Jets to start Mark Sanchez for Week 17

The New York Jets apparently saw enough of Greg McElroy in his Week 16 start against the San Diego Chargers, as Rex Ryan announced Thursday that his team would start Mark Sanchez in the team's season finale against the Buffalo Bills.

Sanchez disappointed for most of the year after starting the team's first 14 games, completing only 55 percent of his passes while throwing 17 picks against only 13 touchdowns. McElroy only had two opportunities to show his worth -- a game against the Arizona Cardinals, where he led the team on their only touchdown drive after Sanchez was ineffective in a 7-6 win, and Sunday, when he went 14-for-24 with an interception -- but the team apparently decided to stick with Sanchez instead of the 2011 seventh-round pick.

For what it's worth, Sanchez had his best game of the season, a three-touchdown outing, against the Buffalo Bills in Week 1. The Jets are playing for essentially nothing -- in fact, a loss would help them gain spots in the 2013 NFL Draft order -- but either Ryan thinks that Sanchez will give the team a better chance of winning, or just wants to stick by the quarterback who is owed $8 million next year. It's not clear whether backup Tim Tebow ever factored into the conversation for the starting job.