PHILADELPHIA — Handicapping the race from afar, LeSean McCoy says the Jets’ starting quarterback job was decided the moment they signed Michael Vick.
The Eagles’ All-Pro running back and reigning NFL rushing champion told The Post here Monday that his former Philadelphia teammate won’t have any trouble toppling Geno Smith for the No. 1 spot.
“[Vick is going to be the starting quarterback this year,” McCoy said at a team-sponsored charity event. “He’s way better than Geno Smith. Way better. That’s no contest.”
The Jets signed Vick to a one-year, $5 million deal in late March on the same day they released Mark Sanchez (who later signed with the Eagles) and have said ever since the starting job is up for grabs between 33-year-old Vick and Smith, a second-year pro.
McCoy told The Post it won’t be much of a competition. The only question is whether Vick can stay healthy long enough to hold onto the job after a leg injury cost him the starting spot to Nick Foles last year after just six games.
“That’s the big question, and that’s the only thing,” McCoy said of Vick’s ability to avoid injury. “The thing here was, he didn’t lose his job — he just got hurt and lost his job to injury. But as far as who’s the better quarterback, he’s way better than Geno Smith. That’s obvious.”
McCoy also said Vick will be every bit as good of a locker-room influence on the Jets’ younger players as GM John Idzik and Rex Ryan have said since Vick’s signing.
McCoy credited Vick with bringing the Eagles’ players together in the wake of the Riley Cooper N-word controversy last year, with McCoy adding he still uses Vick as a sounding board in his personal life even though Vick is no longer a teammate.
“He’ll definitely be a leader in the locker room,” McCoy told The Post. “Who smoothed over a lot of that Riley Cooper incident? Mike Vick, a great player who’s been through some negative moments and is now positive about it. He’s a great [veteran], and he’ll help the team out in that way.”
McCoy even got a bit emotional when asked about Vick’s importance to him.
“Aw, man,” McCoy said. “To this day, I still talk to him and get advice from him on different things in my life. He’s a great mentor for younger guys. A great mentor.”