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Premium – The Jets are trying to finesse this situation right now. I think it’s pretty clear what is going on here.
Geno Smith is the Jets’ starting quarterback right now.
Geno Smith is going to get more reps in practice in the spring and summer.
The Jets want Geno Smith to be their Week One starter.
But, but, but . . .
While it’s his job to keep, he could lose it even before the opener.
You see, here is what is going on.
Smith is a young, developing quarterback, as we all know.
He needs all the reps he can get.
So he will get more reps than Vick in the spring and summer camps.
Reps are so crucial for the maturation process of a young quarterback.
So he will get reps until the cows come home.
But if he goes out in the second and third preseason games, the two most important summer contests, and looks poor, Michael Vick could emerge as the Week One starter.
So the Jets brass is trying to create a nuanced scenario with their quarterback situation.
Geno Smith is their starting quarterback now, and they hope he’s the starter in the opener.
Vick is right. There is no competition right now.
And to me, Rex Ryan never said there is a quarterback competition in his press conference yesterday. I have looked it over to the nth degree. He talked in generalities about the importance of competition at all positions.
He never said there is quarterback competition. He used a lot of semantics about competition in general. That was it.
Vick has now said two weeks in a row, categorically, there is no quarterback competition.
And he’s right.
But that doesn’t mean Geno Smith will be the Jets Week One starter.
A bad preseason and/or a bad training camp could change all that.
What is going on right now is about reps and Smith moving up the growth curve. That is it.
A fan asked Marty Mornhinweg today on a coordinator conference call with season ticket holders about Geno Smith’s tendency to telegraph passes.
He really had no answer for that.
It’s not that he has no answer for that. He’s an outstanding quarterback coach, a guru handling players at that position.
He has answers, not just for the fans or the media.
Mornhinweg isn’t stupid. He is well aware that Smith needs to work on his telegraphing issues, his pocket presence, his blitz awareness and so forth.
And the coach is working with the young signal-caller on these issues in the spring, and will continue to do so into the summer.
Remember, Year One to Year Two is a tough transition for NFL quarterbacks.
We all assume that they continue their upward climb, but sometimes it can go backwards based on defensive coordinators getting a book on them from Year One.
We will see if Smith improves. We shall see, what we shall see.
But while Rex isn’t being totally forthright about the competition aspect of what is going on, I do think he gave us a strong hint at the mindset of the team’s brass when he talked about it being early in the process.
What is going on right now is all about reps for the youngster.
May 29, 2014
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