Though a Jets source said Sanchez, “has no fear of losing his job,” he could be face a challenge by Tim Tebow (above) or another quarterback next season, if his play doesn’t improve.
Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez’s postgame press conferences have become as predictable as his killer interceptions.
Sanchez leans on several talking points after games like Thursday’s 49-19 loss to the Patriots. “Say Uncle.” “Live to fight another day.” “Be smarter with the ball.” The clichés flow out of his mouth, carefully memorized after four years of similar performances.
Here’s the thing: Sanchez needs to stop talking about getting better and do it.
The Jets have five games left this season, and Sanchez has five games to prove he should remain this team’s quarterback in 2013. He will be on the team next year. His $8.25 million guaranteed assures it. But the Jets could bring in competition for Sanchez at the starting spot and finally make him feel some pressure.
“There is no fear there that he will lose the job,” one Jets source said. “That’s part of the problem.”
Sanchez had another two-turnover night against the Patriots, bringing his two-year tur* over total to 41. That is the second most among NFL quarterbacks, according to the Elias Sports Bureau. Only the Chargers’ Philip Rivers has more with 43.
Whenever Sanchez’s poor statistics are pointed out, the Jets brass usually points to wins as their defense.
“He led us to two AFC Championship games,” they say.
It seems clear now the Jets got to those games in spite of Sanchez, not because of him. In his last 14 games, Sanchez is 4-10 as a starter.
“I think Mark does give us the best chance to win right now,” coach Rex Ryan maintains.
Their is no doubt Sanchez has played with limited players around him this year. But a franchise quarterback should be able to make those players look better than they actually are.
“He doesn’t elevate those around him,” an executive with another team said. “When you’re thinking about the fifth pick in the draft, there’s a lot of expectations and pressure for that player to deliver at a high level. That hasn’t happened.
“He’s the type of quarterback that can manage the offense and be a facilitator, a ball distributor. He needs more weapons around him. He flourishes when he has a play-action element to the offense but you only get that with a productive running game.”
The biggest issue with Sanchez is the turnovers. His interception Thursday night was a mistake you wouldn’t expect from a fourth-year quarterback. He never saw safety Steve Gregory in the coverage. Then he made his blooper-reel fumble when he ran into Brandon Moore’s backside instead of just falling on the ball when he realized it was a broken play.
The Jets have talked about cutting down on “self-inflicted wounds” all season. So why can’t they?
“I think that’s the million-dollar question there,” Sanchez said. “That’s what we’re still working on. There’s no time to point fingers or be upset. We have to just keep playing, try to fix it on the fly, come back next week and try to play a clean game and see what happens. See what happens when we don’t turn the ball over just like in St. Louis. We’ve done it before where we take care of the football, play good defense, special teams gets us in the right position and we win games. That’s really the formula and we’ve gotten away from that.”
If Sanchez can’t turn it around in the final five weeks, the calls for Tim Tebow only will intensify.
Sanchez said he can deal with it.
“[I’ll handle it] the same way I’ve handled it before and just block it out,” he said. “I don’t think about it. [I] just keep playing, keep fighting for our guys and just continue to work, try to get better and eliminate some of these mistakes that have hurt us.”
The draft and free-agent pool at quarterback is shallow. Matt Barkley and Geno Smith are the only college players rated as first-round picks. Joe Flacco would be the best free agent available if the Ravens don’t re-sign him. After that, it would be signing a veteran backup like Jason Campbell, Matt Moore or Tarvaris Jackson.
Or maybe the Jets coaches finally decide it’s Tebow Time.