Sanchez gives way to Brunell, but he's OK

PHILADELPHIA -- The appearance of Mark Brunell under center with 4:45 left in the fourth quarter of the Jets' 45-19 loss to the Eagles wasn't because of any injury suffered by Mark Sanchez. It also wasn't one of Rex Ryan's motivational techniques.

Brunell, the backup quarterback, came in simply because the game was out of hand.

"[Sanchez] never wanted to come out," Ryan said. "Even at the end, when we had Brunell in there, Mark just wanted to go back in. I think he's fine."

Sanchez backed up his coach, saying he felt "all right" and did not want to leave the game but that he was OK with it because "it's coach's decision." He appeared to leave the field in pain during the third quarter but said he just took a good hit.

There was little reason for Sanchez to risk injury and play the fourth quarter, given that the Eagles essentially wrapped up the game in the third. A field goal late in the quarter put Philadelphia ahead 38-13.

The play of Sanchez, who passed for 150 yards and had more turnovers (two interceptions, one fumble) than touchdowns passes (two), was a major reason for that.

"You never want to put that stuff on film," Sanchez said. "It's just embarrassing. We're a much better football team than that. We know how to take care of the football . . . There's no excuse for tonight. It was bad all around on offense."

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Sanchez wasn't great, but he also fell victim to bad luck. Both of his interceptions could have been caught by Santonio Holmes but were tipped to defenders. The first came in the first quarter with the Eagles leading 7-0 and the Jets at the Philadelphia 14.

"We put ourselves in a bad spot offensively and defensively," Sanchez said. "It's hard when you give it right back to them and make your defense go out there after two plays."

Sanchez did connect on two beautiful touchdown passes. On the first, a 25-yarder to Holmes in the second quarter that brought the Jets within 28-10, he threaded the ball between three Eagles defenders. On the second, which made it 45-19, Plaxico Burress caught a 9-yarder in the back of the end zone on a fade pattern.

The Eagles sacked Sanchez four times for 30 yards in losses. Three of those sacks came from Jason Babin, who became the 10th player in NFL history and first Eagle to record three sacks in back-to-back games. Babin has 18 sacks and is five away from breaking Michael Strahan's single-season record.

"We just really hurt ourselves tonight," Sanchez said. "Whether it was fumbles or interceptions or me fumbling, you know we can't do it. I know we're better than that. I know that when we put points on the board, our defense is excited and they'll get us the ball right back like they did a couple of times tonight."