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Mark Sanchez may be making progress, but it tonight’s performance was any indication, he’s still prone to making the same type of poor plays that put him on the hot seat to begin with.
Mark Sanchez is by no means the worst starting quarterback in football. That distinction likely resides with someone else (Blaine Gabbert gets a lot of nominations for that honor), but Sanchez is a New York quarterback, and that will put you in the spotlight right quick.
For the Jets, it’s more about protecting the football and playing games close to the chest. Sanchez’s Achilles heel is his penchant for making poor decisions and poor passes at the worst of times. Tonight’s pick-six served up to the Detroit Lions was just the most recent example.
Ultimately, the Jets’ quarterback battle may not come down to which quarterback is franchise material; it may come down to which guy makes less bad plays. If that’s the standard by which the Jets will be forced to evaluate their signal callers, the advantage may land on with Geno Smith.
As with all week one preseason games, it’s important to realize that this is only one sample. Players have bad games and make poor decisions. Despite a less than happy start, Mark Sanchez recovered to post a solid stat line.
Over the next couple of weeks, we’ll start to see which quarterbacks look like starters and which look like they’ll be beat out by their competition. Although it was only one play, Sanchez gave away as many points as he helped the Jets score. That won’t win games.
