NEU » In charge of the rel

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- The New York Jets quarterback competition is still wide open -- with no clear-cut winner in sight. Rex Ryan isnt sure whether itll be Mark Sanchez or Geno Smith, and hes in no rush to decide. Its only minicamp, after all, and preseason games are still two months away. And thats when the Jets might get a better idea of wholl be under centre for them in Week 1 against Tampa Bay. Maybe. "Well know when we know," quarterbacks coach David Lee said Wednesday, "but we dont know right now." That about sums it all up when it comes to the quarterbacks -- and its not necessarily a bad thing. Its just that neither Sanchez nor Smith have pulled away yet. Lee said both players have taken turns looking good and then "real good" and then not too good at all. "Theyve done it together and they havent made it easy," said Lee, in his first season with New York. "They wont separate right now, but weve got time." While some would expect Sanchez, going into his fifth season, to be clearly ahead of Smith, a second-round pick out of West Virginia, both players are still learning offensive co-ordinator Marty Mornhinwegs West Coast-style offence. "Well continue to look at both of them, split reps, and as soon as we know, Hey, hes the guy, well let you know," Lee said. "But right now, we dont know." Sanchez has worked extensively on holding onto the ball to limit turnovers, which have plagued him the last two seasons. He had 52 of them -- 26 in each year -- during that period and it has cost the Jets some games. So, Lee has focused on having Sanchez grasp the ball with both hands, leaving his left hand on the ball as he drops back. "Yesterday was the first time he kept two hands on the ball," Lee said, "and thats after nine OTAs and a minicamp." And, thats not all: The Jets run through a "gauntlet" drill during which they try to knock the football loose. Oh, and its called "The Sanchez Drill." "He hates it," Lee said. Through it all, Sanchez still insists he is having his best off-season as a pro, and is feeling increasingly more comfortable working in Mornhinwegs system. "I just love what were doing," Sanchez said. "When youre excited about something like that, when youre coming in hanging on the guys every word, knowing that hes had so much success, knowing that we have the pieces here to put ourselves in a position to have success like that, its exciting. Its exciting stuff. "So, it makes you work that much harder and find a way to just improve on the little things each and every day and keep rolling." Sanchez has made it clear to his coaches that hes taking this competition seriously, and he fully intends to keep his starting job -- even if some media and fans believe his time in New York is nearly up. "I think maybe there was some kind of notion that Id be so upset they would draft a quarterback, that whole deal, that Id just turn it in," Sanchez said. "Thats crazy. Its crazy talk." Smith, meanwhile, is a work-in-progress who has focused on his footwork and accuracy, among other things. "Its been a brand-new world every day," Lee said of Smith. "Just struggling with the basic things, snap count at the line of scrimmage, the delivery at the line of scrimmage could be more consistent, little things are whats really killing him. But hes competed well and hes showing a really good arm and he gets better every day, and hes going to hear it all for the second time during training camp, so I expect him to get even better quicker." Smith ran the first-team offence during the second practice of minicamp Wednesday, as the Jets have been rotating the quarterbacks throughout the off-season practices. "I mean, Ive improved, subtle improvements," Smith said. "But you wont know until you actually get some reps in live-game situations. But from the point I was when I got here to the point I am now, I have improved. But theres still a long ways to go. Ryan indicated that the Jets could be open to having Smith run some read-option plays -- despite it not working with Tim Tebow last season -- if Sanchez wins the starting job. "I know what everybodys thinking if we did that, ugh, didnt we try that last year?" Ryan said. "I think certainly thats a possibility. To probably make assumptions now probably isnt the thing to do. Well let this thing pan out and well see." Smith didnt have running plays designed for him at West Virginia, but his athleticism made him a threat to make plays outside the pocket -- something that could translate in the NFL. "Thats a part of my game," he said. "I like to think my game is based within the pocket. I do things within the pocket, but I can use my athletic abilities outside of it. I think thats a part of being an all-around player and I think it helps me a lot." After Thursdays minicamp session, the Jets have no formal practices together until training camp in Cortland, N.Y., at the end of July. Most players say theyll mostly remain close to the facility and continue working out and learning their playbooks. Sanchez will also put together his annual "Jets West" camp with the skill position players on offence at his former high school in Mission Viejo, Calif. Smith said he had no comment on whether he would attend the session, but Sanchez later said that everyones invited -- as they always are. Meanwhile, at least one Jets player had a prediction on who will be the teams starting quarterback when the season starts. "I think (Sanchez) is going to be our guy," said wide receiver Santonio Holmes, recovering from a foot injury that has kept him off the field since early last season. "The coaches brought him back and they kept him on this team for a reason. Hes a great leader and hes got great potential and hes excited about this season upcoming. And, so am I." Notes: RB Mike Goodson did not practice after spending the morning at a court hearing in Morristown to be informed that the drug and weapons case against him is heading to a grand jury. Goodson and a friend were arrested last month after they were found in a car stopped on Interstate 80. Goodson has pleaded not guilty. ... Lee said backup QB Matt Simms, son of former Giants star Phil, has "a cannon for an arm," adding that its the "best arm" of the Jets four quarterbacks on the roster. "If his accuracy was better," Lee said, "hed be thicker in the hunt." Cheap Yeezy 350 V2 Australia . After dropping their final six games of December, the Wild opened the new calendar year with four consecutive wins. Following a loss to Colorado on Saturday, Minnesota rebounded the following night to blank Nashville 4-0, but then had the tables turned on them Tuesday. Cheap Balenciaga Australia . Clarke was injured while practicing on the Doha Golf Club range after the pro-am on Tuesday. The Northern Irishman arrived at the course on Wednesday hoping to start, but after hitting a few balls on the practice putting green Clarke advised officials he was not fit to play. http://www.discountaustraliashoes.com/cheap-air-force-1-fake.html . Fernandez, coached in Toronto by former two-time Olympic silver medallist Brian Orser, scored 267.11 points and is the first champion to successfully defend since Russias Evgeny Plushenko in 2005 and 2006. Air Max 270 Australia .com) - The red-hot Los Angeles Kings will try to extend their winning streak to a season-high seven games when they visit the Edmonton Oilers for Sundays clash at Rexall Place. Discount Asics . Pert has formerly spent time as an assistant coach with Cardiff City, Coventry City, and Bahrain mens national team. "Martyn is a highly-respected coach with experience at the top levels in England," said Whitecaps FC head coach Carl Robinson. PRAIRIE VIEW, Texas -- The smartest minds in American sprinting have spent years trying to solve the riddle of why, as often as not, U.S. relay teams have struggled so mightily to get the baton around the track when the stakes are highest.Leave it to the Jamaican, Usain Bolt, to come up with what might be the most plausible answer: They tend to panic.The American sprinters are gathered this week at an Olympic training camp outside of Houston, once again trying to create chemistry and find answers to a problem that never really goes away.Eight times since 1995, the American men have either been disqualified or failed to get the baton around the track at the Olympics or world championships. The women, who set the world record in the 4x100 at the London Games, arent immune to the butterfingers, either. Theyve mishandled the exchange in two of the last three Olympics. And at last years world championships, in the 4x400, where the pass shouldnt be a big deal, a bobble cost them the gold.The key to changing that dynamic: I think just being relaxed, said Tyson Gay, who helped the Americans get the baton around four years ago, only to cost them the silver medal because of a doping violation. No pressure, just relax. Thats all I think.If only it were that simple.In a sport built on individual accomplishments, the relay is that singular opportunity for the country that routinely wins the most medals in track to show that it can, in fact, function like a team.Since 2008, that pressure has been coupled with the fact that Jamaica -- while not as deep across the entire scope of track and field -- has the fastest man on Earth.When youve got Michael Rodgers standing in the third relay zone and Jamaica and us are shoulder to shoulder and hes looking at Usain Bolt on the anchor leg, thats going to impact your athletic performance, said Duffy Mahoney, chief of sport performance for USA Track and Field.Last year at world championships, Gay and Rodgers mishandled the final handoff and the exchange came outside the legal passing zone. It disqualified the Americans and sent Bolt on what couldve been a jog to the finish line for the gold.Asked to explain Jamaicas baton strategy, Bolt said there was no magic to it.We know the key thing is just to get the baton around, he said. Because with the U.S., we know we always have the best team, and they tend to panic. Pressure gets to them somettimes.ddddddddddddBolt doesnt have to be on the track for things to go bad.In 2004, then again in 2008, the U.S. women mishandled the baton in the 4x100. The 2008 miss, combined with a botched exchange between Gay and Darvis Patton in the mens race, contributed to the United States being shut out of gold medals in all six sprint races for the first time in Olympic history. That led to a top-to-bottom overhaul of the way the U.S. handles relay training, which now requires sprinters to attend training camps and participate in a number of relays before the Olympics.Carl Lewis, who won relay gold in 1984 and 1992 (he wasnt on the team that got DQd for passing outside the zone in the 1988 qualifying heats), has been one of the most outspoken critics of the U.S. team. He says theres too much politics involved in who gets coaching assignments and who gets to run in the relays, and not enough time devoted to perfecting the art of the baton pass.Ive been to (junior) nationals, Ive been to (junior) Hersheys meets, Ive never seen a baton hit the ground, Lewis said in March. What they need to do is get a retired college coach whos going to tell the agents to kiss off, and tell the athletes to get in line and know how to put together a relay.In charge of the relay operation this year is Dennis Mitchell, who has relay gold and silver from 1992 and 1996, but whose appointment to that role was controversial. Mitchell served a two-year doping ban and was caught up with Trevor Graham, Marion Jones and the BALCO doping scandal.What, in Mitchells mind, does it take for a perfect relay exchange?What doesnt it take? he said. The girls are running at anywhere from 10 to 13 miles an hour, the guys are somewhere around 20. So theres a lot of moving parts that happen when youre going through a zone.When things hit on all cylinders, the results can be incredible. In London four years ago, the team of Allyson Felix, Tianna Madison (now Bartoletta), Bianca Knight and Carmelita Jeter ran the oval in 40.82 seconds to break a 27-year-old world record.And when they dont, the second-guessing begins.The closer the race, the more pressure it puts on the athlete, Mahoney said. Sometimes, no matter how well-prepared they are and how good they are, things happen. Its sports. ' ' '