Sanchez may start running soon

Mark Sanchez has been running under water in the pool and hopes he'll begin running for real by roughly this time next month.

"Things are going well," Sanchez said today, adding: "I'm right on schedule. Probably be running hopefully mid-May, maybe a couple of weeks earlier, maybe a couple of weeks later. But everything's just the way we want it, so we're all happy."

Sanchez is continuing to rehab his left knee, which he had a minimally invasive procedure done on Feb. 17 to strengthen the patella tendons surrounding the knee. There's still no specific timetable as to when the Jets' franchise quarterback will be able to begin football-related activities.

He'd love to be able to get on the field at least by the Jets' mandatory mini camp, which is scheduled for June 14-16. 

"I can't say I wouldn't want to do that," Sanchez said. "I just don't know if that is on the schedule right now. We're obviously shooting for camp, so if something like that were to work out, we'd all be happy."

He'd be ecstatic if he could toss around a few balls to his new targets, like Super Bowl XVIII MVP WR Santonio Holmes.

"That's probably the most frustrating part at this stage in the recovery," Sanchez said. "I see the guys out there working and I just want to be out there, but we're getting what we can done in the film room and stuff, so that's going well."