Jets WR Santonio Holmes Benched After Quitting On His Teammates

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A season full of public relation nightmares for Santonio Holmes ended with another blow to the New York Jets captain's image. Holmes was not on the field for the final two minutes of the Jets' 19-17 loss Sunday to the Miami Dolphins -- a loss that ended the team's fading playoff hopes -- and Jets running back LaDainian Tomlinson said after the game Holmes was benched for behavior issues. "There were guys in the huddle not happy with Santonio's demeanor throughout the game and in the two-minute drill," said Tomlinson, via ESPN. "And they said something to him about it." A source with knowledge of the decision-making process told The Star Ledger that the decision to bench Holmes was made by offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer because he had run out of options with a player whom one Jet called a quitter. "He quit," the player said. "It's happened for the past two to three weeks. It's happened all season." Multiple players told the newspaper that Holmes was "moping" throughout the game, and the problems came to a head when Holmes and a teammate began arguing in a huddle during the fourth quarter. "The worst thing that can happen, the worst thing, is when your teammates start to question your passion for the game," Tomlinson said, via The Star Ledger. "That's the worst thing. And I think in that huddle, that's what you saw. When guys looked in his eyes, and he didn't have that fire in his eyes, guys were turned off about that." Holmes was asked at the end of his news conference if he wanted to play for the Jets next year -- Holmes signed a five-year, $50 million deal last offseason with $24 million guaranteed -- and he declined to answer the question.

 

Source: NFL.com