Why does Eagles' Sanchez have penchant for turnovers?

The interception that Mark Sanchez threw in the fourth quarter of the Eagles' loss on Sunday might have been more frustrating if it had been more surprising.

When Chip Kelly was asked last week how to reduce Sanchez's propensity for turnovers, the Eagles coach responded that Sanchez only has one - as if an evaluation of Sanchez should be limited to his 38 snaps this season. But if you go back a little further, history is not always kind to Sanchez. For all the qualities that Sanchez possesses - and there are plenty - the untimely turnovers are his fatal flaw on the football field.

Sanchez will start Sunday's game against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in place of Sam Bradford, who has a concussion and a separated shoulder. It will be the 71st regular-season start of Sanchez's career and his 73d regular-season game played. In those games, he has thrown 82 touchdowns and 81 interceptions. Of those interceptions, 26 were in the fourth quarter. Thirteen have come when his team was either trailing or leading by less than a touchdown. Not all are his fault, but all came from his right arm.

With Sanchez behind the center, the Eagles will tiptoe the line that separates aggressive and foolish.

"There's a fine line," Sanchez said. "We use the analogy of a fastbreak in basketball. Just because you have a fastbreak in basketball, it doesn't mean you can throw the ball out of bounds or lead a guy on the lob for a dunk and he's not thinking that.

"You've got to be on the same page as these guys. So that's the most important thing. And then understand where you're at, what the situation is, what that specific play is calling for. And when all those things fall in line, you usually have a positive outcome."

Sanchez took the Eagles' first-team snaps in the spring while Bradford recovered from his knee injury. He looked like a starting quarterback. His arm was healthy - a 180-degree turn from the previous spring, when Sanchez was still recovering from a shoulder injury that ended his career with the Jets.

He knew exactly where to throw the passes, showing a mastery of the offense that came with a full year of experience. He said then that he was anticipating instead of reacting.

The Eagles signed him in March to a two-year contract worth as much $18 million, with $5.5 million guaranteed. Kelly said Sanchez would have a chance to start, but there was never an actual competition. Sanchez was signed for the type of situation the Eagles encounter this weekend.

Sanchez had pangs of regret for what could have been if a few passes had different results last season. Sanchez went 198 of 309 for 2,418 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions. His 88.4 quarterback rating was by far the best of his career. The Eagles went 4-4 in his eight starts.

"It was a different offseason for me," Sanchez said in June. "I had a chance to sit back and watch those eight games and really get into, what can I really fix? Where did I leave some throws out there? . . . That still bothers me when I go to bed at night and wake up in the morning."

Kelly looked at those games, too. During a June roundtable interview, Kelly defended Sanchez - even his most gut-wrenching interception of all, in the fourth quarter of a 27-24 loss to the Washington Redskins last December that eliminated the Eagles from playoff contention.

The game was tied when Sanchez threw the interception. It was third and 4 from the Redskins' 48-yard line. A first down, and the Eagles could have continued toward a potential game-winning score. An incompletion, and they could have punted the ball away, pinned Washington back, and tried to go for overtime. But an interception? That gave Washington a short field, which they took advantage of to score a game-winning field goal.

"I think you need to understand the game and look at it," Kelly said. "We missed a protection in the Redskins game and cut a defensive end loose that was in his face that shouldn't have been in his face. Mark was going to the right spot with the ball and got knocked off in terms of where he was going to throw the ball. But we should have blocked the defensive end. We shouldn't have let the defensive end go.

"So I don't know how you blame that on the quarterback. I think you have to look at each individual play. To just throw a blanket over it and say, 'He did this' - there's a reason for that. I mean, Mark threw an interception in the Houston game that went through the receiver's hands. Is that the quarterback's fault, or the receiver's? So I don't think you can look at the number and look at the interception. I think you have to look at the play, and how did that happen? There are a lot of instances where it's not the quarterback's fault."

That type of nuanced answer helps understand all that goes into an interception. They're not all on the quarterback. But in some cases, it's not even worth the risk.

That was the case last Sunday. Sanchez and Miles Austin had a misunderstanding on the play, and the pass ended up in the Dolphins' hands. With the Eagles trailing by one point in the fourth quarter, the game situation did not warrant the risk. Kelly said Sanchez should not have thrown the pass at all.

"You go through and you look at each play that was good, bad, or ugly, and you get them corrected, and you move on," offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur said. "That play in itself, Mark was on a roll and he was grooving, and we were moving the football. He made what he thought was a good, sound decision. Hindsight is 20/20 on all of this. You could have said, 'Well, check it down, or use your legs and throw it away,' and all those types of things, and that's what we talk about. Our experience will all serve us well, and we'll all learn from that."

That's why the Eagles must manage the "fine line" that Sanchez referenced. Although Shurmur said that each interception is different, he admitted Sanchez must "match that aggressiveness with staying in the moment." Sanchez said he needs to understand the situation and what the Eagles need at a given time. He'll push the pace, but he also said he must analyze field position and the goal of a given play.

His understanding of the offense allows him to be aggressive. His history suggests he needs to know when to be conservative. But do the Eagles view the interceptions as a fatal flaw?

"No," Kelly said. "Obviously, we didn't."

Malcolm Jenkins' locker is right next to Sanchez's. They are football junkies who "talk ball constantly," Jenkins said. After practices, Jenkins wants to know what Sanchez saw. Sanchez wants to know what Jenkins saw. And they're close enough to discuss the plays that blemish Sanchez's resumé.

"We've actually talked about it," Jenkins said. "When he gets in, he gets hot really fast. He completes balls, and he looks really good. And it's right at that time where you're like, when he's feeling his best, that's when that interception comes because he's pressing it or trying to do too much."

Sanchez checks most of the boxes coaches often look for in a quarterback. That's why the Jets wanted him to be the face of their franchise. Kelly gushes about Sanchez's study habits. Sanchez customized the home office in his Philadelphia home last season with white boards on the wall filled with hand-drawn formations and lists of the opposing team's depth chart. He knows what to do and where to throw on a play; his problem is wanting to throw when he shouldn't.

"It's not about getting the flame as hot as you can; it's about keeping the flame lit," Jenkins said. "I think that's one thing he even understands about himself, too. Once you get that ball rolling, you don't have to press too hard. Just take what they give you and keep this thing moving. And I think he knows that. So I'm excited for him to make some adjustments with that. Take his time. Be patient."

The Eagles were confident enough in Sanchez to bring him back this year, but not enough to make him the starter. But they knew when they traded for Bradford that they might need Sanchez to start games. It's up to Sanchez to fall on the right side of the thin line.

"Minus the interceptions, he's a really good quarterback," Jenkins said. "I think that's the biggest thing he just has to manage."

zberman@phillynews.com

@ZBerm