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Premium – Rex Ryan was asked today if the rest of the season is about developing players or winning.
“Well, we are playing some of our younger players. But I want to win. I don’t want to be 2-14, I can tell you that much. It’s bad enough being 2-10. So, you have to understand that we want to win over anything.
“IK (Ikemefuna Enemkpali), you mentioned some of our younger guys, 100 percent, I’m in agreement with that, but not over the fact of preparing to try to win the game.”
Not really.
Forget about Enemkpali. Mixing him in as a pass rushing OLB, spelling a couple of 34-year-old guys – Calvin Pace and Jason Babin, isn’t going to hurt their chances of winning.
That is fine.
But starting Geno Smith over Mike Vick shows that winning is secondary to player development. After all, quarterback is the most important position in the NFL, a QB-driven league.
I’m so tired of hearing about this theorem that so many are espousing that Vick can’t play anymore, and he showed it against Buffalo.
What a joke.
Did he play well against Buffalo? Not particularly, but the pass protection was horrid.
Breno Giacomini and Oday Aboushi really struggled, mainly with Mario Williams and Kyle Williams, respectively.
It was bad.
The Bills front kicked butt.
Vick was pulled in the third quarter because he was getting the crap kicked out of him.
He can still play.
We saw that in the Kansas City and Pittsburgh games.
He gives the Jets a better chance to win than Geno Smith.
Rex knows that darn well. So do the coaches and players.
Clearly John Idzik is forcing his hand on this one.
Michael Vick has added stability to the entire team,” said Solomon Wilcots. “Vick has brought stability to the team and more confidence than what Geno Smith will provide.”
“A much different tone around the team with Vick under center,” said Spiro Dedes.
One rough start with awful pass protection changes that?
Ridiculous.
Hey, the Jets can start whoever they want at quarterback.
But don’t try to sell us on “we are playing some of our younger players. You have to understand that we want to win over anything.”
That isn’t true.
I’m not saying they want to lose.
But if you start the lesser of two quarterbacks in a quarterback-driven league, are you really trying to “win over anything.”
You have to respect Jeff Fisher in St. Louis.
He’s trying to win.
A major long-shot to make the playoffs, he put 34-year-old quarterback Shaun Hill back in the lineup, and they have been playing much better in recent weeks.
So that is what you do if you are truly trying to win.
You play your best quarterback.
I’m a little confused at why the Jets are playing Geno.
It’s quite possible Rex Ryan and John Idzik are both going to be fired. We will see what Woody Johnson and Ira Akselrad decide to do after the season.
But if they are both on the hotseat, why are they developing a QB?
Who are they developing him for – the next regime?
It makes you wonder if Idzik was given assurances from Woody and Ira he isn’t getting fired.
December 3, 2014
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