Mark Sanchez has been beaten up on the field this season, enduring a broken nose and an injured throwing arm, but it’s not just on the field where he’s taking a beating.
Former teammate Jason Taylor said Dolphins quarterback Chad Henne is more physically talented than Sanchez this week. Last week, Forbes named him the most overpaid player in the NFL.
Add it to a list of criticisms ranging from interceptions to his sideline eating habits.
“You know what? You’re playing quarterback in New York, that kind of stuff happens,” Sanchez said about the critics. “Just like [when] you win the divisional game against the New England Patriots, you can do no wrong. It goes both ways.”
But with Sanchez, the criticism always seems louder than the praise. The 24-year-old still has not convinced the Jets fan base that he’s the franchise quarterback they’ve been waiting for since Joe Namath left.
Forbes jumped on Sanchez with its overpaid list pointing to his $14.75 million salary this season and his “middle-of-the-road” statistics. Sanchez ranks 14th in passer rating (90.1) and 10th in passing yards (886). He has six touchdowns and four interceptions.
“That’s another stat,” Sanchez said of being named the most overpaid player. “I don’t know. It doesn’t matter.”
Taylor called his Dolphins teammate, Henne, more physically talented, something that drew return fire from the Jets.
“I would disagree with him, but I will say this: [Henne’s] looked like Dan Marino against us a couple of games,” Rex Ryan said. “So certainly I think he does have a lot of talent. Is he better than Mark Sanchez? I would keep Mark Sanchez. That would be my guy.”
Ryan and the Jets coaches have shown confidence in Sanchez this season by allowing him to throw the ball more than in his first two seasons. The Jets are throwing so much many people are questioning whether the days of “Ground and Pound” are over. The Jets have thrown 62 percent of the time this season.
“Mark’s maturity and the coaches’ confidence in him allows us to throw it more,” guard Matt Slauson said. “Obviously, as a line we’d rather run it, but Mark has shown extreme maturity and improvement from the last two years. We feel a lot more comfortable putting him in those situations now.”
Against the Raiders on Sunday, Sanchez established a career high with 369 yards. That is the second 300-yard game he’s had this season. But he has shown a habit of poor decisions leading to interceptions. He should have thrown it away on Sunday, instead of floating one into the end zone that Tyvon Branch intercepted.
Sanchez was asked to evaluate his play so far.
“I feel like we’re 2-1,” said Sanchez, who has been sacked nine times this season. “My play is reflective of that as well. There have been some great throws and some great reads and great decisions and then there have been a couple of bonehead decisions that would have made our offense look a lot better and potentially helped us win that game last week. Is there room for improvement? No question. I think there have been some good highlights so far, and we’ll keep working on getting better.”
Tight end Dustin Keller, one of Sanchez’s closest friends, said Sanchez can quiet his critics by continuing to play well.
“Obviously being the quarterback in New York he’s under more of a microscope than anybody else,” Keller said. “Especially with our team, more so than the Giants, because we’ll go out and say that we’re going to win the Super Bowl. We put that pressure on us. With Mark, he’s dealt with that type of thing whether he’s at USC or here and he’s done a really good job dealing with it. He’s going to continue to quiet the doubters.”
brian.costello@nypost.com