New York Jets QB Mark Sanchez - Ingles

January 19, 2011

On his confidence in being a leader and how much of it came from his father…

Wow. I think part of it you're born with and you learn from other people, from my older brothers, from my dad, from my mom. From my dad's side, him being a firefighter, it's very similar to being a quarterback because he has his own group, his team, and they rely on each other. They count on each other and they need to be accountable to each other with their lives. While our trade isn't quite (risking) our lives, it's wins and losses and that can change people's careers, so it's important to us. Then for my mom, her idea of leadership was serving others first and being that kind of leader. There (are) different types (of leaders). There are guys who can speak up and guys who can lead by example. I try to mix in a little bit of both. They've taught me to be competitive and taught me to lead from an early age, so that's kind of where it came from. It just seems natural here. You're the quarterback of a multi‑million dollar franchise. You're the face, you're the guy, and you need to wear it and own it and be it at all times, whether you're at the podium or at home studying your plays or you're out with the guys. You've got to make the right decisions for the team and talk the right way and love those guys around you. I guess that's where it started, but it makes my job so easy here when you have guys like Nick Mangold to help you (and) when you have perennial Pro Bowlers and future Hall of Famers like LT (LaDainian Tomlinson) to help you. It's a joy to do it here.

On how reassuring it is to have a veteran wide receiver like Jerricho Cotchery…

All three of them (Cotchery, Braylon Edwards and Santonio Holmes) and Dustin's (Keller) learning so much too. For Jerricho, he did such a great job of knowing where to sit in the zone, and then breaking the tackle down the sideline, making the right cut, hurdling the defender on the sideline (on his 58-yard reception at New England). He looked like it was a kickoff return or something. It was awesome just to watch him do that. For him to rack up yards like that and make a big push for us when we needed it the most was huge. All last year, all throughout this year, he's been there for me just as a safety valve and made some huge plays for a young quarterback and really bailed me out. He’s done a great job. The last game was perfect for him. He deserved that.

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