NFL

Sanchez ‘great’ after Jets minicamp

Mark Sanchez fully practiced for the third time in Jets minicamp Wednesday, looking healthy and unhindered, even taking a full lap of the New Meadowlands Stadium near the end of practice.

“I feel good,” said the quarterback, recovering from February knee surgery. “Physically, I feel great. Mentally, I wanted to attack this minicamp and apply a lot of the things I learned from last season and try to take care of the ball as best I can.”

Sanchez aimed for a return to full-speed at this minicamp and seems to have succeeded. He was cheered by the nearly 12,000 fans on hand for practice when he was forced to jog after commiting a penalty, according to ESPN.com.

Sanchez also left quite an impression on Rex Ryan, who called him “basically an assistant coach” this offseason.

“No player I’ve ever been around worked as hard as Sanchez did in the offseason,” Ryan said. “No player. And I think you’re going to see it.”

Sanchez said the film work he did was more valuable than if he had been on the field.

“[The layoff] might have been the best thing for me,” the second-year player told ESPN.com. “It was hard to see that when I’m in a cast and I can’t do anything, but mentally that might have been the best grind of football I’ve ever been around. It was enlightening, inspiring to see how quickly I could pick it up.”

But his ability to practice this week was important for his confidence heading into training camp in August.

“I’m ready,” Sanchez said. “I’m feeling better than I’ve ever felt.”

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Center Nick Mangold, another Jets player unhappy with his contract, would not say if he planned to hold out of training camp, which begins Aug. 1.

“It’s way too early to make any decisions,” Mangold said. “It’s one of those things where I think upstairs knows how I feel, and I don’t think there’s much else I need to do.”