By Joe Pietaro

Flying under the radar can sometimes work to one’s benefit. Take the New York Jets quarterback situation headed into training camp this summer. All eyes are going to be on the rookie sensation from USC. Mark Sanchez, who has ‘Broadway’ written all over him, will have all the cameras and recorders shoved in his face after every practice. That comes with the territory when your new team trades up to the fifth pick in the NFL Draft to select you. Couple that with the fact that he’s replacing a first ballot Hall of Famer and it is almost as if Sanchez is the only quarterback wearing green and white.

Except no one told Kellen Clemens.

“With Kellen, his focus has not changed,” said incoming head coach Rex Ryan. “He knew he was going to have to compete for the job. (Sanchez) is going to be making a whole lot of money and all that kind of stuff. At the end of the day, the best guy is going to be playing quarterback for us on opening day. If that is Kellen, great. If it’s Mark, that is great (too).”

Once Brett Favre announced his retirement – which is still in doubt, by the way – Ryan stated that Clemens would have to earn the job in a battle with Brett Ratliff. That was before general manager Mike Tannenbaum made the bold move on draft day to bring in Sanchez, a deal that included Ratliff. With Erik Ainge also in the mix, the competition for the number one quarterback job was still on, albeit with a different cast.

“For me, it comes down to a simple choice,” Clemens said. “I can get mad or frustrated or whatever; or I can get better. I am choosing to get better.”

The entire coaching staff has had nothing but praise for Clemens and his work ethic the entire offseason. “Kellen had a very, very good mini-camp a couple of weeks ago,” remarked offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer. “I am looking forward to watching these guys compete.”

Ryan had similar praise for Clemens. “I was impressed with Kellen and he has a great grasp of this system,” he said. “He looked really good in the camps.”

One of the main plusses for Clemens going in, as Ryan said, is his familiarity with the offensive scheme, which has remained basically the same regardless if it were himself, Favre or Chad Pennington starting over center. “It gives us a great opportunity to focus more on the details and the fundamentals of each position specifically,” added Clemens. “It gives us a little bit of a chance to learn what the defense is doing because we know what we’re doing. Fortunately, Coach Schottenheimer stayed around. The system is the same.”

Because it is not an overly difficult system to learn, Sanchez should be able to pick it up fairly quickly. That is also something he did with the telephone to call Clemens the same day that he was drafted. “I said, ‘Hey, Kellen. It’s Mark,’ and he said ‘Hey, how are you doing man? Congratulations, welcome to the Jets family.’ That was one of the first things he said so you can tell he’s a first class guy,” Sanchez said.

Clemens appreciated the call and judging by the way both players speak about one another, this will be a battle between friendly adversaries. “That’s a really classy thing for that kid to do,” Clemens said about the contact the night of April 25.  “We had a five or 10-minute conversation about things going forward.”

The 2006 second round pick out of Oregon saw action in only two games a year ago with the veteran Favre on board. In 2007, he played in 10 games (with eight starts) and led the Jets to three of their four wins that season. Clemens threw for over 1,500 yards but had twice as many interceptions (10) as touchdown passes (five). In fairness to him, the team’s offensive line was extremely weak and behind a much-improved squad, he should have a lot more time to reverse those production numbers.

Tannenbaum commented on Clemens’ performance during Week Two of the 2007 season. “He actually played very well against Rex’s defense,” the GM said in reference to when Ryan was a much-heralded defensive coordinator with the Ravens. In a 20-13 loss at Baltimore, Clemens nearly pulled out a fourth quarter victory in his first NFL start.

Taking over for an injured Pennington, Clemens played tentatively against the ferocious Ravens defense and found himself staring at a 17-point deficit heading into the final stanza. That’s when everything started to click for the former Duck, who went 10-for-19 for 176 yards and a touchdown in the fourth quarter alone. He drove the Jets down the field and gave them more than one chance to steal a road victory. Wide receiver Justin McCareins was involved in two plays that could have resulted in the winning score with under two minutes left in the contest, but perennial Pro Bowl linebacker Ray Lewis preserved the victory by picking off a deflected pass in the end zone.

It is performances such as that fourth quarter in Baltimore that shows the promise that Clemens can bring to the table. Perhaps all the attention garnered by Sanchez will be just what the doctor ordered for him to win the job without the lights on Broadway shining on him.