Last season was a bona fide disaster for Mark Sanchez.
The New York Jets quarterback struggled mightily on the field, losing both his starting job and the confidence of the organization. The presence of Tim Tebow did him no favors, but Sanchez doesn't blame his backup for that.
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"I just don't know if it was the best situation for either of us, but you play with the cards you are dealt with and do the very best you can," Sanchez said on the "Petros & Money Show" on Fox Sports Radio this week, via SportsRadioInterviews.com. "... It's up to us to eliminate outside distractions, whether it's about Tebow in the media or just anyone on the outside or anybody's expectations and really just focusing on us and really trying to get the best of each other."
Sanchez went out of his way to call Tebow a "nice guy," but jabbed at the Jets organization for inviting the media uproar into New York's locker room.
"Well, I think part of that, too, is ESPN didn't necessarily sneak in overnight at our training camp," Sanchez said. "They had to get permission to go. You can avoid that stuff on your own if you like, in my opinion, but (Tebow's) a popular guy and people gravitate towards the guy. He's a special person and a heck of a competitor, so people want to know what's going on, but that's all I got on that."
Thankfully, the sun is setting on the Tebow-Sanchez narrative. Tebow is fully expected to be released by training camp, if not sooner. That won't make Sanchez an effective quarterback, but it can't hurt.
Follow Marc Sessler on Twitter @MarcSesslerNFL.
