For the second straight season, Mark Sanchez was out there in the latter portion of his team’s third preseason game. And that’s where the similarities end.
Sanchez was knocked out for the season when he injured his shoulder playing for the Jets against the Giants last year, while this year he continued his sparkling preseason for the Eagles. Sanchez picked apart the Steelers on Thursday night, leading Philadelphia to two touchdown drives while completing 7 of 9 passes for 85 yards. Many of those passes were squeezed into tight spots against Pittsburgh’s first-team defense.
Thus far this preseason, Sanchez has seemed to thrive in Eagles coach Chip Kelly’s fast-paced offense, completing 25 of 31 passes for 281 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. He has looked better than he has at any time in the past three seasons, when he was wearing a different shade of green in New York.
“You experience success so early against a ton of odds and you go through a bunch of turnover, and things change, and things aren’t as fun and things aren’t as good,” Sanchez told CBS Philadelphia about his time with the Jets.
“We weren’t playing as well; I’m not playing as well. Then you get benched, you become the starter again, you miss an entire season. I mean a lot of things happened. But through all of that, I still tried to work as hard as I could. I still tried to better myself. I still tried to motivate my teammates and make the guys around me better. Nothing has changed with me, except that I learned that I can make it through anything. I’m battle tested.”
The Jets finally put an end to Sanchez’s five-year tenure by releasing him on March 21, three months after the season ended, though his hefty salary cap number made it clear the marriage was headed for a divorce after Sanchez hurt his shoulder in that preseason game.
The late release meant Sanchez’s slim chances of competing for a starting job were reduced to nil. He signed a one-year deal with Philadelphia, where Nick Foles was embedded as the starter, a week after the Jets let him go.
Though Sanchez has outplayed Foles, he has only succeeded in solidifying himself as the No. 2 ahead of Matt Barkley. But even if Foles plays all 16 games, Sanchez has put himself in position to compete for a starting job somewhere else next season based on this dominant August. You laugh now. Wait until three weeks into the season and you realize how dreadful some starting quarterbacks are.
“I’m just having a good time,” Sanchez said. “I love the facilities, I love the team, a ton of talent, I love the system and the coaching staff. It’s different. I am having fun. We had some tough times [in New York]. We battled through some injuries, personally, and as a team, and the coaching staff turned over. That’s a part of this league and this game.
“When things don’t work out, you just keep on plugging and try to get better and learn from those experiences. If there comes a time to move on, like it did, then you move on and try your best somewhere else and wish the guys you were with the very best.”