Mark Sanchez Is Right About His “Gutless” Teammates

New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez had been quiet throughout an offseason that saw a stream of headlines being made by Jets teammates questioning his leadership ability, calling him lazy, calling him a “baby”—all anonymously.

That is until Thursday, when Sanchez, armed with his new contract extension, spoke with ESPN 1050 in New York (via the Daily News) about his loose-lipped teammates:

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It is a gutless thing to do. You don’t put your name on what you’re saying, then you don’t speak for yourself. You don’t speak for the team. That’s how I always felt about that. If I ever had an opinion on a player – or something that I wanted to talk to them about -- I would just tell them… I don’t think (being anonymous) is the professional way to do it.

If I try to come out and try to defend myself or not, it doesn’t matter unless you go win games. It’s the ultimate defense. Go win games next year and play well and this is all a distant memory and a great lesson. That’s the plan.

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Sanchez is a pretty terrible quarterback. But he is spot-on with both his assessment of his cowardly teammates and the way in which he can shut them up.

The Jets were such a mess at the end of the 2011 season it will be interesting to see how they come back in 2012 with much of the same cast of characters in the locker room.