For Jets' Sanchez, 'One Heck of a Start'

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. -- That first throw didn't go quite as smoothly for Mark Sanchez as it may have looked. That the Jets' rookie quarterback electrified the small preseason crowd at Giants Stadium with a 48-yard strike to David Clowney on the first professional pass of his career was the story of the night, but as cool as he appeared, there was more going on than you may have realized if you were watching on TV.

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When the play came in from the sidelines, for instance, Sanchez couldn't believe it. He'd watched Kellen Clemens, his supposed rival for the starting quarterback job, play two very conservative series. Now here he was, in his first game action as a pro, backed up on his own seven-yard line, and offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer had called for a deep ball. Sanchez looked at left tackle D'Brickashaw Ferguson with eyes wide.

"First play?" he asked. "I'm coming off the bench cold and shooting three-pointers?"

No time to debate it, Sanchez got behind center and started counting his way through the cadence. Two beats in, he barked "GREEN 30!" and his mouthpiece flew out of his mouth.

"The defense laughed," Sanchez said. "I definitely heard somebody laughing. I don't know, it might have been somebody on our own team, but somebody definitely was thinking, 'What an idiot.'"

The ball was snapped. Clowney sprinted up the right sideline. Tight end Dustin Keller raced up the middle of the field. Sanchez read the blitz, pump-faked once in Keller's direction to freeze the safety and then unleashed a perfect pass to Clowney, who caught it over his shoulder for a 48-yard gain.

"As soon as he caught it, I was really excited," Sanchez said. "Then I started looking for my mouthpiece."

Nobody was laughing anymore. The sparse crowd of Jets fans had cheered when Sanchez took the field, and they cheered much louder now. Even Clemens, who likely had just seen his final chance at being the Jets' starting quarterback evaporate, claims he was cheering.

"Awesome," Clemens said in answer to the question of what was going through his mind. "I'm cheering for anybody that's in a Jets uniform."

Tough spot for Clemens, who thought he was going to have a chance to be the starter last year before the team dealt for Brett Favre.

"The good thing is, I'm getting used to it," Clemens said.

Jets coach Rex Ryan praised all three of the quarterbacks who played for him Friday night, including Erik Ainge, who played the bulk of the game because Ryan didn't want to expose Clemens or Sanchez behind a banged-up offensive line that was missing three starters. But he couldn't resist specific praise for Sanchez.

"Sanchez, for a rookie to step in there, his first throw, and unleash one like that," Ryan said. "That was pretty impressive for me. I think it just shows you the kind of kid he is. Cool customer."

Ryan said he didn't know yet whether Sanchez would start the Jets' next preseason game, Aug. 24 in Baltimore, but he did say Sanchez would play more in that game than the one series to which he was limited in this one. On that one series, the rookie was 3-for-4 for 88 yards on a drive that culminated in a Thomas Jones rushing touchdown. And he made some fans in the locker room.

"Almost like it was written," linebacker Bart Scott said of Sanchez's debut throw. "I guess he gave them a little taste. You don't want to give them too much right away."

Assuming this all goes the way everybody expects it to go, Sanchez will get plenty more chances to show everybody what he's got. But no matter what happens, this night, with his family in the stands and that first perfect play in the books, will always stand as special.

"All I was thinking all day was, 'Get a completion. Just get that first one and get this thing rolling,'" Sanchez said. "And it was one heck of a start."