Sanchez runs Jets' offense smoothly in preseason opener

Mark Sanchez stepped up into the pocket the same way he did just across the parking lot roughly a year ago, letting his first preseason pass fly.

This time, though, there was no bomb, nor a completion. Sanchez was picked off, not exactly the way he envisioned his initial pass at the New Meadowlands Stadium.

"I don't think you can script a worse start," Sanchez said.

But the second-year quarterback rebounded to finish 13-for-17 for 119 yards and a touchdown, posting a quarterback rating of 90.1 in his first game action since his February left knee surgery. The second-year quarterback spread the ball around, completing passes to six receivers in the Jets' 31-16 loss to the Giants.

"I felt confident, I felt great in the huddle," Sanchez said. "I felt definitely in control."

Sanchez was the new guy everyone wanted to see last year, but last night was the first time Jets fans got a good glimpse at their team's big offseason acquisitions. Apparently, Rex Ryan wanted to give them a good long look, too. The Jets' starters played the bulk of the first half.

"The way we controlled the ball in the first half, we just kept it going," Ryan said. "But I wanted to play one quarter and two series and that's really what we did. What it is, is we had so many days before we played the first game and now we turn it around and only have five days to play the second game."

LaDainian Tomlinson ran for 17 yards on eight carries and had one rushing touchdown called back because of a holding penalty on center Rob Turner. Tomlinson was also targeted three times in the air, grabbing one for 14 yards.

"It wasn't weird," Tomlinson said, "but it was good to kind of get that rust off and play in game shape."

New kicker Nick Folk wasn't too shabby, drilling a pair of 36-yard field goals as well as a 22-yarder before missing a 46-yarder in the third quarter.

Defensively, the Jets held the Giants to 97 total yards in the first half and knocked out quarterback Eli Manning on Calvin Pace's vicious second-quarter hit. Pace's blindside blast caused Manning's helmet to fly off, and Manning ended up with a three-inch laceration on his head and needed 12 stitches.

Sanchez was intercepted on the Jets' second play from scrimmage. He threw an ill-advised pass that looked more like shades of the turnover-prone Sanchez who had to be reeled in by Ryan before the Jets made their playoff push last season.

Sanchez was looking for Tomlinson in the left seam and forced it into double coverage, where linebacker Michael Boley and safety Deon Grant had Tomlinson blanketed. The pass was deflected and tipped into the air, falling into the hands of Antrel Rolle, who motored to the Jets' 1-yard line. Three plays later, Brandon Jacobs scored.

Sanchez showed some fortitude, however, bouncing back on the Jets' ensuing drive.

Sanchez engineered a time-consuming, 14-play, 68-yard TD drive, firing several strikes along the way. He caught the Giants napping on the final play of the drive, snapping the ball while the Giants' defensive personnel had trouble lining up because they were switching packages.

Brad Smith, split wide left, was left unguarded and Sanchez immediately threw a laser in his direction, leaving Smith to simply walk 4 yards untouched into the end zone.

"The only thing that really stopped us was the penalties, especially in the red zone," Sanchez said. "We have to eliminate those and be sharper pre-snap."