Is The Season Really Over For Mark Sanchez?

Ever since hurting his throwing shoulder in the preseason game against the Giants, there has been speculation as to whether or not Mark Sanchez will play this season. Wednesday, Sanchez met with Dr. James Andrews, and according to reports, Dr. Andrews confirmed that Sanchez has a labral tear in his right shoulder, and the quarterback is "likely to have surgery" that would end his 2013 season, according to team and league sources, as well as a source close to Sanchez. However, Sanchez disputed the account in a text message to ESPN: “If I needed surgery right now, I never would have left Andrews’ office. I would’ve stayed and got the surgery.” “There’s nothing to report,” he added. “It’s reckless.”

Sanchez will try to rehab his shoulder as surgery remains a possibility — either now or at the end of the season, according to multiple reports. The New York Daily News said he would be evaluated from “week-to-week.” Surgery would likely end Sanchez’s Jets career. A labrum will not heal itself; once it is torn, it is torn until it is repaired. The question is whether a player can function adequately despite the tear. It is not a career-threatening injury.

From every indication I've gotten, it doesn't really matter what happens to Sanchez, in regards to surgery, he is likely done anyway as Jets Quarterback. Lets think about this for a moment. If Rex Ryan really wanted Mark Sanchez to be his starting QB this year, then I HIGHLY doubt he would have put him in the Giants game to begin with. In all lieklyhood, Sanchez was probably going to be let go at seasons end anyway, at least that's how some local sports writers feel. The team probably feels they made a mistake signing Sanchez to the $8 million extension a few years ago, and then he turned in the year he did. That's what I think is really leading to his exidus from New York. The injury just makes this an easy scapecoat for the team.

The organization should be embarrassed by the way it has treated Sanchez in recent weeks. Coach Rex Ryan made the irresponsible decision to insert Sanchez in the fourth quarter of a preseason game -- behind a bunch of scrubs on the offensive line. At that point, Sanchez was to be the opening-day starter. Ryan tried to rationalize the decision, saying he wanted to beat the Giants -- lame. To make it worse, owner Woody Johnson suggested recently that Sanchez should have protected himself on the play during which he was injured, intimating that the signal-caller was partially to blame. That's not how you treat players, especially a quarterback you're paying $8.25 million this season.

What's happened with Sanchez, from an injury perspective, is a lot similar to that of Chad Pennington. See when Pennington was with the Jets, he hurt his throwing shoulder in a game against Miami. He had surgery and tried to come back but it just wasn't the same and, eventually, Pennington's career ended. That's what's happening here with Sanchez. The difference is, with Sanchez, the team is basically throwing him under the bus, no longer wanting anything to do with him. With Pennington, that never happened.

Mark Sanchez has appeared to throw his final pass in a Jets uniform.