Mark Sanchez In the New Offense

Ever since the Jets traded for Tim Tebow, Mark Sanchez has been bombarded with Tebow related questions. Do you long for the days when Mark Sanchez was actually asked football related questions? Well, JetNation hears you and we scrubbed the Tebow fluff from the Sanchez transcript. Here it is…

On how the team has been this week…
(It has been a) great first week. I think the guys look good, they’re excited. Everybody has a real hop in their step. From an offensive perspective, I think things are going well. We’re right at the pace we should be. Learning a lot, but learning on the fly. And now this is our second time with the installation so I think that guys are getting more and more comfortable as the days move on. I’m thrilled about the young guys. Royce (Pollard) has played well, Chaz Schilens has played well, JK (Jeremy Kerley) has done a great job. The tight ends have looked good. It’s been fun these first couple days

On working with Coach Sparano…
The same as I told you guys before. He doesn’t smile too often. If you catch one, you better save it. (laughter) They’re few and far between. Sometimes it’s not a smile, it’s a smirk. You never know. But he’s tough on us, he’s fair, he’s an old school guy and he wants things done right and that’s exactly what we need. But he’s been great. He puts a lot of pressure on the coaches, he puts a lot of pressure on his players to do it right. That’s what we need. We need that extra emphasis on the little things.

On the learning process with a new offensive coordinator…
Well there’s quite a bit of learning going on for all of the positions, especially at quarterback. And the new verbiage, I think is the most important thing. Being able to speak the language, speak it fluidly, fluently, with confidence, convey your confidence, and your presence in the huddle, and be sharp with all your calls. So I think learning the language has been number one. But, it’s been great. Coach Sparano’s installed it, and Coach Cavanaugh, he’s let Coach Cavanaugh talk to us a lot. So it’s been a good learning process so far and the learning’s not over.

On the differences in the new offensive concept from last year …
I don’t want to get into comparing the two coordinators. I have nothing but great memories from Coach Schottenheimer and our Championship runs. It’s just something different and new and we’re adapting to it and things are going well.

On how he felt during practice today…
I felt good. I felt like we could finish some plays a little better out on the perimeter. But, I think those guys, especially the wideouts, Coach Sanjay is pushing them hard. And they’re thinking about a lot of things and today wasn’t our best throwing and catching, finishing plays. But I think that’s a good reminder that as much as we’re thinking about, as much as we have going on between our ears, we can’t forget the easy stuff, the throw and the catch. So it’ll be some great film to learn from. There were some great routes and we just didn’t finish. I was just proud of the way JK came back, Stephen came back, all those guys. They didn’t hang their head, they didn’t pout. They came right back and competed really hard and really well. It was a good day for us. We learned a lot.

On adjusting to Coach Sparano’s new offense…
It’s been good. I think coach Sparano is very matter of fact, very to the point. There’s no gray area. He lets you know exactly what he expects. He lets you know the emphasis of the day. Whether it’s third down, second down, pressures, first-and-ten, two-minute drill, he lets you know and then once we get on the field, that’s your test. Each week, each Sunday is a test for us. He’ll give you all the answers and once you get to Sunday you got to have the test. That’s the way he sets up each practice and each installation. So I think it’s been great for the guys to understand and grasp.

On the emphasis on cutting down turnovers…
I think at the rate we’re going, I think we’re all going to do well. I really do. I think he’s really tried to impress upon us the importance of the football and that was something that coming into this season, no matter who your coordinator is, I’ve got to take care of the football better than I did. So that’s an emphasis in every drill and every play. There’s some sort of emphasis on the football and taking care of it. Whether it’s your read, get to the back sooner, put this ball outside where the DB can’t get it, don’t even give him a chance to intercept it. I think that’s good for us.

On the installation of the new offense…
I know there’s still some things we haven’t installed so, you might want to talk to Coach about that.  But, we’re just going through each OTA as a specific install for that day and an emphasis for that day, whether it’s a specific protection or situations that are going to come up in practice.  Other than that, ask Coach Sparano.

On his body language being different and whether or not it is a conscience decision…
I think I’m just excited to watch this film from today. That’s the most important thing.  Other than that, I thought we had a heck of a day and it could have been better.

On feeling good about his practice…
We did a good job (at practice) today.  And the wideouts make you look good at times and you put the ball in the right spot occasionally and make them look good. But I thought we did good.  Everybody’s demeanor today was competitive.  It was good to see that vibe and talking to guys, guys were pushing and competing to the very last second with everything they have and then they pull up at the last second to protect the other guy on the other side of the ball.  So that’s good.  I think we have great competition going on offense and defense, it’s good for us.