Mark Sanchez excited to start again

PHILADELPHIA -- Mark Sanchez endured the pressure of being a starting quarterback in New York for four years. After a year on injured reserve and half a season as a backup with the Eagles, that pressure doesn't seem so bad.

"It's been a while since I started a game," Sanchez said Wednesday. "It's hard, going four straight years and then being out for a year -- one, not being able to practice and two, coming in and watching somebody else play. It tests you a little bit. It makes you appreciate it even more. It makes you want to play all that much better when you get in."

Sanchez has taken over for Nick Foles, who fractured his collarbone Sunday in Houston. Sanchez got his first action of the season in relief of Foles, steering the Eagles to a 31-21 victory.

Sanchez will start his first game since the end of the 2012 season, before suffering a shoulder injury in the 2013 preseason when he was competing for the Jets' starting job withGeno Smith and before his release from the team.

To make things even more perfect, Sanchez will make his first start as an Eagle on "Monday Night Football," against the Carolina Panthers.

He has used the downtime wisely.

"Just getting that chance to get a bird's-eye view of everything," Sanchez said. "Putting that New York experience in its place -- taking with me a lot of things that went well, improving upon the things that didn't go so well. So now, hopefully, I'm a better version of myself, the best version of myself for this Monday night game."

Sanchez signed with the Eagles knowing full well that Foles was the starting quarterback this season. He handled that as well as any former starter could. But he kept busy absorbing Chip Kelly's innovative offensive schemes and serving as a mentor to Foles and No. 3 quarterback Matt Barkley.

"I just enjoy the daily routine," Sanchez said. "I enjoy Coach Kelly and how excited he is about offensive football, how he's constantly searching for a competitive edge, how he wants ideas from players, from coaches. He never feels like it has to be his idea, although it's his offense. He wants input. It's been so fun to be a part of."

Forced to run Kelly's offense without warning Sunday, Sanchez was fine. Kelly helped by making his first play a deep throw that went for 52 yards to Jeremy Maclin.

Later, Sanchez heard Kelly's voice over the speaker in his helmet. The coach was calling a zone-read play, one of the areas Sanchez is least comfortable with.

"Chip said, 'You know we're running such-and-such play, so you're reading [No.] 99,' " Sanchez said. "I was like, 'Thanks.' "

Houston's No. 99 is J.J. Watt. Sanchez had to decide whether to hand off or run the ball himself based on what Watt did. That meant he was face-to-face with arguably the most disruptive defensive player in the game.

Sanchez laughed at the memory. That has been his demeanor throughout the season.

Maclin, who later caught one of Sanchez's two touchdown passes Sunday, said Sanchez is willing to laugh about things like the "Butt Fumble," perhaps the low point of his time in New York.

However, several of his former Jets teammates said they wish Sanchez well.

Jets wide receiver Jeremy Kerley said he's happy for his friend.

"I'm happy for Mark. I was always on Mark's side, that's somebody I call my friend," Kerley said.

"I was always on his side," Kerley said. "That was one dude when I first got here, he made sure I felt like I was at home. He went out of his way to make me feel comfortable. So he's always going to be my friend. Happy he's over there doing his thing."

Now in Philadelphia, the pressure is off, and Sanchez is enjoying the difference.

"There was a play right before halftime of that last game, J.J. Watt came through and I tried to escape him," Sanchez said. "I've been in that situation a bunch, where the ball is flailing around and it gets knocked out of your hand as you try to throw it. And I literally just dropped to the ground. That hurts. As a competitor, that hurts. It's not fun.

"But I knew we had a field goal in the bag. ... I think in the past, I might have tried to make a play, tried to do too much, tried to push a little too hard. That's where you turn over the ball -- now you miss your opportunity. I like to think I've grown and I know I have."

Information from ESPN.com's Jane McManus contributed to this report.