Mark Sanchez To Start Saturday Night As Jets Prepare For Matchup With Jacksonville

The Jacksonville Jaguars travel up north to visit the New York Jets in Week 2 of the 2013 NFL preseason. The NFL Network will actually carry this game live on Saturday night, with coverage starting at 7:30 pm ET.

One thing known going into the game is that the Jets will start quarterback Mark Sanchez. Head coach Rex Ryan was not shy in assessing rookie quarterback Geno Smith’s performance in practice on Tuesday following an ankle injury he suffered in the preseason opener. The word ‘brutal’ was thrown out by Ryan.

Smith reportedly threw three interceptions during a scrimmage, and had trouble getting the ball to his receivers. Certainly Ryan admitted than the ankle had something to do with it, but that even still it was the worst practice Smith has had.

Whether that lights a fire under the rookie or not remains to be seen. This competition for the starting job still should be wide open, because Sanchez hasn’t shown much to separate himself. He certainly hasn’t won the job. Smith might have taken a step back, but it was on his own doing, and not the success of Sanchez.

For the Jaguars, it was a poor performance all around in a 27-3 defeat at the hands of the Miami Dolphins. But it is only the first preseason game, and Jacksonville will get back at it against the Jets.

They have a quarterback competition of their own between Blaine Gabbert and Chad Henne. It was Henne who had the better game in in the first preseason game, though neither quarterback did anything particularly impressive. This competition will continue against New York.