New York Jets: Geno Smith Believes He Can Start in 2016

The New York Jets had their season ended by the Buffalo Bills, and now the team is looking forward to what the 2016 season has to offer.

One player that is looking forward to 2016 probably more than any other player in the league is Geno Smith.

Smith was the Jets’ starting quarterback before the season started, but a punch by IK Enemkpali broke Smith’s jaw and required him to get surgery. With Smith out, the Jets turned to backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick who led them to a very nice 10-6 season.

Fitzpatrick is a free agent this offseason, but all indications are that the Jets want to have him back and that he wants to be back with the Jets in 2016.

“I guess if you’re saying I don’t have an opportunity here, I don’t believe that,” the 25-year-old quarterback said Monday to Zach Braziller of the New York Post. “We don’t know what’s going to transpire, we don’t know what’s going to happen. We’ll have to wait and see”

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“I think I did my best to handle it the best way possible, being that I didn’t play probably for the first time since I was 8 years old,” said Smith to Braziller. “I want to be out there. We all do. But I used things as my motivation, as fuel to my fire. Everything I’ve went through, everything that’s been said, I listen to it, I hear it, and I use it.”

Smith never had the luxury of learning from the bench like other young starting quarterbacks, as he was thrown into a pretty poor offensive situation in New York. In his career, Smith has totaled 27 touchdown passes and 35 interceptions, which is not a good ratio by any means for a starting quarterback in the NFL. Smith believes that the time on the bench has helped him become a better quarterback.

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“For me, I think it really made me a better player,” he said to Braziller. “I learned a lot about how to support guys, how to influence guys, from a different role. How to be less about myself and more about the team. I learned a lot about Xs and Os.”

“I believe in myself. I believe in my ability,” Smith said to Braziller. “I think the experience that I gained this year, in the mental developmental part of that, is going to grow and continue to grow.

“I’m not going to change the way I go about things, because I’ve always worked hard and I’ve always had the right mindset. I’m going to continue to do that, but work 10 times harder because I have 10 times more motivation.”

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It is hard to imagine that Smith will even be considered for the starting quarterback job next season if Fitzpatrick is back, but it is good to see that Smith is confident that he is improving as a quarterback.

Smith did have to play in 2015 when Fitzpatrick injured his thumb in Oakland, as in the NFL, opportunity can come after every snap.

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