Cortland – At the start of Jets training camp, Michael Vick said about the Jets’ quarterback situation, “I think that’s already been addressed as far as who the starter is. There’s no more speculation about that.”
Clearly he was saying that Geno Smith is the starter.
David Nelson said the same thing, during an appearance on CBS Sports Radio, days before Jets camp started – “For all of us, it’s Geno’s team. And from what we’ve been told and what we’ve been working toward, it’s Geno’s team.”
Reporters have pressed Jets brass on who told Nelson that, and haven’t been able to get an answer, perhaps because nobody told him that, he’s just making an educated guess.
Every time John Idzik, Rex Ryan and Marty Mornhinweg address the media, they talk about competition. None of them have ever said a decision has been made about who their starting quarterback is.
“There is competition, there’s no doubt,” Ryan said May 28.
” I don’t know that any such thing is closed competition; that’s almost contradictory to me,” Idzik said during camp.
But if there is a competition, how come Smith is getting 75 percent of the reps?
“Competition is not just about counting reps,” Idzik said. “It’s not just purely quantifiable like that, reading the play time or the reps and drawing assumptions from that.”
And Mornhinweg insists he spreading reps around.
“Those will change by day, depending on exactly what we are doing there,” Mornhinweg said on Thursday. “I want them competing with each other.”
And Mornhinweg wouldn’t even confirm who is starting the Jets’ first preseason game.
“We’ll see,” Mornhinweg said. “We are not even concerned about that. (It) hasn’t even been discussed, because all we are focusing on is the next installation, getting better every day, our preparation.”
So there you have it.
Vick and Nelson think a decision has been made.
The Jets’ brass says no such decision has been made.
But when reporters ask about the competition ad infinitum, this annoys some fans.
“It’s a fair question that has been asked a 100 times and answered,” tweeted fan Mathew Zullo. “Geno’s job to lose, Vick to push him. Why ask again – stir pot.”
It’s no stirring the pot, because the Jets’ brass has never said, “It’s Geno’s job to lose.”
Never.
So until they say that, reporters have every right to keep asking questions about the Jets’ quarterback situation.
