Transcript of Mark Sanchez's and Geno Smith's news conferences following the Jets' Monday midday practice near their lockers at the Atlantic Health Training Center:
QB MARK SANCHEZ
On how he is feeling…
A little sore. I have an injured shoulder here, so we'll just take it day to day, keep rehabbing and try and get back as soon as possible.
On getting hurt so late in camp…
I'm obviously not happy that I'm hurt. I felt like I was putting together a good camp, so it's an unfortunate thing. But there's no time to gripe about it. I just have to rehab as hard as I can. I know we have the best trainers and they're going to get me in the best position possible to try and get back for the first week.
**
On if he's planning on being back for Tampa Bay…**
That's in all of our plans. I'm trying to get back as soon as possible and be able to practice as soon as possible.
On being ready for Week 1…
That's the goal, so just keep our fingers crossed and take it day to day.
On what the doctors have told him about his shoulder…
I'm not going to go through the details of the shoulder injury. I'm just going to say that I have an injured shoulder and we'll take it day to day. I'm trying to get back for Week 1.
On if he was surprised to go into the game…
Look, I'm a competitor and as a player it's not your job to worry about when you're going in, who's in, whatever, what string, this or that. If they call your number, you have to play and that's what I do, that's what I've always done. So that's not my call. That's the coach's decision.
On if it was part of the pregame plan for him to play…
They said to be ready to play and I was ready to play.
On how his shoulder feels now compared to Sunday…
Things are progressing. Every day it's getting a little better.
On if he has been told the details of the injury…
I'm not going to get into the details of the injury.
On when he has to throw to know if he will be ready for Tampa Bay…
I don't know that. We're just going to take it day to day.
On when he expects to practice again…
As soon as I can. If I can practice tomorrow, I'll practice tomorrow. But we just have to take it day to day.
On how many more tests he has to get on his shoulder…
I'm not going to go through any of the rehab process or any of the details.
On how he felt when he sustained the injury…
Emotionally, you're just upset, and that's really where your head's at. You're just upset to be hurt. You never want to be hurt. You work too hard to get hurt and it's just a bummer. So you just rebound, rehab your butt off and get back as soon as possible.
On if he felt like he won the starting job before his injury…
I feel like I've put together a great camp and it's been my best camp. That decision is going to be up to the coaches. So we'll see.
On his injury and if the quarterback evaluation is over…
I'm not going to get into any details of the injury, or the evaluation, or the rehab, sorry.
On if the quarterback competition is still going on…
That's up to the coaches. I don't know that.
On if the quarterback competition will continue…
I don't know that. That's Rex [Ryan]'s call.
On the progression of his injury…
Things are progressing day to day and hopefully it's getting better every day.
On if his injury felt similar to the one he suffered against Pittsburgh in 2010…
I don't want to compare the injuries and I don't want to get into too many details on that.
On how it felt when he got hit by Marvin Austin…
It didn't feel good.
On if he was affected by any of the hits earlier in the series…
No, it was that one play.
On if he was surprised he was told to go in…
No, I'm not here to second-guess the coaches. If they call you to play, you'd better be ready to play, and I was. So I warmed up and went in and played, tried to win.
On when he was told to go in…
We had a TV timeout and they yelled for me, I grabbed my helmet, warmed up and that was it.
On if he was surprised he was told to play…
They told me to be ready to play, so there was no real surprise.
On if his warmup was different than normal…
Normally, I'm starting.
On if his warmup was different than other preseason games…
I started them.
On if his warmup was different than preseason games his rookie season…
I guess not.
On if he was told he was supposed to go in before the timeout…
Not yet, but this happens all the time. If you're on special teams, defense, offense, all the time, "Hey, you're in." That's it. You have to be ready to go, and I was ready.
On if he feels he can go out there and give it a try soon…
Well, I hope so. I think every morning I'm going to try and do something. As soon as it's ready to go, I'll go.
On if he did anything in practice…
No, I didn't do anything in practice.
On if he did anything for rehab…
I can't get into the details of rehab.
On if he started his rehab…
I can't get into the details of rehab.
On the possibility of Coach Ryan losing the locker room…
I'm not going to speculate on that. I know he's our head coach. We play our butts off for him. He knows how to motivate us. He's doing his very best and that's what we expect of him, just like he expects out of us. He expects our best.
On how the quarterback decision has not happened yet…
It's not my call.
On if he is frustrated about not being able to practice…
I want to practice. I want to play. So that's the frustrating part, not being able to go out and practice with these guys.
On if he will be ready for Tampa Bay…
That's the goal.
On if he has been told he will be ready for Tampa Bay…
Every injury is different. It's all subjective at this point and I'm going to do everything I possibly can. That's all I can promise.
On if he has ever experienced a similar injury…
I don't know. I'll let you know as we progress. Day-to-day.
On his MRI results…
I'm not going to get into the details of the MRI.
QB GENO SMITH
On how he feels about his performance on Saturday…
It's pretty uneven. I had some ups and downs. It's all a part of the learning curve. Overall, I think we competed well, got a victory. If you want to pinpoint some things, turnovers were definitely one of the things I needed to eliminate. Like I said, it's just part of going out there, getting reps and being a rookie. Every single thing is going to be a learning experience for me and something I can use in the future.
On if he felt like he telegraphed any of his interceptions…
No, I was going through my normal reads. I may have been late on a couple passes here or there. A couple of my passes weren't as sharp as I've always been. It's just something that can be corrected. Myself, Coach [David] Lee, Coach Marty [Mornhinweg], we're all going to do an extremely great job of pinpointing those mistakes and then correcting them.
On if he knows if he's going to play against Philadelphia…
No, I don't. But I'll take it day by day as we always do and continue to work hard in practice like we always do.
On if he wants to play against Philadelphia…
It's up to the coaches. I just follow the orders that are given to me. If I'm out there playing, then I'm going to play hard and I'm going to take every single rep as hard as I can.
On how prepared he feels if he is named the starter…
I'm going to prepare as I've always done and that's to work hard. That's to study a bunch of tape and just continue to work and progress and get better. That's something that's going to help this team. I think right now, we're all progressing, we're all getting better and we're going to be ever better when the season comes. Later down on the line, Week 6, 7, I don't want to look ahead, but we're just going to continue to get better and that's going to come with hard work.
On how his ankle feels…
It feels pretty good. Still not close to 100 percent yet, but it's something I'm treating every single day and every single day it's felt stronger. I've been able to move better, so it feels good and it's only going to get better.
On competing with Mark Sanchez now that he is injured…
I hope Mark gets better fast. Like I said, I'm in support of him. He's a part of our quarterback room and he's a guy who's a leader on team. I wish him the best with his recovery. I know what it's like to be sidelined a bit. It's not something that you like to do or want to go through, especially as a quarterback. You always want to be out there getting reps. It's no different for me. I'm still going to compete hard and work hard in practice and just do the things that I'm accustomed to.
On if he feels ready to be the Week 1 starter…
Yes, I am. I've been working hard, extremely hard this offseason, preparing myself to be a starter Week 1, and if I'm given the chance, I'll be prepared for it.
On if he feels his performance Saturday night was a step back…
No, every single rep that you get in a game, every single mistake that you make, as a rookie, as a player in general, is something that you can learn from. In my case, my first actual start, my first time to get some actual live reps, I went about three quarters and I felt pretty good. Except for those mistakes, that like I said can be corrected, I felt pretty good out there.
On how valuable it will be to get reps against Philadelphia…
Every single rep is valuable. Every single rep that I take is another way for me to learn and gain experience. Experience is everything in this league, especially at this position and it's something that comes with the territory. Every single rep that I get is something that I can eventually learn from.
On if he feels that this is still an ongoing quarterback competition.
Yeah, I actually do. As long as I'm given the opportunity to compete, I'm going to compete. And that's what it is now. We're still in an open competition and every single thing is going to be evaluated as it's always been. So I'm going to do the things that I've done up until this point, and that's work hard and just try to be a good teammate.
On if there was any sense of relief after finally making that first NFL start…
Not really. I didn't have any added pressure or feel anything going into the game. I wanted to do well. Didn't perform my best, was spotty. Had some good plays, had some negative plays. Like I said, they're all something that I'll eventually learn from. I feel good, still confident. Still feeling pretty good.
On if he feels like the quarterback competition will continue into the regular season… I don't know. That's something that we'll see, as Rex stated, they're going to make the decision when they feel the time's right. So it's my job to keep competing and keep going out there and working hard in practice.
