Scotty McKnight and Hayden Panettiere step out, but are they dating?

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Scotty McKnight could be Hayden Panettiere‘s new rebound guy, if sightings of the pair leaving Mel’s Diner in West Hollywood together are any indication. The rumor is especially juicy after Panettiere was photographed over Memorial Day weekend with Mark Sanchez, McKnight’s longtime friend and his New York Jets teammate.

While it’s hard to keep track of Hayden’s love life these days (sources said she and Mark were not on a date), we can deduce that she likes the company of athletes and hanging out at burger joints. She and McKnight reportedly met through Sanchez.

‘I’m a huge Jets fan and became very good friends with Mark and his buddies,’ she told Us Weekly last week. ‘I’ve always been that girl who has a lot of dude friends. I’m into sports, so we have a lot in common.’

It was nearly a month ago that the ‘Scream 4’ actress and boxer Wladimir Klitschko split after trying to keep a long-distance relationship going for two years.

‘Even though we’ve decided splitting up is best for both of us, we have an amazing amount of love and respect for each other and remain very close friends,’ Panettiere, 21, told People at the time of the break-up.

Her possible new love interest, McKnight, 23, is an Orange County native who played wide receiver for the University of Colorado before being drafted by the Jets. Sanchez, out of Mission Viejo, was a quarterback at USC. The two have been friends since grade school.

So far, Panettiere’s rep has no comment on the relationship, People said.

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— Emily Christianson