Jet crash —and crash course

Sporting News, The, Sept 20, 1999 by Rich Cimini

A month ago, Rick Mirer lost the backup quarterback job in Green Bay to a kid named Matt Hasselbeck, who never had taken a snap in an NFL game. Now Mirer, playing for his fourth team in four years, is being asked to replace one of New York's most popular athletes, Vinny Testaverde, and lead a team that began the season with Super Bowl dreams.

An impossible situation? Never say never, not as long as Bill Parcells is the coach, but this looks pretty bleak for the Jets, who lost Testaverde (ruptured Achilles') and all-purpose workhorse Leon Johnson (torn knee ligaments) to season-ending injuries in last week's 30-28 loss to the Patriots.

"What do you think, I'm going to put the white flag up?" Parcells says. "No, I'm not going to do that."

Parcells has been down this road before. In 1990, as the coach of the Giants, he lost Phil Simms in December, with two games left in the regular season. In came Jeff Hostetler, and the Giants won five straight games, including the Super Bowl.

This time, it's different. Mirer is no Hostetler. Sure, Mirer has some talent, but he has underachieved his entire career. The Seahawks, Bears and Packers all gave up on him, and he hasn't thrown a touchdown pass since 1996. And remember: Parcells chose Drew Bledsoe over Mirer when he owned the No. 1 pick in '93 with the Patriots.

What's more, Mirer is new to the Jets--he was traded August 20--and he has yet to earn the respect of his teammates. It's hard to rally a team when it's still getting to know you. He didn't help matters by throwing two interceptions last week, the second with 3:30 left as the Jets were trying to preserve a one-point lead.

It's also important to remember Mirer still is learning the offense, and his inexperience is bound to restrict the Jets' game-planning options. Instead of running their usual multifaceted offense, which Testaverde orchestrated so brilliantly, Parcells & Co. will have to become more conservative, more run-oriented and more reliant on the defense.

Of course, they will add some wrinkles. Parcells likes to joke that he's a coaching dinosaur, but he's more flexible than people think. To capitalize on Mirer's mobility, he likely will add plays designed to move the pocket.

The Jets have the talent to pull it off but only if Mirer, a mistake-prone passer, becomes a low-mistake passer overnight. Parcells helped turn Testaverde into a Pro Bowl quarterback. Can he do the same with Mirer? If it happens, it would be the ultimate reclamation story.