down if he knew it would keep him healthy? I guess it comes down to picking your spots.
All good points. For all the running around Randall Cunningham did in his early days, the worst injury he ever got was in the pocket in 1991.
Hey I can finally add something useful...... wooohooo: Just recently I tore my PCL in a freak injury playing icehockey. It probably looked similar to what happened to Sanchez, the way I landed on my knee. I was able to play the rest of the game as it happened in the beginning. However, as soon as I took my equipment off my leg swelled like crazy....anyway. The PCL is a freak injury the vast majority of which happen in car crashes. It keeps the shin in line so most injuries happen from the jarring of your shin (ie: hitting the dashboard forcefully). If you tear it, they do nothing but rehab as it is in the back of everything and repairing it is very difficult unless you need to reconstruct the entire knee. So I would imagine a sprain is even more mild. I wouldn't worry about it too much. I played on the tear for the next month or so. When I got it diagnosed officially, the Doc gave me a months rest pending the beginning rehab then I wasn't supposed to play for another month. I started playing the week after rehab began, which was pretty stupid. It took sometime for my knee to stop swelling and to be relatively pain free, I would say 2 1/2 months total. It was very painful in the beginning and I did question my sanity for coming back too soon..... fwiw. That being said I am 39 y/o with nary a history of injuries save for a broken hand x 3 and a mild knee sprain 20+ years ago. Sanchez being 23 y/o is going to be fine. Keep in mind with Sanchez that this is his first year in the pro's and he is hitting that wall where his body just isn't used to playing so much. I suppose the freakness of the injury is or can be a result of the body just not being used to the long season. It happens in every sport to almost all young players save the freaks of nature and Sanchez isn't one of those.
Thanks for the info, it is soothing to hear news like this. Like you said his is just a sprain so should be fine. If we start stomping the Bucs and are blowing them out, they'll prolly take Mark out, and I agree.
Or he could throw the ball away if nothing was there and go get em next time. The Jets were winning, it's not like this was some do or die situation. I'd much rather they work on getting him to recognize how and when to just give up on a play and throw it away than this sliding nonsense.
Haha I like the description, "Mark Sanchez misses Cotchery for a wide open touchdown, but fortunately finds someone else's Cotchery"
