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Benching Sanchez should fire up Bucs

Posted Dec 10, 2009 by Ira Kaufman

Updated Dec 10, 2009 at 01:13 PM

By IRA KAUFMAN
TAMPA—If a 1-11 club needs additional motivation, the Buccaneers just got some extra juice.

Rex Ryan’s decision to sit rookie Mark Sanchez against Tampa Bay Sunday is a powerful indication the Jets believe they will handle the Bucs with a backup quarterback. That’s a slap in the facemask for a Buc defense that has improved markedly the past two weeks since Raheem Morris assumed control.

Sanchez was nursing a sprained right knee, but the first-round pick came to work Wednesday pleading with Ryan to allow him to practice and gauge how much progress his knee has made since the Dec. 3 injury against Buffalo.

Ryan was adamant that the Jets would go with Kellen Clemens, who hasn’t started a game in 23 months.

Ryan admitted that decision enraged his franchise quarterback, but Ryan isn’t backing down. For the third consecutive week, the Bucs will face a backup under center.

We’ll see if the Bucs interpret Ryan’s stance as an insult, but the fact he wouldn’t even let Sanchez step onto the practice field should tell everyone he is supremely confident about beating Tampa Bay behind a journeyman quarterback.