The most obvious implication of the decision of the Jets to use their only (for 2013) short-term injured reserve designation on quarterback Mark Sanchez is that Sanchez doesn’t need surgery now.
It doesn’t mean he won’t need surgery later.
Per a source with knowledge of the situation, the decision to shelve Sanchez for at least six weeks of practice and eight weeks of games means that doctors have recommended ongoing rehab, for now. If the rehab doesn’t work, surgery may still be needed.
The current approach has risk for both the team and the player. If rehab doesn’t work, the Jets will have wasted their short-term IR designation on a guy who won’t be able to return. And if surgery gets delayed too long, Sanchez’s ability to find a new team in 2014 will be delayed.
“That six-week period really kind of marries up with what we’re hearing from the latest medical information or latest recommendations,” G.M. John Idzik said Saturday, via Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. “So we decided to go that path.”
With Sanchez and the Jets, it’s been a convoluted and unpredictable path. We’ve got a feeling there will still be a few twists, potholes, and road apples along the way.