We were just kidding earlier this week when we fake-mocked Joe Girardi for showing up at Jets practice to teach Mark Sanchez how to slide. It was a nice gesture for him to come by: Jets coach Rex Ryan wanted someone to explain to Sanchez how not to slide headfirst, and Joe Girardi happened to be answering phones that day. We get it. But if Girardi was going to make the trip, he should have at least done the job. Because when Sanchez went to slide in the third quarter of the Jets’ win over the Bills last night, darned if he didn’t go headfirst again … and he might have ended his season.
Sanchez is undergoing an MRI this morning, and we should know by noon how hurt he really is. Wire reports are more optimistic than the Daily News is. And certainly more than Sanchez is.
“It just doesn’t feel right, that’s for sure,” said Sanchez, who hobbled to his postgame news conference with a brace on his knee.
Sanchez, in a moment of gallows humor, sent out an apology to Girardi. Ryan, in no mood for joking, was furious with Sanchez for not heeding the advice to slide.
“I love the kid, but he has to grow up and understand that he represents our entire organization,” he said.
The Jets’ victory kept their thin playoff hopes alive, though those hopes are somewhat imperiled by a Sanchez injury. Considering how many injuries, even aside from Sanchez, the Jets have right now, it’s impressive that they’ve hung in this long. They’re now only a game and a half behind New England, pending the Pats’ game in Miami on Sunday.
Until we know how Sanchez is, though, no one knows nothin’. We hope Girardi was screaming at his television last night.