(The Post Standard/Landov)
All the talk, hype and attention devoted to Tim Tebow can take a big hit if Mark Sanchez does one thing: play well.
Sanchez’s first shot to do that against another team comes tonight in the Jets’ preseason opener against the Bengals.
“Here’s the deal: If Mark’s playing the best football he’s ever played, it’s a non-issue. If he’s not, it is an issue. In some ways it’s irrelevant to how Tebow is doing,” former Giants quarterback and ESPN analyst Tim Hasselbeck said.
Since acquiring Tebow from the Broncos in March, the Jets have maintained Sanchez is the starter and Tebow the backup who will see time in special packages. But that has not stopped talking heads from speculating about everything from Tebow being cut to Tebow starting by Week 3. Nor did it stop ESPN from extensively covering the Jets’ first week of training camp and local media outlets, including The Post, from sending reporters to camp devoted solely to keeping an eye on Tebow.
“The magnitude of the coverage is as close to getting on ‘Hard Knocks’ without being on ‘Hard Knocks,’ ” Hasselbeck said, referring to the HBO program which annually follows one NFL team through training camp. “I don’t always know if that’s the right thing for your football team because guys pay attention to it, a lot of attention to it.”
For tonight’s game in Cincinnati, coach Rex Ryan said he expects Sanchez to play one quarter and Tebow to play around two.
“If Sanchez is playing great and everyone is excited to have him out there, then all that stuff’s fine,” Hasselbeck said. “The moment he starts off a game with three incompletions and the stadium starts shaking because [the fans are] so frustrated … it’s going to be a lot harder to play well and appear to be totally cool with the situation going on at quarterback. If [Sanchez] is struggling, it’s going to be absolutely brutal.”
It is the latter situation Hasselbeck expects to see. He pointed to a lack of weapons for Sanchez to work with and the reportedly dysfunctional relationship with the best weapon he has at his disposal, Santonio Holmes.
“I think Santonio is an excellent wide receiver, but their relationship and trust level scares me,” Hasselbeck said. “And outside of that, you don’t have a ton of weapons. So do I see this massive step forward for [Sanchez]? No, because of that and all that other pressure he’s going to have to deal with what’s been set up with the acquisition of Tebow. He’s in a real tough, tough spot.”
If there is a reason to be optimistic about Sanchez, it’s the switch in offensive coordinators the Jets made this offseason.
“That may be the best thing for him. I think that Brian Schottenheimer had way too much volume in the playbook and I think that affected the way Mark played,” Hasselbeck said. “I think things will be simpler with Tony Sparano and I think that’s a very good thing for Mark.
“Mark’s best attribute … is his athleticism. He’s a better athlete than most quarterbacks in the NFL.”