Jets pin hopes on Testaverde
Vinny Testaverde is nearly 42 years old. He has not thrown a pass in a regular-season game since January. On top of all that, he has had about a week to learn the New York Jets offense.
This is the player that coach Herman Edwards has entrusted to help save the season.
Edwards named Testaverde his starting quarterback Wednesday, a move the desperate Jets hope can spark their floundering offense. Although Testaverde was on the verge of retirement just a few weeks ago, he is now put in the tough spot of trying to do whatever he can to get the Jets some victories.
His first start comes Sunday against Tampa Bay, the team that drafted him No. 1 overall in 1987. He will be the fourth-oldest quarterback to start a game in the Super Bowl era, behind Steve DeBerg, Warren Moon and Doug Flutie.
“There’s certain things that can happen, hopefully will happen, with getting the ball down the field, getting the ball out quick, trying not to take sacks, hoping everybody gets their confidence up,” Testaverde said. “Our lack of success has hurt our confidence a little bit offensively. We just have to get it up a little bit.”
Testaverde, signed a week ago when Chad Pennington went out for the season with another torn rotator cuff, watched from the sideline as third-stringer Brooks Bollinger started in a 13-3 loss to Baltimore on Sunday. Second-stringer Jay Fiedler is out indefinitely with a shoulder injury.
The Jets did little to help the unproven youngster, failing to protect him or open up holes for Curtis Martin. But Edwards pointed to one statistic that helped him make his decision: Bollinger was 4 for 16 trying to get the ball to the receivers.
League suspends Rogers
Detroit wide receiver Charles Rogers was suspended for four games for violating the NFL’s substance abuse policy, the latest setback in his injury-plagued career.
The announcement came in a two-sentence statement from the league.
“I will make no excuses for what I did, and I accept full responsibility for my actions,” Rogers said in a statement released by the Lions. “I let down a lot of people, mainly myself.”
The suspension is the latest in a series of problems for the second overall choice in the 2003 draft, who missed much of his first two seasons after breaking his right collarbone twice.
Martz must treat heart
St. Louis Rams coach Mike Martz has an infection of the heart that will require treatment with antibiotics and keep him out of practice for a couple of days.
“I haven’t been feeling good for four or five weeks and there is some type of infection in my body that has gotten worse,” Martz said. “They think they’ve identified what it is.”
Martz, 54, said doctors believe he has endocarditis, a bacterial infection of the heart’s inner lining or the heart valve.