New York Jets coach Rex Ryan appeared to offer his most tepid endorsement yet of quarterback Mark Sanchez on Wednesday, telling reporters that Sanchez is the starter "this week."
When pressed by reporters about the "this week" part, according to the New York Post, Ryan said "He's our starter. What do you want me to say? He's our starter this week. He's our starter. So you can get answer A and answer B and come up with C, I guess."
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Ryan was asked why he wasn't willing to commit to Sanchez as the starter for the rest of the season.
"I'm not going to deal in what-ifs," the coach said, The Star-Ledger reported. "I'm telling you right now, he's our starting quarterback this week barring injury, and things happen. But I feel really confident in Mark and you're right, I've never wavered on that."
Backup quarterback Tim Tebow took a handful of snaps in the Jets' Monday night loss to the Houston Texans and threw one deep pass that was dropped.
On Tuesday, Ryan said "Yeah, no question," when asked if Sanchez was still his starter.
Receiving little help from either his wide receivers or the Jets' running game, Sanchez has struggled painfully at times during the team's 2-3 start. He is last in the NFL in completion percentage at 48.4, and his passer rating of 66.6 leads only the Kansas City Chiefs' Matt Cassel (66.2) and Cleveland Browns rookie Brandon Weeden (64.5) among the 32 starting NFL quarterbacks.
Asked to respond to his coach's remarks, Sanchez said: "He has faith in me. I believe that. I'm not worried about that," according to the New York Daily News.
