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Report: JaMarcus Russell Gets Attention From Jets As Franchise Looks for Quarterback to Push Mark Sanchez

The Jets may be open to moving on from Mark Sanchez, but they’re really scraping the bottom of the barrel when it comes to finding a suitable replacement.

With this year’s draft unlikely to produce any strong quarterbacks, the Jets have had to look elsewhere in the league — or, in this case, elsewhere in the league from several years ago.

The Jets have had “some very exploratory, informal discussions” about JaMarcus Russell, who hasn’t played in the NFL since 2009, according to the Newark Star-Ledger. Russell is considered one of the biggest draft busts in history after being picked No. 1 by the Raiders in 2007 and failing to play well or work hard in his years in the league. He is now attempting a comeback.

It’s not like the Jets can be faulted for looking everywhere, though. While new general manager John Idzik has said he’s “comfortable” with Sanchez staying at quarterback, very few people think Sanchez should remain the starter. But with the likes of Tarvaris Jackson the best the Jets have been able to look at so far, bringing in someone like Russell to push Sanchez may be all the team can do.

Still, the Jets learned last year that having just anybody behind Sanchez — even a popular player like Tim Tebow — doesn’t do much good if that player isn’t a threat to Sanchez’s job.

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