Mark Sanchez starts his first game of the 2015 season Sunday when the Philadelphia Eagles take on the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported on NFL Network's GameDay First that Sanchez is expected to start Thanksgiving with Sam Bradford sitting due to a shoulder injury. In the two-game audition, Sanchez could play himself in the full-time starting gig.
"The future for Bradford in Philadelphia is murky," Rapoport said. "First of all, in the short term, Mark Sanchez is expected to start again on Thursday, so he's going to get at least a two-game audition potentially for the starting job."
Rapoport added that the extension Bradford did not sign in Philly this offseason essentially removed any security blanket for the quarterback.
"It's not like the Eagles can say 'we've invested a ton of guaranteed money in Bradford, he's for sure our starter,'" Rapoport said. "If Sanchez plays well enough to, say, win two games, it seems as if the team would continue to use him as the starter going forward. And then this offseason, with seven college quarterbacks rated in the first three rounds, the Eagles will once again be exploring the quarterback market."
Sanchez moved the ball well against the Miami Dolphins last week, but also threw a terrible interception in the red zone when the Eagles could have taken the lead late in the game.
Bradford hasn't exactly lit the world up in Chip Kelly's offense, and struggled with red zone interceptions. Sanchez faces two teams with losing records in Tampa and then Detroit on Thanksgiving. It wouldn't be a shock to see him play well and hang onto the gig down the stretch as Kelly continues to search for his ideal NFL quarterback.
