Mark Sanchez is set to join the Washington Redskins in advance of the Week 12 Thanksgiving Day game against the Cowboys, the team announced Monday afternoon. ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the news.
A devastating, season-ending injury to Alex Smith in Week 11 pushed Colt McCoy into the starting quarterback position, and without a third quarterback in-house, the Redskins had to sign a late replacement.
Sanchez, who last played for the Bears during the 2017 season, spent four seasons with the Jets after the team selected him out of Southern Cal with the No. 5 overall pick in the 2009 NFL Draft.
Sanchez has appeared in 77 games in seven seasons, starting 72. He's thrown for over 15,000 yards and has tossed 86 touchdown passes, while also throwing 86 interceptions.
Sanchez languished on the free-agent market after serving a four-game PED suspension to start the season. He spent 2017 caddying for Mitch Trubisky in Chicago, and 2016 as a backup in Dallas. The nine-year pro last started a game in 2015 for the Philadelphia Eagles.
With McCoy set to start, Sanchez should only see the field in the event of injury. The Redskins play the Cowboys on Thanksgiving, so the backup QB doesn't have long to get up to speed if another Washington player suffers injury.
Landing on Sanchez isn't a surprise. The 32-year-old quarterback is familiar with several of Washington's assistants dating back to his run with the New York Jets. Redskins OC Matt Cavanaugh was Sanchez's QB coach from 2009-2012; offensive line coach Bill Callahan was with N.Y. at the time; and current passing game coordinator Kevin O'Connell was a Jets' backup QB for two years when Sanchez helmed the squad.
