Philadelphia Eagles: On Mark Sanchez and Second Chances

"Stay ready."

That had to be what Mark Sanchez told himself over and over since his arrival in Philadelphia.

It was March of this year when the New York Jets finally released Sanchez. By then, it was too late to truly compete for one of the open starting quarterback positions around the league—one of many examples of the Jets' shabby treatment of Sanchez. 

But I knew something had changed when head coach Chip Kelly and the Eagles pounced without hesitation and brought Sanchez in as a backup quarterback. At the time, I worried that Sanchez would be dismayed going from starter to backup.

But after watching his introductory press conference, I realized I was dead wrong. 

Kelly saw past all the ridiculous New York media and the perpetual chaos of the Jets organization.  He had the courage of his own convictions and grabbed Sanchez the moment he was available. 

Remember—Kelly has had an eye on Sanchez all the way back to Sanchez’s days at Mission Viejo High School. Kelly's Ducks played against Sanchez’s USC Trojans when Kelly was with Oregon. He could see that Sanchez was undervalued in the marketplace coming off injury and a cloud of misperception surrounded his time in New York.

Sanchez, for his part, realized the opportunity that was presented and grabbed it with both hands. Next thing you know, he is seamlessly acclimating to his new teammates and drinking in everything about this forward-looking Eagles organization.

Sanchez has a one-year deal with the Eagles. He bet on himself, and he bet big. Team Sanchez knew full well that Nick Foles was the Eagles' starting quarterback.

But even if Sanchez never starts, it will still be worth it to spend a year under the tutelage of Kelly. Plus, he knew he’d get a chance to shine in the preseason. And boy, did he light it up.

Stay ready.

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Then, on Sunday, Nov. 2, against the Houston Texans, everything changed in the blink of an eye when Nick Foles was pile-driven into the turf, suffering a collarbone injury. Sanchez took over, and without missing a beat, Kelly called and Sanchez executed a 52-yard strike downfield to Jeremy Maclin.

Five plays later, Sanchez delivered a touchdown on a beautiful touch pass into the end zone to Jordan Matthews.

Long after everyone else had forgotten, Kelly remembered there was a reason Sanchez was drafted fifth overall in 2009. Sanchez has always had the athleticism, footwork and arm to play quarterback. What he needed was development. It only took that one series to remind everyone of that—especially the New York Jets.

And thus, on Sunday, this year’s strange intertwining of the two franchises began to unfold. It all started in the spring when the Jets and Eagles essentially swapped backup quarterbacks with former Eagles starter Michael Vick shipped to New York as backup and mentor to Geno Smith. Sanchez was to back up Nick Foles.

However, Coach Kelly told 94WIP's Morning Show (via CBS Philly) that his philosophy is that he considers everyone a potential starter and expects them to prepare as such.

Of course, a lot of coaches pay lip service to that. Kelly means it. Apparently in practice (er, training), he spreads the reps around. This is what forward-thinking coaching looks like, and the results speak for themselves.

Kelly has said from Day 1 that you must have two quarterbacks—not a starter and a scrub backup, but someone who can step right in and take over.

When Foles went down, Sanchez did just that. In fact, per Dave Spadaro of PhiladelphiaEagles.com, he was so seamless that his left tackle, Jason Peters, didn’t even realize it was Sanchez at the helm. It wasn't until he turned around to congratulate his quarterback for the 52-yard strike to Maclin that he realized it was Sanchez. (Not sure how he missed that in the huddle, but my leading theory is in-game chaos.)

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So, as Sanchez was capably leading the Eagles forward, on the very same afternoon, the Jets continued to watch their season circle the drain. Geno Smith, after being benched the previous week, was inactive with some type of shoulder injury. Mike Vick would start for the Jets.

Vick played well enough and certainly provided a spark the Jets had been missing. However, the Jets still couldn’t beat the Chiefs. And, in a twist no one saw coming, the Jets added to their butt-based folklore with a butt touchdown. 

You can’t make this stuff up.

It has slowly started to dawn on the haters that maybe, just maybe, the Jets woes weren’t all Sanchez’s fault. The uncomfortable truth is that blame extends throughout the Jets organization top to bottom.

It starts with a head coach who disdains offense. It extends to a front office that couldn’t be bothered to stock the cupboard with reliable role players and talented skill-position players. Then, the demoralizing losses started to pile up.

And finally, this bubbling cauldron of explosive discontent was ignited by the lit match that was the Tim Tebow experiment. It’s been downhill ever since.

The Jets are in free fall. I think they are looking at a complete rebuild. The Eagles, however, have every reason to be optimistic. For the first time in his pro career, Sanchez has a quarterback whisperer to guide him, and Kelly has a talented, willing pupil.

There will still be in-game mistakes. But Kelly has shown an ability to course-correct and adapt to circumstances on the field in real-time. I don’t see potential miscues spiraling out of control the way they often did when Sanchez was with the Jets.  

For the first time in a long time, Sanchez is set up to succeed, not fail. We’ll find out soon enough how Act 2 of "The Sanchize" plays out.