Mark Sanchez On His Okay First Start: "I Learned A Lot"

Brand new Jet Mark Sanchez, on the #5 draft pick this year, started his first NFL game last night—a preseason game against the Ravens— and the first moments were ugly. As the NY Times put it, "Early on, Sanchez played at a panic-inducing level. His first pass, short and wobbly after linebacker Ray Lewis knocked him backward, landed in the hands of defensive tackle Haloti Ngata, who rumbled 25 yards into the end zone for a 7-0 lead." (Of course, that was the very defense that Jets coach Rex Ryan helped create as the Raven's former defensive coordinator.) Golden Boy Sanchez did improve as the night went on, but the Jets' other quarterback, Kellen Clemens, did well enough in the 24-23 loss for Ryan to say there was still no decision on who the starting QB would be—the Daily News's QB-meter appears to give a teeny advantage to Sanchez. Sanchez summed up the night, "A great experience. Not the best start on Monday night, but I learned quite a bit."