By Dennis Lowe
For the New York Jets, nothing could be sweeter than to see their rookie quarterback making terrific strides as they enter the 2009-10 season. With pre-season victories over the Giants and the Philadelphia Eagles, the confidence level is rising as some of the pieces are starting to fall into place.
 After months of speculation and neck-and-neck competition lasting until the break of training camp, coach Rex Ryan named Mark Sanchez as his starting quarterback over Kellen Clemens. The rookie play caller has made the most of that decision with a good performance against the Giants but then with an even more impressive in a one series outing versus the Eagles.
“Obviously I was happy with the way our first unit did on offense driving down.” said coach Ryan. “I think [Mark] Sanchez was 5 of 5 passing. We looked good. We did a nice job getting into the end zone.” added Ryan.
The Jets still need to be careful, if in fact they need to fall back on Clemens. “He hasn’t gotten the reps. He only threw two balls in the Eagles game. One was a perfect pass and we just dropped it. He’s done a nice job in practice. His elbow has been a little banged up, but Kellen has been doing a good job in practice.” said Ryan.
Following the two pre-season games, Sanchez is both optimistic and cautious, saying “I think we have plenty to prove to ourselves and this is a great start to the season, but we haven’t arrived.” He added, “We haven’t unleashed our full potential and we have a ways to go, but we have made the right initial steps as a group.”
Sanchez, who completed passes to Jerricho Cotchery and Dustin Keller against the Eagles was confident in the Jets aerial attack, “The one to Jerricho was a 1A/1B kind of read, the inside-post route. He shook his guy and I put it to him early.” said Sanchez. “A couple plays to Dustin were second reads as well. We’re getting through the progressions and we had plenty of time.” added the quarterback.
 “It gave us a lot of confidence as a first group.” said Sanchez. “We were real efficient out there in the passing game and getting completions.” he added. For a rookie, Sanchez has been very poised and very comfortable in the pocket. His passes have been on-target and with plenty of zip. “We aired it out alright against the Eagles. Everyone knows we have a tough running game, so that could be a little change-up for us.” said Sanchez.
Looking at the early numbers, Sanchez has completed 24 passes in 37 attempts for a total of 347 yards. He has thrown 3 touchdown passes while throwing only one interception. Mark’s growing confidence in evident both on and off the field, “We wanted to finish strong every drill, every rep, every practice and every pre-season game. This was a great step for us going into the regular season.” said Sanchez. “This is a special group. I think we’re developing a trust in each other. We have some great stuff ahead of us.” added Sanchez.
As the start of the season draws near, Sanchez said, “I can’t wait. This is a great experience so far. I think we’ve made the right steps as a team.” He added, “We’re really coming together and we are excited for the regular season. On the road like that in a hostile environment like Houston, it’s going to be fun.”
For Jets fans, it’s a year without a circus and a focus on playing football. A new coach, a new starting quarterback and a positive outlook can only get the team moving in the right direction.
|
