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Marquice Cole looking forward to catching up with old friend Mark Sanchez 10.18.12 at 1:56 pm ET
By

Marquice Cole

FOXBORO — When it comes to diagnosing Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, one guy in the New England locker room who would know him better than any Patriots defensive back is Marquice Cole.

Cole, who played the last three seasons with the Jets before signing with New England in the offseason, developed a great friendship with the quarterback when the two were teammates in New York.

“Mark, [we were] more than just teammates, we’re friends,” Cole said before practice on Thursday. “I still keep in touch with him. I try not to bother him during the season because you know how the season goes and everything, but yeah, we’re still great friends.

“The way he is is how you see him. He’s a fun-loving guy. There are no secrets about him. He’s just a regular person.”

“‘Quice is the man. He’s just an energetic guy,” Sanchez said. “Really played great for us on special teams, on defense, but he’s one of the best teammates you could ever ask for, so I know they’ve got a great player and a guy that can fit in anywhere.

“[He’s] one of those guys you never want to see leave your building, but sometimes that stuff happens. It’s too bad, but I love him as a player and even more as a person. It will be cool to see him, but we’ve got to try to win and put the friendship aside for a little bit.”

Sanchez has faced his share of pressure in New York, particularly as he has stumbled over the last year-plus. But Cole is confident his friend will find his footing sooner rather than later.

“He’s a professional, so he knows what he’s doing,” Cole said. “He knows how to handle what he needs to handle. Everybody in the NFL has pressure on them every day. He knows what he’s doing.

“He goes out there and competes — that’s all you can ask of anybody.”

As for Cole — who has become one of New England’s core special teamers — he relishes the chance to be able to catch up with some of his old friends in green and white before and after the game on Sunday.

“It’ll be fun, going against the guys I played with for years in practice and stuff. It’ll be fun. It’ll be a competitive game,” he said.

However, as the latest player to cross over in the Patriots-Jets rivalry, Cole said that as far as he’s concerned, this week is just another game.

“I know it’s a rivalry and everything, but you want to go out and win every game. It’s not like this game will be different than any other game. It’s a game where you want to go out and compete,” he said. “Both sides want to win. It’s not any different than any other game.”

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  • Baker

    I wish he was looking forward to catching an interception.

  • ChrisinDanvers

    Bradley has proven to be solid. His defensive pressure is spectacular and, when teamed with Lee, they really do slow down the competition.

    Two important notes. The referees are still learning about his play…which means he will only get better. While some of his fouls last night were legit, others were weak; not because the officiating was necessarily bad, but because Bradley is often able to stop players from going where they want to go. The officials haven’t totally caught up with his ability to do this and sometimes call him for a blocking foul.

    Second, Bradley is fast, but he plays within the confines of the defensive system, too, which makes him that much stronger. He can take the chance because his speed can get in back in position and he knows that he has teammates to back him up defensively if necessary.

  • Bruce

    Curry was getting the star treatment, don’t breath on him or get called and they didn’t call a foul on him until 35 minutes into the game.

  • Nbr1celticsfan

    Curry did a great “acting” job, that got some of those calls on Bradley. It was ridiculous some of the calls. Curry would throw his hands up in the air when he was going thru picks and such and the refs would call the foul when there was absolutely no contact. Some of his acting deserves an academy award, but only cause the refs fell for it. Watching the replay u could easily see there was nothing Bradley did to get he foul. Then on a 3 curry kicked his foot out, and should have been called for the offensive foul, cause u cannot do that anymore. Bradley didn’t get a foul called on him on that play, I’m just trying to state how obvious it was that curry could do NO wrong, and Bradley did everything wrong according to the refs. The refs were bad in general last night. Given the wrong team the ball when the ball got kicked by mistake. Calling KG on a travel call when he clearly had his left foot planted. Then on the next play curry walks and they don’t call it. I understand basketball cn b tough to call especially fouls, cause really there probably could b a foul on everyplay but I just ask u call it evenly if u r gonna call something on one end call it on the other too. That did not happen last night, and the greatest part is the Cs STILL got the WIN… Bravo guys, oh and hopefully soon Bradley will stop getting the shaft on these foul calls.

  • Js Spam

    we all know the refs are going to struggle with a player like AB because they are not used to that type of defense.. especially on star players..

    The most telling thing though was after the game, during Stephs interview he was talking about his expectation for the night and dealing with “Avery Bradley”. This tells me that the guards in this league know his name and they probably sigh when they know they have to deal with him for a night. He is already on the map.. lets hope he can stay healthy.. good job AB!

  • Anonymous

    When we play Miami in the playoffs it will be Bradley (and Green) who will lead us to victory.
    How is that for optimism?

  • Anonymous

    When we play Miami in the playoffs it will be Bradley (and Green) who will lead us to victory.
    How is that for optimism?

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