Safety Kerry Rhodes was removed from his starting role by Rex Ryan. Fourth-year veteran Eric Smith, also a special teams standout, will go in his place.
In the locker room today, Rhodes admitted it was tough to deal with and that coming to work this morning was not the easiest thing to do. He said that last night all sorts of things crossed his mind, along the lines of whether he should even continue playing if he wasn't helping the team.
However, he has described his benching as a "like a little kid in time out." Both he and Ryan expect him to regain his starting job. In fact, Ryan today said he was "banking on" Rhodes responding in a positive way and Rhodes indicated he has every intention of getting his job back.
Then there's Sanchez. Ryan has avowed over and over again that Sanchez is the starter. Personally, for whatever it's worth, I would have taken him out in the fourth quarter of Sunday's game. If for no other reason than to give him a chance to catch his breath and get his equilibrium back. Whether or not they think Sanchez gives them the best chance to win, he has been going a million miles an hour since training camp and maybe throwing Kellen Clemens in might have been good all the way around.
Sanchez is a good rookie quarterback and from all evidence he has the potential to be a great quarterback but he's still finding his way. That's what being a rookie is all about - sometimes you need a break to process what's happening.
In separate and unrelated news, a shout out to my friend Brandon for exhibiting exceptional water cooler prowess earlier today.
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