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Florham Park – Has a QB decision has been made and so much more in today’s edition of Website Whispers live from One Jets Drive . . .
Rex Ryan pretty much admitted today that Geno Smith will be the team’s starting quarterback when the season starts.
“I don’t know any such thing as closed competition,” Jets GM John Idzik said recently.
In this case, it was a closed competition.
One writer put it perfectly – “The GM and coach steadfastly insisted there was a legitimate competition, despite all outward appearances to the contrary.”
It was a game of three-card monte, an illusion.
There was no competition.
Ryan basically said today he knows who the starting quarterback is going to be, and he’s not telling you.
Considering the third preseason game is the regular season dress rehearsal, and the starters play into the third quarter, and Geno is going to play during that time frame, you do the math.
The third preseason game is the most important one. Wouldn’t you want to see how Geno does against the Giants’ starters, before you make up your mind?
So the fix was in.
The Jets have missed the playoffs three years in a row. They have a tough schedule and need to win this year.
“Are you trying to build for the future or are you trying to win now? If you’re trying to win now, you go with Mike Vick,” said Bart Scott. “If you’re trying to build for the future, you go with Geno Smith.”
We will see how this turns out . . .
Jace Amaro had a couple of bad drops today.
It’s pretty amazing how small his hands are, and that has to be contributing to this problem.
Remember, at the combine, he didn’t catch the ball well.
I think he will help the Jets, but get used to some drops being mixed in. That was the case throughout the summer . . .
Stephen Hill had a nice grab on a deep ball, and heard a derisive cheer from the crowd.
I think he needs to get out of here.
The well has been poisoned.
I was standing in front of fans the last two days, for a pair of two hour practices, and I can’t tell you how many fans were destroying Hill. His approval ratings are in the toilet.
It’s Brian Schottenheimer-like.
The guy can do no right.
And the media hasn’t helped.
Hill had one bad practice this summer in a driving rain storm late in camp, and this ruined all the good practices he had up until that point.
The guy had a good camp.
And then he actually got ripped by some in the media for not having any catches in the Indy preseason game, even though he wasn’t thrown any passes. How does that make any sense?
Against the Bengals, he had a drop on a pass that was high and late, and he got rocked so hard, his helmet came off. And this wasn’t the first time he got rocked over the last year due to a pass that was high and late. Check out the Troy Polamalu hit from the trailer of the “Draft Day.”
Hill needs to get out of here. They should try and trade him.
The karma is awful . . .
Speaking of wide receivers, this Saalim Hakim is something else. He had a couple of nice catches today, and to see him run after the catch is something to behold. His speed is eye-popping.
And his work as the gunner on the punt team is awfully impressive. He consistently beats the jam with his powerful upper body, and then is down field faster than any gunner I’ve seen in all my years covering the Jets.
This was a nice pickup by Idzik last year.
August 19, 2014
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