CHANGING OF THE GUARD? Geno Smith, the Jets second-round draft pick, did not throw an interception in last night’s Green and White Scrimmage, a mistake Mark Sanchez was unable to avoid. (Landov)
CORTLAND — Damon Cogdell spoke to Geno Smith by phone from his home in South Florida on Wednesday and had a message for the star quarterback he coached at Miramar High School just five years ago.
“I told him to prove all the critics wrong,’’ Cogdell told The Post yesterday. “He said, ‘Coach, I don’t care about the critics. I’m just going to play football.’ When he said that, I said, ‘Say no more.’ ’’
If Smith came into the NFL with one specific rap to his reputation it was he could be thin-skinned when it comes to criticism. So when Cogdell heard those words, he knew his former player was in the right mindset.
As much as Cogdell liked what he heard from Smith, the Jets like what they see in their second-round pick from April’s draft and the player they hope will be their new present and future.
Last night’s annual Green and White scrimmage at SUNY-Cortland provided the first tangible evidence of the summer that the quarterback competition between Smith and incumbent Mark Sanchez is at least slightly rigged.
Smith got three series with the offensive starters, completing 9-for-16 passes for 77 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, leading the team to just a field goal. Sanchez, who led the offense to 10 points, got just one series with the starters and four with the backups and completed 6-for-11 for 93 yards, with a 57-yard touchdown to Stephen Hill on his last play — on the last play of the scrimmage — and an interception by Antonio Cromartie.
After the pick, many of the 6,000 fans booed Sanchez loudly — a reaction Cromartie called “bullcrap.’’
Smith was most impressive on the opening drive, quickly moving the offense 67 yards to the 3-yard line, where Bilal Powell scored on a wildcat run. But an illegal formation penalty nullified the TD and a holding penalty pushed the offense back further. The drive ended up stalling at the 2-yard line when a Smith pass to Powell fell incomplete.
“It was a good test run,’’ Smith said of the scrimmage.
“Geno was tremendous on that first drive, but that shows you how penalties can kill you,’’ coach Rex Ryan said.
Ryan’s impression of Sanchez: “It was very similar to the team — there were some good moments and bad moments.’’
Hardly a ringing endorsement. Sanchez’s worst play of the night came when he overthrew Clyde Gates on a potential TD.
“It was a little high; that one we’ve got to correct,’’ Sanchez said.
“He wasn’t perfect,’’ Ryan said.
Nor was Smith, but he looked sharper than Sanchez.
“I was impressed with his command in the huddle,’’ Hill said of Smith.
Ryan, explaining Smith getting more reps with the first-team offense, said the Jets stuck with the two-day rotation with the starters the team had been using with the quarterbacks for practices, and yesterday would have been Smith’s day.
That, however, wasn’t fair to Sanchez. The scrimmage was a different entity from a practice, and it should have been treated that way, with the quarterbacks getting equal time with the starters.
Sanchez, who was not having a good night, saved himself with that TD to Hill.
“He made a great throw to Stephen,’’ Ryan said.
“It was nice to close it that way,’’ Sanchez said.
As unfair as it may be, because he is still young (26) and has accomplished some positive things in five years, there is a palpable wave of momentum ushering Sanchez into becoming yet another in the long line of former Jets starting quarterbacks who failed to deliver the prize Joe Namath did 44 years ago.
Smith is the new toy, the new kid in town, the new hope for perennially unfulfilled Jets fans.
It will take one of the extraordinary comeback stories in recent sports history for Sanchez to overcome his 52 turnovers in the last two playoff-less seasons, the buttfumble and everything else associated with the team’s decline from consecutive AFC Championship games in 2009 and 2010.
Cogdell, who is of course biased, is certain he knows who the Jets 2013 starting quarterback will be.
“I’m excited, because I think people are sleeping on Geno,’’ he said. “He’s a pure passer, a great decision maker and a very coachable kid. I know he’s going to have a great year this year.’’