Sanchez will start for concussed McElroy in Jets finale

The three-ring circus that is the New York Jets brought back an old headliner when their tumbling act — otherwise known as the quarterback situation — took another bizarre and unexpected somersault.

The team discovered starting quarterback Greg McElroy had suffered a concussion in Sunday's loss to the San Diego Chargers after he experienced headaches while lifting weights Thursday morning, reports The New York Post.

Head coach Rex Ryan told reporters McElroy won't play Sunday against the Buffalo  Bills and Mark Sanchez — who McElroy replaced last week as the starter — is back in as starting quarterback.

Ryan began Thursday's press conference by saying," You're not going to believe this one."

One person who was probably shaking his head was Tim Tebow, who still has not started a game even after Sanchez's season imploded.

"I'm going to start Mark Sanchez," Ryan said.  "The reason I'm starting Mark is we have two practices and one walkthrough to get ready for Buffalo.  He's very familiar with them.  That's the reason I'm going with Mark."

Tebow proponents have already taken to the Internet blasting the decision to use an ineffective Sanchez over the underutilized Tebow in a meaningless game.  Theories about Tebow being passed over again range from the Jets afraid to see Tebow succeed and make the coaches look bad to Tebow's bags are already packed and headed to Jacksonville after the season.

McElroy was sacked 11 times during the Jets 27-17 loss and suffered an abdominal injury.  He showed no symptoms of a concussion after the game but Ryan was convinced that McElroy couldn't play this week.

"I'm not going to play him," said Ryan.  "There's no doubt. I don't care what the tests say.  We're going to err on the side of caution."

It sounds like Ryan is erring on the side of a cautionary tale.  Imagine the backlash if Tebow won.

This is another tough blow for Tebow to take and was a legitimate chance to give him a shot as a "regular quarterback."

The top-secret Wildcat offense Ryan boasted about  all preseason is still pretty much a mystery and last week Tebow was passed over for McElroy when Sanchez was benched for his five turnover performance against the Titans two weeks ago.

Now Tebow is on the outside looking in once again.

"Obviously, Tim's not happy with that as you'd expect," Ryan said.

Expect to hear "Te-bow, Te-bow" from Jets fans for the last time.