For at least another week, Mark Sanchez is the starting quarterback of the New York Jets.
The team announced on Thursday morning that Sanchez will start in Saturday night’s preseason game against the Jaguars. Sanchez also started the preseason opener against the Lions last week.
It’s not clear whether Sanchez is getting the start because rookie Geno Smith suffered an ankle injury against the Lions, because Smith was “brutal” in practice on Wednesday, or some combination of the two. But one way or another, Sanchez remains ahead of Smith on the depth chart.
The Jets haven’t put any timetable on when they plan to name a starter for Week One of the regular season, but Smith is starting to run out of time to take the job from Sanchez. As the incumbent starter who is starting the first two weeks of the preseason, Sanchez has to be viewed as the favorite to be the starter when the Jets open the regular season against the Buccaneers.