Content available exclusively for subscribers
Mark Sanchez is right. It’s not a non-issue that Geno Smith didn’t go to Jets West. But there is a concern that Smith needs to answer . . .
“Everyone was invited,” Mark Sanchez told NFL Network about Jets West. “I sent out an email to everybody, some guys got back quicker than the others, but everybody was invited. It’s not a big deal that he is not here.”
According to Seth Walder of the Daily News, Smith is in South Florida, his home base. Smith is from Miramar (which is very close to Sun Life Stadium).
One New York sportswriter said to me today that Smith not going to California brings up the issue of his work ethic, that has been questioned by some.
I don’t agree with that premise. Going to Jets West, or not going to Jets West, isn’t a reflection on a player’s work ethic.
For instance, Greg McElroy generally goes to the D-I Training Center in Nashville to train, when the Jets are out of session. That is a complex owned by Peyton Manning that a lot of players go to.
So the invited players who decided not to attend Jets West, can get plenty of hard work done in other ways.
And like I said yesterday, the benefits of Sanchez’s passing camp are limited, because they are throwing against air, there are no defenders.
But with all that being said, Geno still has some questions to answer about his work ethic.
Sometimes people, especially young people, think they are working hard, when there is actually a much higher level they can take their work ethic.
“I think a guy who will talk about how hard he is working, but won’t really do it,” said one NFL writer.
That remains to be seen, but when you look at Geno’s body, he just doesn’t look like he worked very hard in the weight room at West Virginia.
As on observer put it, “he has minimal muscle definition or strength.”
He looks rail thin, and doesn’t look like he can, right now, hold up to the type of punishment that NFL quarterbacks take, with the constant hits from powerful defenders.
One thing about Mark Sanchez, the guy works his tail off, whether it’s in weight room or the film room.
As LaDainian Tomlinson said, Sanchez just needs to do a better job of taking what he learns in the film room to the field.
Mark’s hard work with the team’s conditioning staff, and with his own trainer, has helped him stave off injuries the last couple of years. He’s taken a lot of hits, and never missed any time, a tribute to this conditioning and toughness.
Connor Orr recently did a feature in the Star-Ledger about how hard Geno was working at the Jets’ complex (before the players left for their break).
The story documented his long work day which started at 5:30 am.
It was a good story, but my attitude is – unless I physically see the work, it’s hard for me to buy into the veracity of what I’m being told.
The bottom line is this, Geno not attending Jets West isn’t a bad reflection on his work ethic.
But he still has major questions to answer on this front.
College hard work, especially with simple offenses played on that level, against mostly simple defenses, and a lot of bad defensive backs, is nothing compared to what you have to do on the next level to be successful NFL quarterback.
Geno needs to be attached at the hip this year with strength coach Justus Galac, QB coach David Lee, and the Jets’ video department.
NFL quarterbacks needs to be the first people in the building, and the last ones to leave, something Chad Pennington did religiously.
Let’s see if Geno is willing to do this.
July 19, 2013
Premium will return by 9:30 pm on Sunday.