Holmes, Tebow excited about "Jets West"
Mark Sanchez #6, left, and Santonio Holmes #10 of the New York Jets. Credit: Mark Sanchez #6, left, and Santonio Holmes #10 of the New York Jets. (Getty)
After last year’s lockout-shortened offseason, Mark Sanchez is looking forward to building chemistry with his Jets teammates, both new and old.
And that starts next month at “Jets West.”
“Those guys, they expect each other to be there, they expect that to be a good learning process, just like I do,” said the starting quarterback, who has invited teammates to workout in California each of the past three seasons. “And I’m glad that they put the effort out and really understand how important that is for me.”
Wide receiver Santonio Holmes missed last year’s west coast passing camp because he was an unrestricted free agent at the time. But he said he’s looking forward to joining the group. Tim Tebow, Dustin Keller, Shonn Greene and Jeremy Kerley are just a few of the players expected to travel cross-country.
“Being out there I think is going to give the younger guys a sense of security knowing that we have our veteran, we have our leader here with us who’s going to be helping us get on the same page,” Holmes said. “And I think all of us just doing the same thing at the same time is going to be a great chemistry-builder.”
Tebow also accepted Sanchez’s invitation to Jets West camp, but the backup quarterback insisted the offer was extended to everyone on the tream.
“It’s pretty much open to everyone on the team and I think that’s great,” said Tebow.
The backup QB said he hopes to accomplish "several things" while in California.
"I think one is to continue to develop timing with receivers, with tight ends, with running backs, with fullbacks, and then also to develop chemistry off the field," he said. "When you have better chemistry off the field it’s going to correlate to how you play on the field. I think that’s huge and it’s something that I think will be good for this team.
Sanchez said it’s “ridiculous” to assume he wouldn’t have invited Tebow (his so-called “competition”) to workout with him in California.
“It’s great,” Sanchez said of Tebow joining them. “(Mark) Brunell’s come out in the past, Kevin O’Connell’s come out in the past, so it’s great to have Tim and Greg (McElroy) there. It’ll be a help for all of us.
“…He’s one of our quarterbacks. All the skill players and quarterbacks are coming.”
