8/26/09 Training Camp Practice Photos
Kellen Clemens showed his disappointment, his support and his class today in the Jets' locker room in talking about head coach Rex Ryan's decision to go with rookie Mark Sanchez as his starting quarterback for the season opener Sept. 13 at Houston.
"I'm disappointed overall because I think I left some plays out there that I should've made, both in practice and during the games" Clemens said in front of his locker at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center this afternoon. "Going forward, it's Mark's job and I'll support him. I'll be an extra set of eyes for him on the sideline. I'll be more than ready if I'm called upon."
Clemens said he thought Ryan conducted a fair competition and that it was a tight race to this particular finish line.
"It was close. Coach Ryan made that comment that it was close. At the end, that is the direction he wanted to go. ... Each competition is different. It never feels good to be the guy who will be holding the clipboard on Sept. 13."
Clemens, the fourth-year pro who was the second-round pick of the Jets in 2006, was candid in how he played this preseason and his expectations for how the verdict would go.
"You're never going to play perfect but I had greater expectations than I showed at times. I was too inconsistent. I think," he said. Reporters and fans will speculate about what this means for Clemens' future, but the former Oregon Duck, a religious man and devoted father, said despite the prospect of starting another season on the sideline, he's not thinking about looking for a new NFL team.
"I like it here, so I am not addressing that or going down that road," he said. "At some point I am going to be able to compete and hopefully with each competition I get a little better.
"I have been preparing and working hard this entire off-season with the expectation of being under center on the 13th. Obviously, things don't go according to plan sometimes. It's a bump in the road. It isn't the end of the road."
