If you haven't heard by now, Mark Sanchez has organized "Jets West." He and some of his teammates are getting some reps in to prepare for the team's upcoming training camp. One player not in attendance? Rookie quarterback and second-round pick Geno Smith. He and Sanchez will be competing for the Jets' starting quarterback job. Sanchez has remained confident that he will win the job and wasn't concerned that Smith was absent from his organized practices.
NFL news roundup: Mark Sanchez on Geno Smith’s absence from ‘Jets West’ and Vonta Leach rumors
“Jets West” has provided plenty of entertainment during the NFL’s slow news cycle.
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Gang Green Nation wrote:
[A]ttending Jets West is not the only way for a player to train properly for a season. These guys are busy. Their schedules might not fit. In Geno’s case, he is competing directly with Sanchez for a starting job so he might not be comfortable attending. It really doesn’t matter. If Jets West was so important, the Jets’ offense would not have been the mess it was the last two years.
The fullback position may be declining in value, but Vonta Leach is still commanding some attention on the open market. The Dolphins have shown a lot of interest in the former Raven, but negotiations can't continue until Jeff Ireland returns from vacation. That's right, NFL general managers take some time off once in a while, too.
Larry Fitzgerald had one of the least productive seasons of his career in 2012. While that was mostly due to poor quarterback play, the totals of 798 yards and four touchdowns were disappointing. The Cardinals signed Fitzgerald to a huge contract extension in 2011, and that's going to start to have a big impact on their salary cap in the coming years. It's not much of an issue at the moment, but Fitzgerald's cap hits in 2014 and 2015 are expected to be the largest ever for a wide receiver, so the deal may need to be restructured.
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