Right Now, The Eagles Are A Mark Sanchez Team

Everybody’s talking about Sam Bradford and Tim Tebow, but the truth of the matter is that this is a Mark Sanchez football team, right now.  He’s the one taking the snaps with the first string.  He’s the one who is healthy and he is the one who knows this offense.

Bradford was limping around practice yesterday and Tebow was misfiring on throws, so I don’t think it would be a shock to anybody to see Sanchez start every game at quarterback for the Birds this season.  Sanchez didn’t resign with the Eagles to sit the bench and there’s decent chance that he won’t have to do so.

If we were to take bets on which Eagles quarterback would start the most games this year, I would put my money on Sanchez.  I was practice yesterday and I saw all the quarterbacks.  Others don’t see to want to admit that right now, this is a Mark Sanchez team.

All the Bradford talk is a lot of hope.  I hope Bradford gets back and is able to play, but there’s no guarantee of that.  He might not get back until we’re into the regular season, then he could have setbacks and we all know he could go down again.  Tebow is still not ready.  In fairness, he doesn’t know the offense and the fact that he was thinking and trying to execute his new delivery wasn’t working consistently enough yesterday.  There’s no way they’re going to hand him the ball in September.  Matt Barkley looked ready to play yesterday, but Chip Kelly seems to have given up on him.

In contrast, Sanchez seems to be rejuvenated and confident that he can play better than he did a year ago.  After all he had undergone surgery on his arm during the off season before the 2014 campaign, yet he had the best completion percentage of his career.  He completed 64% of his passes in 2014, but he believes he can improve.  A healthier arm could mean throwing downfield more and throwing outside the hashes more.

“First thing, physically, I feel so much better,” Sanchez said. “The farther it gets away from surgery and all the reps I’ve had, all the rehab on through, it only can get better and better and stronger. So this is definitely the best I’ve ever felt. And then as far as the scheme, every rep, every time we sit down and watch film, every meeting, that can only help my growth as well.”

The former New York Jets quarterback decided to sign with the Eagles again because he wanted to continue to play in Chip Kelly’s offense and he didn’t want to learn a new system.  I think it was a wise decision on his part.

“Were there other opportunities? Absolutely”, said Sanchez. “Did they look potentially good, better, similar, maybe worse? Potentially, yeah, there was some stuff out there. But when I factored it all in, I just felt like this was the best spot for me. I enjoy playing for coach Kelly, I love this system, I love the tempo, I love the pace and, like I said, I’m coming off an injury and I threw the highest completion percentage of my career, so why try and change it now? Let’s plug back in and see what happens. That’s what I’m excited about.”

I hear and read people questioning Bradford’s health and Tebow’s delivery, but I don’t see many people talking about Sanchez, but he could very easily wind up being the guy.  That’s why he was smart to sign here in Philly.  The guy isn’t stupid, he knows this situation is open and he is practicing like he is the starter.

“Coach will make that determination at some point,” Sanchez said. We want everybody to be healthy. But that doesn’t affect how I prepare or how I transition into this next season. All of us come into that quarterback room, walk in the huddle, you act like you’re the starter. That’s the only way I know how to play. As soon as you start thinking or counting reps or, ‘I wonder if this guy’s going to be healthy,’ then you’re already beat. There’s no point in being out here. Yeah, everybody wants to be the starter and I’m no different.”

Kelly made it clear who his quarterback is right now. when he spoke glowingly of the way Sanchez has played during these OTA’s.

“I think you can see it in how he’s performing out there now,” Kelly said. “He’s also not learning an offense again. A lot of times not only are you trying to figure out how you’re throwing the ball again because you’re coming off a year long layoff in terms of throwing the football, but he is really comfortable in terms of the scheme.”

Sanchez, the former fourth pick in the draft, also came to the OTA’s on a mission to clarify the reasons for those costly interceptions of 2014.  He insinuated that some of them, not all of them, were his fault, but nobody seemed to be listening.

“I think the best part about that offseason period is getting to the truth of all those turnovers,” Sanchez said. “What was it? Was it a poor decision, a poor throw or a good defensive play? Did we screw up something else whether it was protection or route or depth or a catch here or there? All those things play into it. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter. It goes on my record and that’s what you sign up for when you play the position, so that was important for me to see that. When you see some of those from last year, it’s like, ‘Man, we’re so close. So close.’ One throw, one catch, one block, one tackle, whatever it is, and, like I said, we could be talking about a whole different season here.”

He might not get those interception expunged from his record, but until further notice: Hey Philadelphia, YOUR STARTING QUARTERBACK IS MARK SANCHEZ!!!!!