Part-time model and Jets starting quarterback Mark Sanchez talked to Michael Kay yesterday. Unsurprisingly, the rookie quarterback exhibited a ton of confidence about his role as the starter. The former USC QB said that “it is a tremendous honor, I’m obviously very excited.” However, the USC quarterback plans to do more than just show up. Sanchez says that the Jets will be headed to the playoffs… kinda sorta. When asked if the Jets were a playoff team, the Jets signal caller said “Absolutely. We better be; I feel confident in that.” Sanchez stopped just short of an official guarantee. But hey, chalk it up as a non-guaranteed absolute certainty. In other news, Kellen Clemens called Plaxico Burress to find out where he got his gun.
What were your thoughts when you first found out you got the job?
“All I could think about working up to this opportunity, before training camp started, in Cortland, all the things like that, all I could think about was being the guy. That’s the way it ended up happening; it is a tremendous honor, I’m obviously very excited. I have a ton of respect for Kellen and he is one heck of a competitor, so, for this to go down today it meant a lot to me when Rex has that kind of confidence in a young quarterback like this. But the best thing I can say about Kellen is he’s just a stand-up guy, and right after our meeting with Rex, he just pulled me aside and said, ‘Hey man, I’m behind you 100%. I’m happy for you, let’s go make a run deep in the playoffs and see what happens.’ So, that was real promising to me and obviously I feel great.”
Did you evaluate the race between yourself and Kellen every day?
“I didn’t wanna play that game every day like, who won today? How many points am I winning by? How many points is he winning by? You just drive yourself crazy. (Host: They have something like that in one of the papers). I haven’t seen it, I’m sure. It’s just one of those things, it’s the feel thing and Rex went with his gut and I’m obviously excited. The main point was it wasn’t just one play, or one drive, or one game against Baltimore, it was the entire body of work, and as close as they may have been, things ended up the way they are and it’s my job to take it and run… It’s pretty special to look in the huddle and see the kinda talent we have and realize, when you really think about it, you don’t have to do it by yourself.”
On the difference between college and the pros:
“It’s a great challenge every week and I feel like some of the toughest games with the biggest crowds in college, are every week now. The dogfight we had at UCLA in the Rose Bowl with a January 1st Rose Bowl kinda crowd is every week. The fans are tough, they’re on you, nobody’s nice anymore in this league. It’s fun for me, I’m learning a lot, and these guys are really helping me along, all the veterans.”
Are the Jets a playoff team?
“Absolutely. We better be; I feel confident in that. You can’t make any promises, nothing is guaranteed in this league but I can tell you, no team is gonna prepare any harder, no team’s gonna be better coached, so I’m confident in that.”
Tags: football, kellen clemens, mark sanchez, new york jets, NFL, quarterback, Rex Ryan
I can't wait for this to blow up. Dirty Sanchez looked like he was on the brink of shitting his pants against Baltimore, first pass- pick 6 by a lineman, second pass- right into Ray Lewis' chest. His complete chumpatude was only covered up because Leon Washington bailed his ass out about ten times.