After Sunday’s season-killing loss to the Jaguars, in a game that we described at SportingNews.com as the first playoff game of quarterback Mark Sanchez’s career, Sanchez showed up for the post-game press availability as if he were running for class president.
He brought a speech.
Here’s what he said: “I’ve got a couple of things to say real quick. You guys will probably have some questions after. This should hit on everything. [There] are just some things I’m thinking here real quick. We’ll change it up. OK?
“First play of the game, [I had an] early mistake. It can’t happen. It put our offense in a tough spot. [It was] a great read. J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery] runs an awesome route and it’s just a physical mistake and underthrown ball. The best part about it, the mental side of it, I battled back all game.
"[I] played smarter the rest of the game [and I am] proud of my effort. Second thing [with] the interception, the defensive end makes a pretty good play. The guy got up there and just spooked me off the edge there and made a great play. In the big scheme of things, it didn’t hurt us. We got the ball back. Our defense played their tail off and got us the ball.
“The last drive of the game [was] just unbelievable effort. The offensive line [did a great job]. I’ve got some guys written down here: [David] Clowney, J-Co [Jerricho Cotchery], and Dustin [Keller], Braylon [Edwards]. Those third-down conversions were unbelievable. [It was] a great effort.
“Clowney comes in and makes one huge catch. It changes the course of the game and keeps our drive alive. Then, the O-line [was] giving you tons of time on that drive. At the end of that drive, we scored. T.J. [Thomas Jones] punches it in. [With] the two-point conversion, I’ve got to put it on Braylon sooner. He makes a good effort going after the ball, but that ball has got to be there sooner so nobody can knock it out of his hands.
“The bottom line to this whole thing, to this entire game, to our entire season is find a way to find a way. Coach [Ryan] challenged us already. We’ve got to find a way to win some games. Right now we’re finding ways to lose, but we’re in a position right now to sink or swim. I know we’ve got a lot of fight in us. We’ve got some great veteran leaders and they’ve been in spots like this before, so we’re going to call on their leadership [and] call on our coaching. Great job today too from Schotty [Brian Schottenheimer] and Cav [Matt Cavanaugh]. [They had] just unbelievable play-calling in that last drive, so [it’s] sink or swim [and] find a way to find a way.”
Of course, Sanchez still faced questions after giving his speech. And the first question was, well, why give a speech?
“It just hit me after this game the way our season is going [and] the message that we want to send,” Sanchez said. “That’s the bottom line to us. That’s what Rex [Ryan] said to us. He said, ‘It’s sink or swim.’ This is it. It’s up or down, win or lose or whatever you want to call it. We’re in a position right now where we need to win some games and win a lot in a row.”
Still, we’re not sure why he opted for prepared remarks. It could be a sign that he doesn’t like being asked a bunch of questions after a crappy performance.
And if that’s the case, he’s playing in the wrong city.