There are two good things about Darrelle Revis's decision to hold out from Jets training camp.
The first is that these things almost always resolve themselves in advance of the season, which means that Revis will be shutting down receivers and helping what should be a dominant defense before too long. The second is that it means that no one is paying much attention to the way Mark Sanchez is playing in the early days of training camp.
Surely you remember the way it was at this point last season: Every Sanchez throw was analyzed like it was a frame of the Zapruder film and every practice offered a chance for knee jerk evaluations about the rookie's chances of being a quality NFL quarterback. Question after question was lobbed at Sanchez raising the stakes even though he wasn't even guaranteed to be the starter at that point in time.
This year, though, everyone is focused on Revis's absence and that means Sanchez is able to simply work on his mastery of the offense. That's good, because the Jets are going to need him to be just that, a master, on offense this season instead of the manager that he was for most of his rookie year.
There's not much point in bringing in Braylon Edwards or Santonio Holmes if they are simply going to be blocking downfield for running backs slugging things out on the line of scrimmage. You don't need LaDainian Tomlinson on the team if throwing to running backs isn't going to be a key part of the offensive strategy and you don't cut a decent run blocking guard like Alan Faneca if you aren't trying to make sure your pass blocking is as good as it possibly can be.
Revis or no Revis, this will change as we get closer to preseason games. Sanchez's performance will climb out of the shadows into the public eye and the scrutiny will be ratcheted up to 11 in no time whatsoever. The longer he gets to work things out before that happens, the better it is for him and for the Jets.
Josh Alper is a writer living in New York City and is a contributor to FanHouse.com and ProFootballTalk.com in addition to his duties for NBCNewYork.com. You can follow him on Twitter.
