The Philadelphia Eagles plan to stick with quarterback Mark Sanchez this week against the New York Giants in a game almost entirely devoid of meaning for each frustrated, NFL postseason-less franchise.
Not for Sanchez though.
For Sanchez, the game will be yet another opportunity to prove to decision makers around the league that he's a quality starting quarterback who can lead a team into and through the minefield that is the NFL playoffs.
"All the big-picture questions like that are not really for me to decide right now," Sanchez said, per John Smallwood of the Philadelphia Daily News. "I'll have time in the offseason to look at this year as a whole, all the games that I played.
"We'll evaluate that at the end of the season. But right now, we are focused on the Giants and trying to finish strong."
But Sanchez may have already done too much damage to his league-wide reputation with his recent string of poor to mediocre play. Yes, he managed 37 completions on 50 attempts for 374 yards and two touchdowns against the Washington Redskins last week.
He also gift-wrapped two unforgivable turnovers - one a truly backbreaking interception at the game's most inopportune moment - and moved his mark as the starter in Philly to 3-4 after initially racing out to a 3-1 record. Fans were immediately transported back to Sanchez's time with the New York Jets, where he flamed out in fantastic fashion as the starting quarterback before limping off into the horizon with a shoulder injury.
His time in Philadelphia is drawing to close in an eerily similar gasping, choking fashion. He's now got 175 completions on 273 attempts for 2,126 yards, 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
"But all of these things, I feel responsible personally - just like [Eagles coach Chip Kelly] does, just like [quarterbacks coach Bill Musgrave] does, [just like center Jason Kelce] and every player in our locker room do," said Sanchez. "We're so competitive, almost to a fault. Each of us is saying, 'Man, if I could have just done one thing more, it would have prevented that and stopped this whole domino effect from happening . . . '
"Things change fast in this league, and unfortunately they changed for the worse for us. It's tough, but sometimes that is the way things go. It's one possession here or one first down there. That's how fragile this thing is."
NFL seasons are fragile and so are NFL careers.
Sanchez has to hope that he put enough on tape this year that someone, somewhere would offer him an opportunity to come in and compete for a starting gig next season.
