Lucas grew up in New Jersey, as did Neil O'Donnell, a Jets quarterback who came before him. Both said they expect Sanchez to do well but emphasized this is worlds removed from the comfortable cocoon of USC.
"You're never prepared for it," O'Donnell said. "If you think you are, you aren't. Even when you're winning, it's still, 'But . . .' You still have to answer that, 'But . . .'
"With the fans and the expectations, it's almost like they want you to fall on your face. You have to fight to even not stumble. Because it's an easy story for them -- same old Jets, same old blown draft picks, same old blown free agents. It's a broken record."
O'Donnell thought he was prepared for the adjustment when he signed with the Jets as a free agent in 1996, fresh off a Super Bowl loss as quarterback of the Pittsburgh Steelers. He was pretty sure he had seen and been through it all.
So it wasn't surprising to him that a large group of reporters was there for his introductory news conference. The eye opener was that same large group gathered in front of his locker after every practice.
"When you go to your locker after a regular Wednesday practice in the middle of the season, there are 15 beat writers wanting your time," said O'Donnell, who now lives in Tennessee, where he finished his career with the Titans.
"You're never prepared for that. Usually most teams have three, four, five, maybe at the most six guys that want to get a little sound bite from the starting quarterback. But in New York it's 10 to 15 guys around your locker every time you come out there."
Fans never sleep
As tenacious as the New York media might be, the most scathing critiques come from the fans -- the same ones who were cheering like madmen at Radio City Music Hall when the Jets selected Sanchez.
The young quarterback heard a bit of that last week while stuck in Manhattan traffic on his way to Esiason's show. Radio callers were complaining about the New York Mets so vehemently, dissecting every detail of their latest loss, some even suggesting the team was trying to lose, that Sanchez later remarked about it to Esiason.
Said Esiason: "I told him, 'You haven't heard anything. The first time your ball gets caught up in a wind gust at the Meadowlands, they're going to say your arm's not strong enough. They'll be comparing you to Chad Pennington, and that you're no Joe Namath.' "
