Sanchez among Jets working out under radar
New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez throws a pass during a football training camp at his alma mater, Mission Viejo High School in Mission Viejo, Calif. (May 3, 2011) Credit: AP
They're usually pretty chatty, taking the cue from their brash, trash-talking coach.
Yet, Mark Sanchez and a bevy of his Jets teammates felt the need to work in peace this week during their three-day player-run practices, at Fairleigh Dickinson's Madison, N.J., campus.
No public. No media. Nothing. Just 40-plus players getting together for the first time since the season ended, spending roughly three hours a day doing various football-related activities in a makeshift minicamp just a deep out away from their multimillion-dollar training facility in Florham Park.
"We just wanted to be able to focus," Sanchez said Wednesday. "I think we've seen the extreme in 'Hard Knocks,' and how everything with the media, every little thing, if you sneeze, it's out there in print, on a blog or on TV. This is our chance to really just relax and do it our way, keep it quiet, have fun with the guys and keep it just a team thing.
"When you don't have that time, potentially not going to Cortland, potentially not going to training camp, this was as close to that as we could replicate, so we wanted it to be about us, just keep it quiet and have a little fun."
The sessions at "Camp Lockout" included everything from film study to position drills to 11-on-11 work, and according to the Jets' third-year signal-caller, no one got hurt.
Several key players like Bart Scott, Darrelle Revis, Nick Mangold, Brandon Moore and David Harris attended, though free agents Antonio Cromartie and Braylon Edwards reportedly were not there. There were those like Scott who altered their plans -- he's shooting footage for the TV show "Man Cave" -- just so they could be there and get that camaraderie going once more. "It was definitely a success, got some of the younger guys acquainted with veteran players, got everybody back again," Sanchez said.
The whole thing came together in about two weeks, initially starting with Sanchez, Moore and Mangold emailing their teammates to inquire about their availability. However, they're hopeful they won't have to organize any more player-run practices given the reports that a new collective bargaining agreement might be agreed upon in the near future.
"It's disappointing that it's gone on this long," Mangold said, "and I'm hoping from what I've read and what I've heard, that the optimism is well grounded and it's putting us in a good position to get things started on time."
