Mark Sanchez Was Ready To Lay Down His Own Brand Of Hard Knocks On Rex Ryan

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez admits there was a time last season when he wanted to lay down his own version of Hard Knocks on his coach Rex Ryan-- with his fists.

Last year, after Jets head coach Rex Ryan came close to benching Mark Sanchez, the quarterback said the incident nearly caused him to come to blows with the outspoken Jets coach.

According to the New York Post, Sanchez-- he of movie-star looks and lifestyle-- told GQ magazine, in the new issue featuring the NFL, he wanted to throw down a beating on his mentor and coach.

"I wanted to fight him.  I was really mad," opened up Sanchez in the revealing article.

According to Sanchez, he had not been playing well during consecutive losses to division rivals, the New England Patriots and Miami Dolphins, causing the never-shy Ryan to openly speculate about sitting down his signal-caller and replace him with back-up quarterback Mark Brunell.

Brunell was instructed by Ryan to start practicing more with the other starters.

Sanchez said he took this as a subtle message that the head coach was considering benching him and it made the Gang Green QB see red.

The scorned Sanchez put down his dukes after offensive coordinator, Brian Schottenheimer, intervened.

The article reports that Schottenheimer-- as the messenger-- reminded Sanchez of Ryan's order for Brunell to handle more of the first-team practices which made Sanchez want to call out Ryan.

"I was like [Ryan] can come tell me [himself],' recalled Sanchez.

Schottenheimer threw water on the fired up QB.

The coordinator consoled the unhappy Sanchez.  "And [Schottenheimer] is like, ' Come on, man, don't do that,'" he revealed to GQ.

Ryan and Sanchez have always had a father-son relationship-- albeit one that could blow at any time.  It's pretty easy with a no-nonsense-speaker like Ryan, even with the soft-spoken Sanchez, but the head coach has stood by his QB through all of Sanchez's growing pains in the NFL.

"Rex is super honest," said Sanchez.  "I wish he wasn't that honest at times."

In the article, Sanchez delves into his personal life as a rich single man in New York City and the boundaries he has learned to set for himself outside of the game.  He acknowledges that the rock star life style has its limits.

"You have to be a 24-year-old bachelor with the means to do anything, just about, but with the wherewithal and understanding and life skills of a 45 year-old Supreme Court judge," he said.

Even a 45 year-old Supreme Court judge has probably felt like giving the loud-mouth Jets head coach a pop on the snout at one time or another.

Bill "The Big Tuna" Parcells Now Dolphin-Free

Bill Parcells, a consultant to the Miami Dolphins, is taking his Team Rehab show on the road once again.  The well-traveled NFL head coach, general manager, consultant and talent evaluator's next gig will be under the studio lights at ESPN.

Parcells, who was with the Dolphins organization since 2007, will be joining ESPN for a third time as host of a program about the NFL draft.

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The taped hour-and-a-half special titled "Bill Parcells Draft Confidential" will give viewers inside look at the NFL draft process.  Parcells' thirty years of NFL experience will give fans an insider's perspective as how the draft works.

The 69 year-old team fixer-upper will break down how football teams evaluate players and "how difficult it is to draft successfully."

Parcells may want to explain to Dolphin fans how he let quarterback Matt Ryan slip through his hands a few years ago.  Instead, he drafted a great offensive tackle in Jake Long, but the bane of the Miami teams during his tenure was the lack of a good or injury-free signal-caller.

The Big Tuna, named for his once-rotund body and penchant for the sandwich, had a reputation as a great coach and team flipper.  He twice turned the three-win 1983 New York Giants into Super Bowl Champions during seven years,  and took the New England Patriots to another in 1996.

Parcells' magic touch started to fade after coaching the New York Jets and the Dallas Cowboys.  He left both teams in flux before moving to Miami as the V.P. of Football Operations.

The Dolphins were 11-5 his first year and won the AFC East title, but the team never met expectations the next two years. He passed the V.P. job to Jeff Ireland before last season and stayed on as consultant.

Where Parcells lands after this is any one's guess.  He has "retired" before due to health reasons or refusing to cow-tow to a flamboyant owner, but his football I.Q. is still in high demand.   Even the label 'egomaniac' won't scare away prospective suitors.

ESPN could keep Parcells on it's analyst roster.  He has broadcast experience and done it many times before.  Parcells worked with NBC for two years and  co-hosted a weekly show with Mike Francesa in New York, where he is still idolized by Giants fans.

It's a good bet Parcells will be netted by a struggling team needing a quick-fix and turnaround. The lure of the game is too strong for the coach.

It'll be interesting to hear Parcells' calculations on the Carolina Panthers first draft pick--quarterback or lineman?  The former linebackers-coach has a soft-spot for lineman.  Look how hard he rode Phil Simms and threw roses at L.T.'s feet during the Giants championship years.

I just wonder if Parcells regrets not taking Ryan and if he had taken the quarterback instead of Long, would he still be Miami?

The show airs Tuesday, April 26 at 9:30 ET.

NFL Fines New York Jets $100 Grand For Tripping Incident

The NFL has fined the New York Jets $100,000 for an assistant coach tripping a Miami Dolphins special teams player during a game on December 12.  Jets strength and conditioning coach, Sal Alosi, was caught on tape--and thousands of camera phones--sticking his knee out and knocking down the Dolphins Nolan Carroll as he ran down the sideline on kick coverage.

Alosi was the alleged ringleader in a planned strategy of building a wall of other Jets coaches and assistants to block the sideline.  He has already indefinitely suspended for the rest of the season and fined $25,000 by the Jets for the incident.

A statement from the NFL said the Jets violated league rules by forming the illegal sideline barrier and the tactic was deemed both a "competitive violation" and "dangerous."

The NFL fine could be in response to the Jets special teams coordinator Mike Westhoff's public criticism of a "team up north [the New England Patriots?] uses the same tactic."

The NFL wants to make it clear to players and coaches not to engage in "public criticism of other clubs."

The Jets have not disclosed how long they will suspend Alosi beyond the season but a spokesperson said the team will comply with the league's decision.

Giants Host Dolphins at Meadowlands Practice Facility

The New York Giants invited the Miami Dolphins into their training facility tomorrow to help them prepare for the Dolphin's Sunday afternoon game against the Giants co-tenants, the New York Jets.   While the Jets head coach Rex Ryan was burying a jinxed football outside his team's practice facility yesterday, the Jets owner, Woody Johnson, was digging up negative feelings between the two New York teams who share one stadium.

Giants co-owner, John Mara said he didn't contact the Jets owner because he felt it was just a simple case of civility.   Jets fans think it sounds fishy that their New Meadowlands roommates would turn their practice field into a northern version of Sea World right before a big game against their AFC East division rivals.  All that's missing is Miami consultant--and former Giant and Jet coach--Bill "Big Tuna" Parcells performing a Shamu act.

The Giants agreed to allow the Dolphins team use of the indoor field almost a month ago.  Mara said he wishes he contacted the Jets before the invitation. The Dolphins head coach, Tony Sparano, is the Giants former defensive coordinator.

Johnson did phone Mara and voiced his displeasure at his alleged friend's version of "Three's Company." Mara said he told Johnson he wished he called first and said, "We have a long partnership that's going to last for many years and the last thing I want to do is get them upset about an issue like this."  Johnson has made no public comment.

Jets fans disagree.  They have always felt like illegal squatters in the Meadowlands. It goes back to the days of trying use green bunting to hide the blue walls of the old Giants Stadium to recent disagreements with the design of the new stadium before it was completed.

The fans claim they are the stadium's second-class citizens and are still irked by the "rigged" secret coin toss, which decided the team who would pop the cherry of the New Meadowlands Stadium by hosting the first regular season game.

Mara should have taken the Jets inferiority complex into consideration before making the Dolphins--one of the Jets sworn enemies--comfortable.  The Jets might view this as revenge for opening up a multi-stitch gash in Giants quarterback Eli Manning's head during last summer's pre-season game.  Ryan was asked if he was angry about the Giants' hospitality and only remarked, "Officially?  No."  The usually vocal coach then added,  "It's their facility, they can do anything they want with it."

Ryan wasn't so generous later and said, "I don't want anyone using our facility but us.  When we have the Super Bowl [in the Meadowlands] I'm going to make sure we're in it...I don't want anyone in the facility but us."

 While New York sports radio was burning with pissed Jets callers, the Giants players took it in stride.  "It's cool," said Giant wide-out, Steve Smith, "They'll bring a little South Beach love here."

Sparano brought the Dolphins to New York early, not so much as a sneak attack, but more of a bonding outing for his team.  They plan to see the Broadway show "Lombardi" and get acclimated with the cold weather. In an indoor practice field?  Mara also mentioned his son is an associate producer on "Lombardi."  Maybe the Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez--a noted Broadway buff--is a little jealous?

After all was said and done, the Jets and Giants owners made up.  In a Jets fan's warped vision, it is still a Giants town.  Forty-two years without a Super Bowl appearance can make a person greener than the Jets uniform.  Maybe the Jets ought to roll out the red carpet for the Philadelphia Eagles next week, right before they play the Giants.  Sanchez can take them to see "Elf."