CORTLAND, N.Y. — Mark Sanchez already knows the New York Jets' offense like the back of his hand.
That assumes, of course, the back of his hand still looks the way it did last weekend, tattooed with ballpoint notations and reminders to help him through a morning of training camp.
"Just different plays, different checks," he said, turning over his hand to show the cryptic markings. "Because I didn't have a wristband with a clear sleeve, so I just wrote it down on my hand. I just wanted to make sure I was solid with these two run checks."
If you're the future of an NFL franchise, you can never be too thorough. And Sanchez, the fifth overall draft pick from USC, is determined to show he can make the kind of splash Atlanta's Matt Ryan and Baltimore's Joe Flacco made as rookies last season.
First things first means learning the offense and beating Kellen Clemens for the starting job. The latter isn't a sure thing. That said, no one debates that the job ultimately will belong to Sanchez, who two months ago signed a five-year deal that reportedly included $28 million in guarantees.
Sanchez took a big step toward locking up the No. 1 job by outplaying Clemens in the exhibition opener Friday against St. Louis. On his first play, Sanchez threw a beautiful 48-yard pass to David Clowney, setting the tone for a brief but convincing performance: directing an eight-play, 93-yard touchdown drive on his only series.
"For a rookie to step in on the first play and unleash one, it was pretty impressive," Coach Rex Ryan said after the three-for-four performance. "He showed us everything we needed to see. . . . I mean, shoot, he completed everything."
For Sanchez, the night started with a tiny, humorous gaffe: His mouthpiece fell to the Meadowlands turf the first time he tried barking signals. Oh, well, nobody's perfect.
So far, though, he's well ahead of the learning curve. Even though the Trojans run a pro-style system, Sanchez has spent virtually every available hour at camp either practicing, in meetings, or with his nose buried in the playbook. That's expected.
The Jets have been impressed by how comfortable Sanchez seems in the huddle and how he has learned the basics of a foreign language -- a new offense -- in a few months.
As part of their sleuthing on Sanchez as a player, Jets scouts studied tape of him wearing a microphone in various USC games. Did he speak clearly? Did he rattle off the plays quickly? Did he seem relaxed?
