New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez received the team's blessing to start Friday's preseason opener against the Detroit Lions at Ford Field, and a confident Sanchez believes that's how it should be.
"I feel like I'm putting together a good camp and think I earned the right to start in this first game," Sanchez said per ESPN. "We'll see how it goes from there, but I have to keep playing well to stay on the field and that's the plan."
Sanchez has been battling Jets 2013 NFL Draft second-round pick Geno Smith for the keys to the offense. After early reports indicated that Smith was playing better out of the two, Sanchez surged ahead and played well enough for team brass to have the confidence to start him, even if it is in an exhibition game. The competition has been neck-in-neck, but the team gave Sanchez the go-ahead to start at the quarterbacks meeting on Tuesday.
Smith, who is relegated as the backup, for now, was low key when responding to Sanchez getting the start.
"I don't have any reaction toward it," Smith told reporters according to ESPN. "The competition is still open. I'm just continuing to work and to grow."
Jets head coach Rex Ryan said that even though Sanchez earned the right to start the first game, it doesn't guarantee him the starting role going forward as the competition between Smith and Sanchez is still very much alive. Smith has impressed the Jets with his accuracy and his arm, but at such a young age is still going through some struggles.
In the end, Smith may be able to play well enough to knock Sanchez out of the starting role, however Ryan said Wednesday he wasn't sure if Smith would get a chance to start a preseason game.
The Jets enter the team's fifth year with Sanchez at quarterback and Ryan at the helm. After reaching the AFC Championship game the first two years together, Ryan and Sanchez have endured back-to-back disappointing seasons leading to personnel issues and widespread criticism from outside the organization.
Still, Sanchez insists the team has the talent to make the playoffs.
"I think you have to have that mentality that this team is built to last," Sanchez said, according to ESPN. "That we're built to make a strong run, to get hot at the right time, to sustain some injuries and then move on from them. Get guys healthy as soon as possible. I mean, it's natural, it happens every year.
"But I feel like we have the talent to make that happen and now it's about realizing that talent on the field and going out and playing well."
Sanchez has won the starting job for the preseason opener, but depending on how he performs in the game and how Geno Smith keeps progressing in practice, there could be a different quarterback when the Jets take on the Jaguars in preseason Week 2 on August 17.
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