EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. – Maurice Jones-Drew and Mark Sanchez had everyone talking the last time the Jacksonville Jaguars and New York Jets played each other.
It was all about one guy’s kneel-down and the other’s near-meltdown on that November afternoon two years ago.
There was Jones-Drew taking a knee at the one-yard line despite having a clear path to the end zone to help the Jaguars run out the clock and kick the winning field goal, sending fantasy football fans into a frenzy.
He knows where they’re coming from, but he’s still not sorry.
“The fans obviously, (with) fantasy, they hated it,” Jones-Drew said. “At the same time, fantasy is a fun thing, it’s a hobby for me. It doesn’t pay the bills. So I have to take care of what pays the bills, you know?”
And, that’s whatever it takes to win on the field, of course. The Jaguars (1-0) and Jets (1-0) will meet again for the first time since at MetLife Stadium on Sunday.
Sanchez’s post-game press conference that day raised lots of eyebrows when he pulled out a sheet of paper and read off a list of prepared remarks. It was a curious move that some called arrogant, while others thought it was just plain silly. He was a rookie then, just a few games into his NFL career, and believed he had cost his team a few victories with spotty play.
“I was just stupid,” Sanchez said. “I would think I would be ready to handle it and at that moment you feel like, ‘Man, I need an answer for all that stuff, and here’s what it is.’ And that was just stupid and a dumb, dumb rookie mistake. So, that won’t happen again.”
With the Jets holding a late 22-21 lead in the teams’ last matchup, the Jaguars were driving down the field when New York coach Rex Ryan made the bold decision to allow the Jaguars to score. This way, Ryan thought, the Jets could get the ball back with about 2 minutes left for a winning drive of their own.
Instead, Jones-Drew took the handoff and was tackled at the Jets 10.
“Ten of us knew to let him score,” Ryan said, smiling. “I’m not going to put Marques Douglas under the bus — you know I love Douglas — but he had the classic quote of all time. He told me, ‘Hey, he’d been breaking that tackle all day.’ I was like, ‘Really, that’s what you came up with?’”
Hearing the angry yells from the Jets’ sideline, Jaguars coach Jack Del Rio quickly drew up the new game plan.
Jones-Drew took the next handoff, went off left tackle and stunningly dropped to a knee at the one.
“He said, ‘Listen, they’re trying to let you score, the best thing for us right now as a team would be not to put our defence out there. Take a knee, get the first down and we’ll be able to run the clock out,’” Jones-Drew recalled. “Like I said, we always play to win the game, if I can quote Herm Edwards at the time.”
A few moments later, Josh Scobee kicked a 21-yard field goal as time expired.
It was soon after that when Sanchez took the podium to try to explain his performance. Ryan says that was then, and Sanchez now is a different person — more mature, experienced and better able to handle adversity.
“At the time, I was probably right there with him,” Ryan said. “We were both rookies at the job. I really never even thought about it, though. It wasn’t something I would lecture the guy (about). We always say, ‘Be yourself.’ He doesn’t need a prepared statement to do interviews and I think he knows that now.”
Sanchez has since established himself as the undisputed face of the franchise, and the team needs to protect him better because its Super Bowl hopes could depend on it. The quarterback was banged up in the opener against Dallas and was even tested for a concussion. He’s fine, though, and recognizes that although it’s just Week 2, the Jets have to stay sharp after an emotionally charged victory in the opener in which they erased a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit with the 10th anniversary of the terrorist attacks as the backdrop.
“This week, we can’t impress upon ourselves enough about how another AFC opponent (is) coming to our place,” Sanchez said. “This is a must win.”
Yes, he means it. And so do most of his teammates. A 2-0 start at home could be crucial, especially considering that the Jets are on the road for the next three weeks.
“I don’t think I’ve ever played three games in a row (on the road),” said Plaxico Burress, who made his NFL return last week after a nearly three-year layoff. “This game is critical for us to get. We don’t know how those things down the road are going to come out.”
Meanwhile, the Jaguars are trying to win the first two games of the season for the seventh time in franchise history, and first since 2006. They’re also hoping to start 1-0 on the road for the first time since 2007.
“We know what kind of team we have,” said quarterback Luke McCown, who made his first NFL start in four years. “We’re a hard-hat kind of a team and we’re going to work every day and at the end of the day suit up, buckle your chin strap and play ball.”
McCown was efficient in his first start with the Jaguars after replacing David Garrard as the starter. He went 17 of 24 for 175 yards last week, but could be without one of his primary targets against the Jets. Tight end Marcedes Lewis is dealing with a strained right calf suffered in the opener, and was planning to test it Friday to see if he’d be able to play Sunday.
“It’s just so annoying,” Lewis said. “This could happen in camp, you know what I mean? But I’m human. Things happen, and you have to roll with the punches and treat it.”
Having Lewis to go along with wide receivers Mike Thomas and Jason Hill helps set up a running game with Jones-Drew leading the way. The running back was miffed during last week’s game when Del Rio sat him for much of the fourth quarter in an effort to try to keep his play count down and his health up.
“When you’re in the middle of the game, tempers flare, emotions are flying,” Jones-Drew said. “That’s what it was.”
He apologized to Del Rio, but after playing 14 games with a torn meniscus in his right knee last season and needing surgery, Jones-Drew insists he’s feeling good.
“It actually feels like it did when I was 8 years old, or maybe when I was born,” Jones-Drew said. “It feels like a fresh-out-of-the-womb knee. Nothing is wrong.”
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AP Sports Writer Mark Long in Jacksonville, Fla., contributed to this report.
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