Sanchez confident he'll win Jets' QB job
Mark Sanchez has many skeptics inside and outside of the New York Jets' organization, but he remains confident he'll open the 2013 season as the team's starting quarterback.
Sanchez outperformed rookie Geno Smith during the offseason program, but both quarterbacks suffered through rough patches and it's considered an open competition when training camp opens in less than two weeks.
"When it's a straight-up competition for the job, let's roll," Sanchez said in a recent interview with ESPNNewYork.com. "It really doesn't bother me at all. It really doesn't affect my confidence or anything like that. We're competing for something. All right, I'm going to win. That's just how I am."
Sanchez will gather with about 15 teammates for three days beginning Friday for his annual "Jets West" passing workouts in Southern California. With no coaches present, Sanchez serves as quarterback and coordinator.
Sanchez has committed 26 turnovers in each of the past two season, leading to the selection of Smith in the second round. Veteran David Garrard was also signed, but retired amid continued knee issues.
Sanchez is 33-29 as a four-year starter, but the fifth figures to be his make-or-break campaign with the Jets.
"I love being here, I love playing here," Sanchez told the website. "We've tasted success here and we've seen that formula work and we're getting back to that. There was a little adversity last year. Call it a little, call it a lot, call it whatever. It doesn't affect the way I train, the way I work."
That adversity included the infamous "butt fumble," and a video recently surfaced on the internet in which Sanchez is shown dancing semi-nude with two women at a party with his shorts down to his knees and his backside showing.
Sanchez remains confident he is still the quarterback who led the Jets to the AFC Championship Game in 2009 and 2010. Come training camp, he'll need to show that form again quickly.
"I've been that guy; nothing has changed," he told the website. "The results haven't been what we wanted, but I haven't changed. You don't just switch and say, 'This year, I'm going to do it.' You have to be that guy at all times.
"I'm confident I can go out and make the plays for this team to win. You can't guarantee wins and you can't promise anything like that, but I know we'll be the best-prepared team and the hardest-working team. We'll have the potential to have a good season."
