New York Jets: Geno Smith Ready to Seize the Opportunity
By Nick Ziegler
The New York Jets are currently going with Geno Smith as the starting quarterback in 2016, and he is ready to seize the opportunity.
Since the New York Jets have been unable to reach an agreement with their starting quarterback of last season, Ryan Fitzpatrick, they are currently going into the season with Geno Smith as their starting quarterback. Prior to Fitzpatrick being the starter last season, it was actually Smith who was the starting quarterback for the Jets just before the preseason started in 2015.
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A punched landed by a then teammate, IK Enemkpali, broke Smith’s jaw and required him to get surgery to have it fixed. Fitzpatrick was given the reigns as the starting quarterback after the injury to Smith, and he never looked back. The Jets were able to go on and have a very successful season with Fitzpatrick under center, but it could be Smith getting another chance to be the starter next season.
“Every player in the NFL, I think, deserves a fair opportunity,” he said in his first interview of the offseason to Kimberley A. Martin of Newsday.com. “And whether or not that’s the case, who knows? But I believe that I do have an opportunity here and I’ve just got to take advantage of it.”
If Smith is indeed the starting quarterback this season, it will be a make-or-break season for the fourth-year quarterback as he has struggled in his first two full seasons with the Jets.
“From the day I walked in this building, I had that mindset,” Smith said to Martin. “So my mindset won’t change, ever. I’m going to continue to have that until my day is done.”
The contract situation between the Jets and Fitzpatrick is certainly something that is on the minds of most players, but Smith has to go into the 2016 season like he is the starting quarterback.
“I don’t really pay much attention to it,” Smith said to Martin. “I don’t really want to talk about anyone else’s statements. I’ve just got to focus on myself and continue working on myself.”
Some of Smith’s teammates like Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker have been very vocal that they would like to have Fitzpatrick back, but Smith has done a good job not taking that personally.
“Well, I think they’ve always been supportive of myself as well,” Smith said to Martin. “We’re always supportive of one another and that’s just the way this locker room is. I don’t think that they’ve said anything negative about me. I do understand those guys — we all — had a wonderful year last year.”
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If Smith is the starter for the Jets once again in 2016, he will be set up well to succeed with a lot more talent around him than when he was the starting quarterback in 2013 and 2014. If Smith has a good offseason, he may be able to shock some people that have written him off after two years as a starter.