Mark Sanchez wanted to fight Rex Ryan

A. Isaac Senior Editor

Mark Sanchez 309x214 Mark Sanchez wanted to fight Rex Ryan

At the end of last year’s regular season, Jets fans, as well as members of the media began to question if Mark Sanchez really had the goods to be the starting quarterback on a Super Bowl contender. The skepticism even spread to head coach Rex Ryan who instructed an assistant to give Mark Brunell more reps in a practice following the Dolphins loss.

In the September issue of GQ, Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez opens up about Rex Ryan’s benching comments and the Mark Brunell practice incident.

Before the next practice, Sanchez was informed that Ryan wanted to give extra reps to Sanchez’s backup and friend Mark Brunell. Ominous. Sanchez nodded like a good soldier, but on the practice field, when Brunell walked into the huddle, Sanchez pushed him away. Offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer approached. He repeated that Ryan wanted Brunell to take extra reps. “I was like, ‘He can come tell me,’ ” Sanchez says. “And [Schottenheimer] is like, ‘Come on, man, don’t do that.’”

Eventually the crisis passed. Sanchez held his ground, kept his job, and managed not to alienate his friend. But the episode remains something of a sore point with Sanchez. In a locker room where everything is a laughing matter, Sanchez hasn’t yet joked with Ryan about that almost-benching. And he doesn’t expect to. “I wanted to fight him,” Sanchez says. “I was really mad.”

Certainly an interesting statement from Sanchez and one that shows how much confidence he has in himself. Now it’s just a question as to whether he can turn that confidence into a Super Bowl berth this year. Because anything less, given the Jets hype, is probably unacceptable.

In the meantime though, Sanchez appears to be enjoying life in New York as “Broadway Mark”. And from the looks of it, he’s doing so shirtless.

Broadway Mark [GQ}

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