While all the dust clears from Saturday night’s ugly game between the New York Giants and the New York Jets, all eyes remain on Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan’s questionable decision to place his projected regular-season quarterback Mark Sanchez into a meaningless game during the fourth quarter. So, it’s easy to forget — and some Jets fans may prefer to — that rookie Geno Smith finally played his first big game behind center as a member of Gang Green.
The second-round draft pick out of West Virginia, Smith showed flashes of promise throughout the night. He made a fantastic read midway through the first quarter, creating a mismatch across the middle with Giants’ defensive end Adrian Tracy in coverage on Jets’ receiver, Ben Obomanu, for the 22-yard touchdown connection.
But for most of the game, Smith was very much a rookie.
“Geno’s been staring down his receivers all night,” Giants’ cornerback Prince Amukamara told WNBC-TV’s Bruce Beck during the game.
You could see it from the press box. He locked in on guys and, on three occasions, the Giants made him pay by picking him off over the course of three-plus quarters of play for the 22-year-old. Smith disagreed that he’d done so following the game, but admitted there’s room for improvement.
“That’s [their] opinion,” he said. “I couldn’t tell you if I was staring down my receivers. I was just going through my normal reads. Overall, I think this is just another learning experience for me. Lots of teaching tape.”
It didn’t help that he did see a fair share of pressure from the Giants’ pass rushers. He was not sacked, but the G-Men were credited with nine quarterback hits — three came from the first-team defense.
Amukamara was a bit nicer about Smith’s performance following the game.
“I think our defense did a great job of making turnovers, but he definitely kept his head in there and kept the chains moving,” the Giants’ cornerback said. “He didn’t show no fear and just kept throwing the ball down field.”
Smith made occasional improvements throughout the contest but, poor reads, worse passes and embarrassing drops by his receivers kept the Jets’ offense from really opening up. He showed the potential to be a successful NFL quarterback at times but, he’s not there yet. Unfortunately for his team, Smith may be forced into action earlier than preferred. The severity of an injury that Mark Sanchez suffered during the game is unknown and, whether or not he’ll be ready for the season opener in two weeks is even less certain.
Will Smith be forced into action too soon? For his sake, one should hope not. But the Jets have made stranger decisions.
If there was anything to take away from Saturday night’s debacle it’s this: Geno Smith is not ready to be a starter in the NFL — especially for the New York Jets. If Sanchez’s injury is serious, backup quarterbacks Greg McElroy and Matt Simms are both better — and safer — options at this time.
Here’s to hoping the Jets make one wise decision this summer.
Louis Musto is a reporter and sports talk host for the Sports Journey Broadcast Network. He is a member of the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow him on Twitter @LouisMusto.