Mark Sanchez is the anti-Roger Dorn. He's diving for everything. Which is exactly why Rex Ryan would like to beat that competitive spirit out of him before it's too late.The handsomest interception machine in the NFL hurt the PCL in his right knee last night while diving for a first down against the Buffalo Bills. Sure, you'd love for your QB to slide in most cases, but when a first down is on the line, that'd be a good time to dive for it, no?
Ryan kindly disagrees with you.
‘‘I know why he did it. It wouldn’t have been a first down if he didn’t,’’ said Ryan. ‘‘But he has to understand (to slide). He’s crucial to our success. He can’t be reckless. I never want to see him diving forward. I thought we were clear on that.’’
Never? Ever? I mean, yeah, you don't want your franchise quarterback taking unnecessary big hits, but never dive? It's not like he took a blow to his knee from a linebacker. He hurt himself with his awkwardness. He drove his own knee into the ground. Maybe instead of having Joe Girardi teach him out to slide, maybe someone should've taught him how to not be such an uncoordinated mess.
I'm not ready to say Rex Ryan is clueless, but statements like, "I never want to see him diving forward," make me think this guy isn't an outside-the-box thinker. Quarterbacks eschew the slide all the time and dive forward for that extra yard. The reason why it's a non-story is because none of them are goofy enough to hurt themselves in the process. Hell, I've seen goofy scrambling machine Eli Manning dive for extra yards dozens of times, and he's yet to hurt himself doing so.
Someone better buy Mark Sanchez a Slip N' Slide soon, because he's going to dive again in the near future. Or maybe the Jets should finish that time machine and go back to the 2009 Draft and pass on trading up to take a guy who is the only person on the planet whose knees hit the ground first on a dive.
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