We now enter the portion of the New York Jets discussion where everyone blames Mark Sanchez and his deplorable season for all of the franchise's ills.
On Wednesday night, it was former Jets teammate Kris Jenkins' turn on Showtime's "Inside the NFL."
"What Sanchez has to take responsibility for is during the time that he could have gotten better he wanted to sit back," said Jenkins, who played with Sanchez in 2009 and 2010, via the New York Post. "He wanted to pose for magazines, worry about his haircuts and do all of that stuff. ... I'm just saying, from what I saw him do, it was a lot better than what it is now. But he coasted. They coddled him. That was what was going on."
The "coddle theory" isn't exactly new. The Jets' handling of their supposed franchise quarterback has been questioned since the team was on HBO's "Hard Knocks" in 2010, Sanchez's second NFL season. The Jets also jettisoned offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer in part because Sanchez's improvement stalled. Then there was that Tim Tebow debacle.
The New York Daily News reported Wednesday that the Jets would try to trade Sanchez during the offseason. Jenkins said the Jets have no choice.
"I think that if you leave Sanchez in that locker room, he is going to become a bad apple. ... And the locker room has been fragile for the past two years," Jenkins said.
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This isn't the first time the former Pro Bowl nose tackle has taken shots at Jets players. We'd be amiss, however, not to point out that Jenkins himself was largely a bust after the Jets traded two draft picks to the Carolina Panthersfor him in 2008, then gave him a new five-year, $35 million contract with $20 million guaranteed. He spent much of his final two seasons in New York on injured reserve with anterior cruciate ligament injuries.
When asked where he saw the Jets going from this point, Jenkins didn't mince words.
"Nowhere. It is done," he said. "Stick a fork in them."
Don't worry, Kris, we already did.
Follow Kevin Patra on Twitter @kpatra.