Mark Sanchez was the only Jets quarterback wearing a headband on Thursday, but he wasn’t the only one talking to the media.
David Garrard also took a turn in front of the microphones and cameras to talk about the quarterback competition set to unfold over the next few months. After saying he believed he still has the ability to be a starting quarterback after not playing in a regular season game since the 2010 season, Garrard went on to say that he was too old for any drama to the competition beyond just letting the best man win.
“It shouldn’t be any politics,” Garrard said, via Mike Vorkunov of the Newark Star-Ledger. “It should be the best guy playing. With that, if I’m going at it and I’m giving you my all and I’m healthy and you beat me at it, then that’s great for the team. Fortunately I’m so old I don’t care about politics anymore.”
With Sanchez still on the team because he’s owed a guaranteed salary of $8.25 million this season and Geno Smith arriving as a second-round pick, it might be wishful thinking to think that on-field play will be the only thing that determines who wins the competition. That might not wind up being a bad thing for Garrard, though.
Should the Jets decide that Smith isn’t ready and that they’d rather not chance encouraging the wrath of their fans by keeping Sanchez for another year, Garrard could wind up being the choice for the job. We’re guessing that Garrard would still accept the job under those circumstances even if he wasn’t the best guy on the field throughout training camp.