MENTAL BLOCK: With Colin Baxter likey starting at center and anchoring his offensive line on Sunday, Mark Sanchez may not have his usual comfort level when he drops back to pass. (Landov)
The last time Mark Sanchez visited Oakland, he got ripped for munching on a hot dog on the sideline.
This time? The Jets just hope he doesn’t end up eating the Coliseum grass.
Keeping Sanchez upright has been a problem for the Jets in the first two weeks of the season. Sanchez got hit so many times against the Cowboys he needed a concussion test. He appeared on the injury report yesterday after hitting his elbow on Jacksonville defensive end Matt Roth’s helmet Sunday.
This week against the Raiders, the Jets will be breaking in a new center barring a miracle recovery from Nick Mangold. The offensive line knows it has to keep Sanchez’s No. 6 clean or this could be a long season.
“He’s been getting hit a little more than we would like, in fact a lot more than we would like,” left guard Matt Slauson said. “We’re still making adjustments. Obviously, if Nick is out, there’s another adjustment there with a new center.”
The Raiders have a mammoth three-man defensive tackle rotation with Richard Seymour (6-6, 310 pounds), Tommy Kelly (6-6, 300) and John Henderson (6-7, 335). The Raiders have six sacks this season. You can be sure they will attack new center Colin Baxter.
“I do think [the Raiders will do] that,” Slauson said. “All of last year [his first as a starter] I was targeted. The great thing about the center position is you have help almost all of the time so I don’t think it will be an issue.”
The lineman who has received the most criticism has been right tackle Wayne Hunter. The veteran backup became a starter this year when Damien Woody retired. In Week 1, Cowboys linebacker DeMarcus Ware blew by him on the game’s first play to sack Sanchez, and that started a long night. This week, Hunter was beaten by Roth on the play where Sanchez injured his arm. He also had two penalties in the game.
Despite the rough start, Jets coach Rex Ryan defended Hunter.
“He got beat one time so we focus on that, and he had two penalties but Wayne Hunter does a great job,” Ryan said. “I think we also need to focus on the rest of the game and how he’s played in the past here. He did have four starts during crunch time last year at the end of the season and in some of the playoff games and he played great against great competition. I think Wayne’s going to be just fine.”
Sanchez, for his part, said he can do a better job of getting rid of the ball quicker to avoid hits.
“As competitive as I am, I want to get the best of a play and make sure we use its full potential even when things break down,” Sanchez said, “so some of the time you’ve just got to say, ‘uncle’ and let it go and avoid a hit. There’s a handful of situations already in two games that are some hits I don’t need to take. I’m taking them because I’m stringing out the play. I’m not worried about it. We’ll clean things up and I’ve got to get rid of the ball.”
Both Ryan and Sanchez said his arm is fine. He took every snap in practice yesterday. He was listed on the injury report because he received treatment on the elbow. Ryan took the blame for the play because he called for a pass to try to get Plaxico Burress a catch.
“I could have protected him on that one,” Ryan said. “We’re all talking about that one because he took a hit versus the three-man rush. That happened. We can’t take that back. Everybody gets hit in this league. . . . You try your best to protect your quarterback, especially a franchise-type quarterback. But, at the same time, the nature of the game says you’re going to get hit.”
brian.costello@nypost.com