New York Jets News: Santonio Holmes, Mark Sanchez
New York Jets wide receiver Santonio Holmes suffered a season-ending Lisfranc injury last season in Week 4, and he has still been slow to recover from that injury. There is a chance that Holmes ends up getting placed on the PUP list, which would crush the Jets depth at wide receiver in the early part of the regular season and put a further strain on either Mark Sanchez or Geno Smith. Holmes was noncommittal on his status for training camp or for Week 1 of the regular season against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, and it is evident that Holmes’s Lisfranc injury has been incredibly slow to heal.
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According to Jane McManus of ESPN New York, Holmes still hasn’t resumed running, and it sounds like he is a long way off from returning. In fact, Holmes is only working out on a stationary bike, and this is all very troublesome for a Jets offense that already lacks playmakers as it stands. If Holmes’s injury is indeed that bad, then the New York Jets had better hope Kellen Winslow Jr.‘s knees hold up if they choose to sign the veteran tight end (they recently worked out him and Mike Sims-Walker).
Santonio Holmes was noncommittal on his injury status, but that hasn’t stopped him from once again weighing in on the quarterback situation. Per McManus, Holmes is also backing up Mark Sanchez publicly as the starter, who is ESPN New York beat writer Rich Cimini’s pick to win the starting job.
Holmes is a player who likes to speak his mind, so this statement from Holmes qualifies as a ringing endorsement from a wide receiver who has played with Sanchez for three seasons, “[Sanchez is] going to be our guy. Coaches brought him back and they kept him on this team for a reason. He’s a great leader and he’s got great potential and he’s excited about this season upcoming, and so am I.”
If Holmes likes him so much, then he had better to what he can to get healthy quickly and hope that luck is on his side, because Sanchez will need all the help he can get next season. The same can be said for Geno Smith, and it is clear that while Holmes is an inconsistent player, he’s clearly an important option in the New York Jets passing attack.