Transcript of quarterback Mark Sanchez's news conference at his locker following Wednesday's midday practice at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
On how it feels after winning on Monday night…
It's good. It feels great. We needed that win last week, we got it. We're trying to make it two in a row.
On the Chargers defense…
They're a tough group. They were number one in defense last year. We know we have a great opponent coming to our place. They've had a week off, they're going to be fresh and ready to play, but they're always a good team.
On if the team takes being the underdog as a lack of respect…
I don't know. That's not a big deal.
On why the Jets have played better at home…
We definitely put an emphasis on it as soon as we came back to camp. That was something that we wanted to pride ourselves on is taking advantage of these games at home. You don't have to travel. Knowing your routine, knowing your hotel room, knowing what time to get to the stadium and stuff like that, that's important and it really does help. Our guys have taken that seriously. We take pride in playing at home and we want to play well.
On if his chemistry with Plaxico Burress is improving…
Absolutely. It's one of those things where that kind of stuff doesn't happen overnight. You see quarterbacks and receivers that really click, they've been together for a while. They've missed a lot more throws than they've hit and then they start to equal those numbers up. It's a process. He's had a great attitude about it. He's bailed me out. I've given him a good ball here and there, and pretty soon we'll be right on the same page, so that's good.
On if facing the Chargers will be a truer test than the Dolphins…
I don't know. Every game's got its own particular challenge. I don't want to compare the two teams. Both teams, despite their records, are tough, similar defensive styles, but these guys at San Diego, they obviously have a better record, but that doesn't mean too much in this league. Any team can win.
On how the offense can get off to better starts…
Whatever it takes, and not to get too caught up in it, that's the other thing. Don't tell ourselves, "We start slow." Just think fast. Think fast. We know our plays. Prepare fast. Start every practice off fast, start every drill off fast. Don't take time to warm up, just go. That's kind of been my mentality. The big thing this past week was third downs. We ended up hitting 40 percent and we gave them one on the third-and-long, we just ran the ball, trying to run out the clock. The big thing about starting fast is sustaining drives, and we've got to convert on those third downs early. If we don't hit them early, we've got to hit a bunch late and we did, so it all worked out.
On if it is frustrating to emphasize third-down conversions and then struggling on third downs early…
By the end of the game, if you're hitting 40-plus percent on third down, it doesn't matter. It might look bad early and it looks like, "Oh God, these guys aren't doing anything yet." It might give the other team momentum. But when you start piling up third-down conversions, it doesn't matter if you do them in the first quarter or the fourth quarter, we just need to hit our numbers. It would be nice to hit them early, but if not, we just want to hit our mark.
On going into the bye week with a 4-3 record…
That'd be great. That's our goal. My rookie year we lost to Miami right before the bye week, and that's hard, going home to see your family and stuff right after a loss. That's tough. Last year we ended up winning that thriller in Denver on the last play, so that felt great. It gives you a little excitement to go and get your rest, take care of your body and come back strong. We're searching for another win and this week's the perfect week.
On how special it will be for LaDainian Tomlinson to play his former team…
It's great. Any time a player gets traded, whenever they play that former team, they want to play well. He's focused every game, I'm sure it won't be much different for him, but he'll be excited to play those guys.
On if players being overly excited could cause a slow start…
Honestly, as long as we're hitting our mark on third down. If we hit 45-plus percent, 50 percent on third down, then we're rolling. If we can hit them early, great, and get ahead of the sticks, sustain drives early, yeah, that gives you momentum, but you can't win the game in the first quarter anyway. So if we start fast, great, if not, better finish strong.
On having several wide receivers in their first season with the team…
It's something that you keep working at. Like you said, it is a challenge, but that's good. It's nothing that we can't handle. It's nothing that we're not working to try and get right. It's good for us. I love playing with these guys. I think we have the potential to do really well. It's a constant effort we're making on both sides to try and do it best.
On if he looks for any signs of frustration from Burress…
We talk plenty, but he's had a really good attitude. I don't know what he was like before here, because this is all I know, but he's been awesome. I don't know how he does it. That's got to be hard. I missed the deep ball to him. I snuck in a slant route. We were a little bit off on the play-action route. That's got to be tough on him. He works in practice, he wants to get it right. We talk a lot about it. He talks to me about, "OK, this is what I really like. If I had my way, I hope these calls are in. OK. Good." When we get the right looks, the ball's coming.
On how Burress has played...
He looks great. I think he's doing well. This kind of stuff doesn't happen overnight. It doesn't happen in 40 reps in training camp, if we got those. You've got to throw those reps hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of times, to where you can almost throw them with your eyes closed, and then you just react to what's going on around you.
On if he is not at that place yet with Burress…
Well, we haven't had that much experience, just in numbers and reps. The reps we take, we value them in practice. He goes full-speed, which is nice. We'll keep working.
On why it takes longer to connect with some receivers than it does with others…
It's like a different car. Same driver, just different car. They have a different feel. They like certain tracks better, they handle a little different. It's just kind of the way they are. Plax is a big dude, big rangy guy. Is he as fast as Tone [Santonio Holmes]? No, but Tone's the speedster, J.K. [Jeremy Kerley]'s the speedster. Those guys can really blow the top off the defense and take off, where Plax has a different game. They can't go up and jump with a Sean Smith like Plax can. You've just got to know your target, understand who you're throwing to and give those guys a chance. It's something that we're still working towards. That's good. It's not easy. I'm just glad he's been so open about it and been so positive.
On if he has spoken to Carson Palmer since he was traded…
No. I'm sure he's getting bombarded.
On the Palmer trade…
That's great for him. That's really cool. I know he wanted to get out of that situation in Cincinnati. Things ended up working out, it looks like, for both teams. They could potentially get two first-rounders, which is huge. That's awesome for him. I hope he does well.
On what is going through his mind regarding the team's slow starts…
I think we just haven't converted on a couple of those third downs early. The most important thing, whether it's early or late, we just have to hit our mark. We have to hit 40-plus percent on third down and you're right there at the top of the league if you're hitting that well. If we start out 3-for-3, fine, if not, fine, but we'd better hit the next couple.
On the difference in play between the first and second half…
Once we get in our rhythm, we're kind of rolling and we feel good. We got to try and do it sooner.
On where his confidence is right now…
Good. I feel good. The one thing I've learned in these games, one, if we're just taking care of the ball, you can deal with a low third-down percentage. You can deal with it. Just take care of the ball. The most important thing is, these are long games. Coach [Matt] Cavanaugh says it maybe every Sunday: "Hey, man, we're in this thing until the end. We're going to be fighting with this thing until the end. So don't get frustrated, don't get down. Keep these guys positive, keep them up."
My rookie year I really didn't understand that. Last year I started to get a grasp of it. If we take care of the ball, hit a few third downs, we will have a chance, whether it's the last two minutes, third quarter, whatever. We're going to have a chance. We'll be in the game. Look at the games we've played this year. We've been in every game, except the Baltimore game, because we didn't take care of the ball. Four or five turnovers, whatever it was, and we got blown out.
On improvement in the running game…
It's gotten better. No question, it's gotten better. It's still something we're working at. It's a different group. We'll have our own identity by the end of the year. Whatever it takes to keep working on. I'm just proud of the way those guys are working on offense. [Nick] Mangold working through an injury, Brandon Moore, [Matt] Slauson, Wayne [Hunter], and Vlad [Ducasse] coming in and doing some stuff, and Brick [D'Brickashaw Ferguson]. Coach [Bill] Callahan is just running those guys ragged. They're doing a great job.
Things will work, and I think, honestly, one of the hidden things that nobody really talks about is when you don't hit a lot of third downs, you lose a lot of plays. You run 60 plays a game as opposed to 85, 80-plus plays. You get more chances to run the ball. You get your yards, you hit your marks. If you don't convert on third down and you're working with 60 plays, you'd better bust some good runs or you're not going to hit your averages. That's kind of what's been going on. We've just got to get better on third down, sustain drives, and we'll hit our numbers.
