New York Jets’ Mark Sanchez Tries to Assert Himself as a Leader

Sanchez is doing his best to assert himself as the leader of the Jets while he still can.

It has been an interesting ride, to say the least, with this quarterback over the last four years, has it not? We have had some great highs (the first two years), and some horrific lows as well. Mark Sanchez has seen a fan base that has dwindled and dwindled to the point where I am one of the few people left that would be OK with him as the starting quarterback.

Could it be too little, too late? Most definitely. But it is a good start.

What am I talking about? Mark Sanchez met with the media yesterday at Jets’ headquarters.

Remember during the year, everyone got on Mark about having his head down on the sidelines? People were talking about how he wasn’t showing the confidence needed to head the team. Well, in his interview yesterday, he was attempting to exude that type of confidence, heading into this his fifth year, and another quarterback competition. Take a look at some of the things that he had to say:

On if he expects to be the opening day starter…

Of course.

On if he still views himself as the future of the franchise…

Absolutely.

On whether he comes into the season saying ‘This is my team’…

Of course, every quarterback should feel that way. I know I do and I’m not shy about voicing my opinion. You have to own it and compete your butt off to keep it in my position. That’s what I’ll do and I’ll do it the very best I can

On whether he expects to win the starting job…

No doubt. Of course.

On whether he feels like this is his team…

It has to feel that way going into your fifth year, at least that’s how I feel. I’m confident and I feel like we’ve seen just about everything you can see. So we’ll just keep rolling and do our very best.

The fans that have had enough of Mark Sanchez are not going to like these comments. The likely opinion will be that he is being presumptuous, even arrogant, thinking that he will be the starting quarterback after the way he played last year.

Like it or not, there is going to be a competition for the starting quarterback job, and it’s going to be a real one this time. Any one of these players can do the job, and would do it well, given the chance. Mark comes in with as good a chance as any of them to come out with the starting position. He’s been doing it the last four years, and he should have confidence in himself.

If he is going to be the starter, he HAS to be confident. This is the way you want to hear our leader speak. You might be sick of him. You might think it’s too little, too late. You might think he sounds arrogant, but he is doing what he is supposed to do. He is saying the right things.

We will see if it translates into performance on the field.