Mark Sanchez stepped to the podium for his weekly press conference yesterday, surveyed the room full of reporters and deadpanned, “You guys want to start or you want me to start?”
It was Sanchez’s way of defusing what became a controversial postgame press conference after the Jacksonville loss Sunday when he read notes from a sheet of paper, trying to cover all the topics he figured he would be asked about.
Sanchez was apologetic if he offended anyone by his actions.
“I thought I had everything figured out, of course, as a 23-year-old rookie would, but probably not the best way to go about it,” he said. “It didn’t go over very well, so. Trial and error and hopefully a one-time mistake.”
This is how he explained his thinking before that press conference:
“Really, when I just sat down in my locker after the game, there were these things that started coming to my head about the game [and] the throws. I just kind of started to anticipate what I thought would be asked of me and what I really thought of the game.
“That was exactly how it played out in my mind right away; one, to remember the plays [and] the guys that were making all the plays. That was the main thing. Once I got up there I kind of got rolling with it and kept going. I won’t do that again.”
Sanchez, who now has been taken to task for oddball things such as his body language and demeanor on the sidelines, eating that hot dog in Oakland near the end of the game and now his opening statement on Sunday, said he’ll “look back at” these things at the end of the year.
“You learn a lot of this stuff on the fly, so [there are] just some little things to clean up and correct,” he said.
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It looks as if Jets safety Jim Leonhard, as expected, will not play Sunday, but Rex Ryan is not ruling him out yet. Leonhard, who had surgery on Monday to repair his broken right thumb, was wearing a sling yesterday.
If Leonhard can’t play, Eric Smith will start in his place, but LB David Harris will take over the calling of the defense with the sideline-to-helmet communication. . . . Look for LB Vernon Gholston (hamstring) to miss another game Sunday. He was in uniform but didn’t practice yesterday.
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How serious are the Jets about doing the extra things to get a win this week? According to a team source, 41 players came to the complex to work out and study on their day off Tuesday — the largest number to come in since Mike Tannenbaum took over as GM.
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Bill Belichick was asked yesterday if he’s every cried in front of his players during a team meeting like Rex Ryan did Monday.
“I’ve coached for 35 years, so I probably covered most all the bases; I think I swore once, too,” he said.
Tom Brady, asked if he could fathom the stoic Belichick showing that kind of emotion: “I can’t ever imagine Coach Belichick doing that in front of us. He coaches us pretty hard. Every coach has a different style.”