New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez is taking his fair share of criticism for his team’s shortcomings this season. After advancing all the way to the AFC Championship in the last two years, nobody expected the Jets to be fighting for a playoff ticket in Week 17 and needing two other teams to lose to make it happen. Sanchez talked about expectations and dealing with the criticism on Wednesday after practice.
Obviously, there are high expectations. We went to the AFC Championship two years in a row, so there is only one more step to make really, win that game and then go win the Super Bowl. With those expectations, that’s fine. When things don’t go right, people are going to immediately question me, Rex (Ryan) (and) Schotty (Brian Schottenheimer). That’s the way it goes, and that’s the position we’re in.
As for whether or not he feels like expectations were unreasonable, Sanchez replied:
I don’t want to feel like I’m a victim or anything like that. We expect to win, we expect to win every week and we expect to do it all right. If you don’t expect that, you won’t fit in on this team. We haven’t been as consistent as we should’ve been, so I think that’s where the criticism should be. That’s why our record is the way it is, but I don’t feel like we’ve set the bar too high. There is no way. I don’t feel like that, at least.
And how does Sanchez keep it all in perspective?
I’m real fortunate to have great family members, to be in a world-class organization where they want to help and make sure that, there is more than just the physical and the mental side, there is the psyche side. There is the emotional side to this game and, as much as you want to shut it off, you have to give yourself a little perspective and understand what’s at stake, but not too much perspective because then you lose your competitive edge.
The subject of Sanchez and his future with the team has been a hot topic recently. SB Nation New York delved into that subject earlier in the week, following the Jets’ Week 16 loss. A poll yielded mixed results from fans, with almost a third opting to dump Sanchez and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer.
For more on Sanchez and the Jets, visit Gang Green Nation.