National Football League

Jets' Sanchez says he goofed by reading statement

Published Nov. 19, 2009 1:00 a.m. ET

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Mark Sanchez might keep his notes to himself from now on. The New York Jets rookie quarterback was criticized by some members of the media after opening his postgame news conference Sunday by reading from a statement he prepared after losing to the Jacksonville Jaguars. "I just changed things up a little bit," Sanchez said Wednesday. "I thought I had everything figured out, of course, as a 23-year-old rookie would, but probably not the best way to go about it. It didn't go over very well, so, trial and error and hopefully a one-time mistake." Sanchez said he sat at his locker after the 24-22 loss and wrote out his thoughts in anticipation of what he might be asked. He then went to the podium and quickly read from the sheet, rattling off specific key plays and offering a summary of what happened in the loss before taking questions. "Once I got up there, I kind of got rolling with it and kept going," he said. "I won't do that again." The awkward moment rubbed some in the media the wrong way as Sanchez was criticized for appearing immature, disrespectful and unprofessional. After thinking about it, Sanchez said he was wrong to have a prepared statement. "I answer the questions and you guys ask the questions," he said. "That's the rule. I'm not here to do your job, just like you're not here to do mine. That wasn't the most respectful thing to you guys and ladies. As much as I anticipate the questions and want to have an idea of what's coming my way, it's not my job to say, 'All right, the press conference is over."' Jets coach Rex Ryan said he hadn't seen Sanchez's news conference, but poked fun at it during his own Wednesday by taking out a sheet of paper and saying, "It says here New England's pretty good. Any questions? OK." Sanchez has mostly shown some media savvy, impressive for a rookie who started only 16 games in college at Southern California. He has remained unfazed throughout the season despite questions about a pre-draft magazine photo spread, eating a hot dog on the sideline during a game at Oakland and his up-and-down debut as the Jets' starting quarterback. "I'll look back at it probably at the end of the year," Sanchez said, "but you learn a lot of this stuff on the fly."

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