Mark Sanchez is done as a New York Jet.
The Jets have announced that Dr. James Andrews will perform season-ending shoulder surgery on Sanchez today. With the team fully committed to Geno Smith as its quarterback of the future, there is almost no chance of Sanchez returning to the Jets in 2014. His time with the Jets has come to an end.
“After over seven weeks of hard work and intense rehab, I’ve been advised by Dr. Andrews and other doctors that my shoulder injury clearly needs to be addressed surgically,” Sanchez said in a statement. “The injury was recovering at an encouraging rate early on, and I avoided surgery as long as I could, but ultimately I was counseled by the doctors that they simply would have to repair my shoulder.”
The fifth overall pick in the 2009 NFL draft, Sanchez was hailed as the franchise savior as the Jets went to the AFC Championship Game in each of his first two seasons. But Sanchez never improved as a passer and became the subject of intense criticism as his team struggled. Now Sanchez will rehab his shoulder and look to revive his career somewhere else next year.