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Sanchez Impresses Jets’ Ryan at Practice

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. — Late Thursday night, with the new Jets playbook in hand, quarterback Mark Sanchez stood in front of the mirror in his hotel room practicing the new play calls that will provide the script to his professional football career.

The mirror on the wall might not have been able to answer the question, but even with a competition for the starting quarterback’s job expected in training camp, Coach Rex Ryan might have already tipped his hand about who he thought was the fairest of them all.

Sanchez, the Jets’ prized first-round draft pick from Southern California, had his first practice with the team Friday at the first day of rookie minicamp. At a news conference afterward, Ryan recalled that he knew as soon as off-season practices were over last year that the rookie Joe Flacco was Baltimore’s best quarterback. Ryan, who was the Ravens’ defensive coordinator, said he told the team’s owner, Steve Bisciotti, that he thought Flacco should start, even before the expected starter Kyle Boller hurt his shoulder and the backup Troy Smith had severe tonsillitis, necessitating Flacco’s push into the starting job for the season opener.

Asked Friday if he would have started Flacco immediately, Ryan responded: “Absolutely. When they asked my opinion, I was the only one on that side. So take that for what it’s worth.”

It may not count for much even in Baltimore, where Flacco proved Ryan’s judgment correct by leading the Ravens to within minutes of a Super Bowl appearance. But the Jets have never started a rookie in the season opener (not even Joe Namath, who took over in Week 3). So Flacco’s success, combined with the performance of the Falcons’ Matt Ryan, who was last season’s rookie of the year, may be enough to quell any lingering reservations about starting a rookie quarterback immediately.

Kellen Clemens was sharp in the minicamp the Jets held before the draft, showing the sort of bounce in his step and confidence in commanding a huddle that accompanies a player who expects to be the starter. But Clemens has not been heard from since Sanchez was drafted last Saturday. And given the hints Ryan was dropping after praising Sanchez’s first practice — no interceptions, no false starts and his arm looked plenty strong as he zipped passes around the field — Clemens might not be heard from much once the season starts either. With Clemens entering the final year of his rookie contract, Ryan all but said that if the competition were close, the edge would go to Sanchez.

“Up until last year, there was a little stigma that you don’t win with a rookie quarterback,” Ryan said. “I think we proved that wrong this past season. If your team is good enough, you can win with anybody.

“I can sit up here and say we’re just going to let them fight it out,” Ryan said of the coming quarterback competition. “That’s true. The cream will rise to the top. But I got an opinion on how it’s going to go. But I’m not going to share it with you. I’d be lying if I said I had no idea how it’s going to work out. I assume it’s going to work out a certain way, but you have to earn the job.”

The concern about Sanchez entering the draft was that he started only 16 games in college. Flacco was a fifth-year senior when he was Baltimore’s first-round pick last year.

But Sanchez wasted no time asserting the leadership skills for which he has been praised. Coaches handed out the playbooks Thursday and, according to Ryan, Sanchez got the offensive players together at the hotel Thursday night to work on some plays. That was why the offense had 18 plays in, and they were surprisingly crisp. Ryan asked the offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer how he got so many plays in, and that was when he learned of Sanchez’s informal meeting.

The offense had no turnovers during practice, which was held in the field house because of rain, and Ryan praised the timing the players had. Sanchez was 10 of 15 in seven-on-seven drills and he showed good accuracy. He unleashed only two long throws but he had no trouble completing passes of 20 yards to the sidelines; those were the tough passes that used to wobble on Chad Pennington.

After practice, Ryan told Sanchez that he had to throw more to the receiver’s outside shoulder to avoid interceptions. But Ryan also saw something he would never change: Each time a teammate made a good play, Sanchez ran to him to slap his hand.

“That’s the kind of guy you want, a guy who loves the game and can lead teammates,” Ryan said.

Sanchez was thrilled with his first practice, calling it a “very successful first day.” The training staff asked him to wear a wrap on his left knee, although Sanchez said he felt perfect. He was quick to say that he viewed Matt Ryan and Flacco as anomalies, adding that for him to be successful, the defense and the running game must play well — exactly the formula that worked for Flacco.

Sanchez’s life has been a whirlwind since being drafted; he and his parents took pictures by his new locker Friday. He has managed to find time to listen to sports talk radio to hear the sort of bile that greets the unsuccessful in New York sports. But before Sanchez has to worry about becoming a target, he has to take a final exam in a communications class, called Argumentation and Advocacy, in order to graduate from U.S.C. later this month. Then it is back to the Jets, where Sanchez might already have started making the argument to start the season opener.

“I’m expecting to play, that’s all you want to do,” Sanchez said. “You don’t grow up dreaming of being a backup.”