10/05 — Every quarterback is going to, for lack of a better phrase, get punched in the mouth at some point. For Mark Sanchez it wasn’t just one punch but a flurry of blows in New Orleans.

It came from a Saints defense that looks a lot like the Jets attack style we’ve seen give QBs with far more experience than Sanchez so much trouble in the first month of the season. Eight men on the line breathing fire, daring a rookie to do what Tom Brady and Kerry Collins couldn’t when the Jets sent the house over and over again.

And Sanchez not only took a pretty good beating, but he beat himself with some admittedly bad rookie mistakes that cost the Jets two defensive touchdowns and created a hole that was just too deep. It’s the NFL, it happens. And now we find out even more about the Jets' prized rookie.

You get knocked down. Can you bounce back and get up?

They wouldn’t have drafted Sanchez if they didn’t have tremendous confidence that he’ll do just that. Because to listen to him after the Saints loss was to listen to a young man that seems wise far beyond his years and certainly far beyond the four games he’s now played in the NFL.

“If I have to take ownership of this loss, I’m willing to do that, because this team played well enough to win and it was my mistakes that cost us the game,” he said.

Sanchez wouldn’t talk about poor pass protection or play calls he may not have agreed with. He couldn’t say enough again about how well the Jets defense played. Basically he was the anti-T.O. He took the blame for the loss all on his own shoulders, and they seem like shoulders plenty wide enough to handle this defeat, learn from it and get right back on the horse against Miami.

Because in the end, looking at how difficult the Jets’ schedule was to start the year, 3-1 at the quarter pole is a heck of an accomplishment. And the way this defense is playing, there is no reason to think that there aren’t plenty more W’s on the schedule going forward.

The Saints were averaging 40 points per game. The Jets defense held them to 10. And they did that in the Saints’ house, on the lightning-fast artificial turf, in the controlled climate of the Superdome, which is exactly the type of environment this team is built for.

The Jets can play … and their quarterback has plenty of game as well. He had a bad day Sunday. They all do. Monday night in Miami, the education of Mark Sanchez will continue. Stay tuned.