New York Jets general manager John Idzik and head coach Rex Ryan were the last team duo to address the media on Thursday during the 2013 NFL Combine. Heading into the offseason, the largest issue surrounding the team had been the subpar play of fourth-year quarterback Mark Sanchez and the drama surrounding his backup, Tim Tebow.
2013 NFL Combine: Darrelle Revis questions completely overshadowed Jets quarterback situation
Even though many believe the New York Jets’ most pressing need heading into the 2013 season is quarterback, 11 minutes passed in general manager John Idzik’s press conference before the word quarterback was even mentioned.
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However, a month ago, rumors surfaced that the Jets may trade star Darrelle Revis before the 2013 season when the cornerback stated that Jets owner Woody Johnson would rather trade him than pay him the money he is owed. Revis is set to hit free agency following the 2013 season and is reportedly looking for a contract in the $100 million range, making him one of the highest payed players in the league.
Those trade rumors completely dominated Idzik’s and Ryan’s press conferences on Thursday. In fact, it took 11 full minutes for a single question to be asked about the team’s quarterback situation, despite the fact that the duo made it clear, over and over again, that they weren’t going to address the situation with the media.
"I don't want to get into speculation," Idzik said, somewhat flustered, during his press conference at the Combine after fielding several questions on the same subject. "I think as a general rule, I think you can understand this and respect it, we won't ever get into contractual discussions publicly, we won't get into speculation publicly but we will deal with the here and now. That is the most fruitful way. Otherwise, it could be very misleading and we don't want to do that."
Eleven minutes is a long time, especially when you’re forced to attempt to answer the same question in a different way over and over again without completely snapping. When he was finally asked a question about the team’s quarterback situation, Idzik was finally able to say something other than “I won’t say anything.”
“Well, I don’t limit it to last year,” he said when asked of his impressions of Sanchez’s game film. “I think it is a total look. Mark Sanchez has been in the league for a couple of years. I think everyone, Mark Included, recognized that he, our offense, our team as a whole, has to perform better than we did in 2012. Add we’re going to do that. We’re going to do everything to increase the competition so that he plays better. We have a new offensive coordinator, we have a new quarterbacks coach, staff changes that I think will be healthy for Mark so that we can again get the juices flowing and turn the page to 2013 and not look back to 2012 and start anew and get rolling.”
If the Jets were to keep Revis through the 2013 season and if they’re unable to come up with the money to re-sign him, they would lose him and get nothing in return for one of the best corners in the league, so a possible trade would make sense. However, it’s clear that the Jets front office won’t be letting us know anything about the situation anytime soon.
What’s even more interesting is the fact that Tim Tebow wasn’t even mentioned. Maybe we’re finally starting to turn a corner.
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