Jim Leonhard Defends Sanchez

The blaming of Mark Sanchez for every Jet inconsistency this season has reached a new level. Before his four touchdown performance against Buffalo, Sanchez was booed. Not at halftime, not in the first quarter. He was booed before the game during warm ups. His teammate, safety Jim Leonhard, took exception to the fans behavior.

Jim Leonhard told a New York radio station that the booing bothered and frustrated him.

"I think we have a great crowd,” Leonhard said during his weekly radio spot on WFAN. "I think probably for one of the first times, I was kind of disappointed. Our starting quarterback gets booed in introductions…. That’s frustrating when … As players, you kind of turn to each other and say, 'You know what? I guess we’re in this one today by ourselves. We can’t rely on the crowd to give us that energy because it’s already started off on a bad note.'

"So I will say that this past weekend was really the first time that I’ve been kind of frustrated going into a game, which is bad."

Sanchez ended up turning the boos into cheers with a winning performance. Leonhard was able to shake off the frustration to help his defense make enough plays to hold off Ryan Fitzpatrick and a charging Buffalo offense with the game on the line in the fourth quarter.

The team can expect more boos when they take on the Redskins this Sunday. At least they'll be on the road in Landover, MD this time.