Sanchez is Game-Time Decision for Jets Sunday Matchup in Chicago

Is Mark Sanchez kidding? Sadly, the answer to that question is no. Mark Sanchez has been taking it slow in practice this week due torn cartilage in his throwing shoulder that he suffered on one of his run plays in the second quarter of the Jets 22-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers last Sunday.

How did Sanchez injure his shoulder then, you might ask? Well, what shouldn't surprise you is that Sanchez still hasn't learned the all important art of SLIDING, something that is essential to the safety of every quarterback. I could see when he got up slowly on the play that something wasn't right and he was slightly favoring his right shoulder, and, sure enough, it is now an injured right shoulder.

Sanchez will now be a game-time decision for Sunday's game against the Bears in Chicago, head coach Rex Ryan announced on Thursday. 

Sanchez was relegated in practice on Wednesday, mostly soft-tossing and handing the ball off.

The second year quaterback was on the field Thursday morning for Jets practice, but he didn't look comfortable. The quarterback made a soft toss here or there, but nothing with any power behind it. A few times, he held his arm awkwardly.

Both Mark Brunell and Kellen Clemens, the Jets' backup quarterbacks, made a full complement of throws, and Ryan said he felt good about having Brunell start if Sanchez isn't able to go.

It would be a high-stakes game for the veteran quarterback's first start with the Jets.

"Everyone knows the situation, we're close to potentially getting in the playoffs," Brunell said. "You think about that game, and in that game you think about one play at a time."

Several players addressed the notion that a potential quarterback switch so late in the season could put more pressure on the running game. Fullback Tony Richardson said that in the cold weather, ground and pound is the strategy anyway, so Brunell wouldn't affect the strategy that dramatically.

Ryan scaled back the certainty that Sanchez would start from 99 percent to 80 percent. Sanchez was limited after practice Wednesday and had his weekly news conference afterward.

"I'll be ready to go for Sunday," Sanchez said. "I felt good in practice. Felt like I could have done more and they're just holding me back to be smart. [We'll] take it from there, but if we were playing today, I'd play."

Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer said he expects Sanchez to play, but there would be minimal adjustment needed if Brunell starts.

"There's really not much that we would adjust or change," Schottenheimer said. "The biggest issue is probably the fact that he's left-handed, there'd be a few things here or there you might want to flip over and run the other way. For the most part you don't change too much, the volume might be cut back just a little bit but we wouldn't really adjust too much what we do."

Schottenheimer said Sanchez got better as practice went on. He said there was an 18-yard pass on a curl route that had a good amount of zip on it, and Sanchez had the majority of reps.

"He looked good today," Schottenheimer said.

I'm going to go ahead and assume that Sanchez is under center for the Jets first offensive play on Sunday afternoon and that if he can't play with a slight cartilage tear in his throwing shoulder, he should seriously consider doing something else. When he has a torn labrum and rotator cuff in his throwing shoulder and plays through that, then we can have a conversation. I did that two years ago and it is no easy task.

By no means am I calling out Sanchez or taking shots at him, I love the guy and have since he was at USC, but I am just saying that the Jets need him to play this weekend against the Bears and need him to perform well if they plan on making it out of the first round of the playoffs.