It's been suspiciously quiet on the Santonio Holmes front -- especially in the wake of Tim Tebow coming to town -- and that's just how the Jets wideout likes it.
"You haven't seen no Santonio Holmes stories in the news since the season was over," Holmes told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News this week.
Following an unnerving campaign for the Jets, Holmes is tucked away in Orlando for offseason training. The wideout just returned from a two-week trip to Africa, where he distributed hearing aids to the needy, far from the white noise surrounding Tebow's arrival in The Big Apple.
"He didn't really care (about the trade)," a player training with Holmes told the News. "'Tone' just wants the ball. He said it's all on Sanchez this time. If Sanchez trips (up), then he'll be on the bench going, 'Tebow! Tebow!' like everyone else.'
The receiver's personal coach, Tom Shaw, emphasized Holmes isn't rooting for Sanchez's demise, but hungry to recapture some of the spark he shared with his quarterback in 2010 and before that with Ben Roethlisberger in Pittsburgh.
"He wants Sanchez to be successful. He's never told me that this guy sucks," Shaw said. "The one thing about Sanchez is that he doesn't want to make mistakes. And that's what Santonio says. Ben Roethlisberger would just let the ball go. He doesn't care if (Holmes) is triple covered. If Ben thought Santonio could make a play for him, he's shooting it in there. The more experience Sanchez gets, the more chances he'll take. Then you'll start seeing more balls to Santonio."
Holmes came undone late last season, tweaked over a career-low 654 receiving yards on an offense that couldn't get out of its own way. Holmes won't say it, but the people around him will: Sanchez is under the gun, the leash pulled tight as Tebow tweets out his love for Fireman Ed and the greater Tri-state area.
Maybe this is how the Jets prefer it. After all, it's an environment they willingly created.
