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Text it and tweet it: On his first day on the job, Geno Smith began answering his critics.
The Jets rookie quarterback, who has faced a ton of criticism in the two weeks since he was drafted, performed well on his first day of rookie minicamp. Smith’s passes had zip, he commanded the huddle and performed even better after practice in a 15-minute session with reporters.
Smith has been called a “brat” and ripped for being on his cell phone during pre-draft interviews, sending text messages and looking at Twitter. Yesterday, Smith said none of the anonymous shots have bothered him.
“I don’t resent any of it,” he said. “I don’t pay attention to any of it. I just focus on what I can control and that’s being a Jet quarterback, being a great teammate and just getting better as a quarterback daily.”
Asked what grade he would give himself for his first practice, Smith humbly said an “F.” But he was better than that. There were no jaw-dropping throws or moments that made you say “wow,” but he also did not commit any bonehead mistakes. His arm looked strong and he made a few nice throws into tight spots. One long pass was underthrown and his footwork and confidence in the offense clearly need work, but that was to be expected.
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“I like the way Geno threw the ball in particular,” head coach Rex Ryan said. “He looked pretty good to me. He can spin it. That’s no surprise there.”
In the locker room afterward, Smith gave all the right answers and did not flinch at any of the questions lobbed at him. With the accusations of his immaturity, every word Smith says will be scrutinized.
Smith, wearing a red No. 7 jersey, said he has spent the last two weeks with his head buried in his playbook. On Thursday night, Smith got together with some of the other rookies on offense and went over the first installation of plays at their hotel.
“I’ve been studying my butt off, learning formations, learning protections,” Smith said. “I had ‘install one’ two days ago and had to learn every single play and be able to go into the huddle and tell it to my teammates and go out there and execute it. I think I did a good job overall today. There were some bumps in the road. Those are things I think I can clean up.”
Both veteran quarterbacks Mark Sanchez and David Garrard have talked to Smith. The open competition will get heated, but Smith said he is ready to learn.
“In that quarterback room, we’re a close-knit bunch,” he said. “We’re going to be competing with one another, but I’m a rookie in this thing so I’m going to be learning from every single one of them.”
Smith has also spent time studying quarterbacks from the past who thrived in the West Coast offense such as Joe Montana, Steve Young, Brett Favre, Jeff Garcia and Donovan McNabb. The last four all played under new offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg.
At the moment Smith is too concerned about learning everything to be worried about becoming the team’s starter when the season opens.
“That’s so far ahead for me right now,” he said. “I’m working on what I have here right now. My goal is to prove myself to my coaches and my teammates here, to get in that playbook and learn it in and out and be able to spit it back out and go out on the field and execute.”
Smith said he has not hired a new agent yet after firing his agents after the draft. He confirmed he met with several agents this week but would not say who. He reportedly met with representatives for Jay-Z about the rap star representing him.