CORTLAND — Geno Smith wore the face of poise and optimism and the confidence of a man who knows the deck is being stacked in his favor in his quarterback duel with Michael Vick when he and the Jets reported for training camp Wednesday at SUNY Cortland.
Here’s my advice for him anyway:
Watch your back, Geno.
The honeymoon is over for him. He isn’t a rookie anymore. Coach Rex Ryan won’t be throwing Vick into garbage time of the Snoopy Bowl. Smith was drafted by general manager John Idzik to replace Mark Sanchez. Vick is a win-now insurance policy designed to hold Smith’s feet to the fire and possibly to save Ryan’s job. This is no rebuilding year, not with that playoff defense.
“I’m gonna take every single rep as I always do to the fullest of my ability, and try and become the quarterback that I’ve always planned to be,” Smith said.
He was asked if he expects to be the starter if he stays healthy.
“I expect to do well. … I expect to go to practice and earn my stripes,” Smith said. “That’s really all I can say about that. The coaches are gonna make those decisions, and God willing, if I stay healthy, I will hope to be the starter.”
The Jets all are on the same happy page, telling everyone who will listen how terrific it is to have this kind of competition at quarterback, when the reality is only a handful or so of teams do not have their iron-clad franchise QB in place.
Even Smith sounds downright giddy over the prospect of learning from Vick, who is highly respected in the room and loaded with athletic charisma. Vick, remember, already knows coordinator Marty Mornhinweg’s offense.
“It takes time,” Smith said. “We’re still growing in this offense. I’m still growing.”
He better grow, and fast. Because it’s on beginning Thursday, and no one, least of all Ryan, knows whether Smith, armed with weapons this time around, will take that next step. Ryan, three straight years out of the playoffs, can’t possibly have the job security he did back in his AFC Championship glory days with the Sanchize.
And such was the perfect storm that brought Vick to the Jets. And as much as Vick loves this mentoring role, he loves leading a team much better.
He wants the job.
“I still feel like I’m a premier quarterback in this league,” Vick said. “As long as that’s what I feel in my heart, when I step on the field I can go out and [show] that. My thing is to continue to try improve each and every day, and not feel like I’m a crafty veteran who knows it all. I still feel like if the opportunity comes, I can help this football team win.”
Vick already has been told he will get just 25 percent or so of the reps.
“The thing that popped up when I heard that was that it’s gonna be very important for me to get mental reps as of right now,” he said. “For any athlete out there in the country, when you’re not getting the reps with the 1s, the reps with the 2s and the mental reps are just as important. So I can’t lose sight of that. It’s all a part of becoming the best football player that I can be, man.”
So how does Vick deal with the likelihood he won’t be starting?
“You know, I gotta find inner peace within myself, and I gotta find things that keep me stimulated and motivated on the football field,” he said. “Even if it’s just being in that backup role. That should stimulate me to want to put myself in a position to be even better when I have that opportunity. The last thing you want to do is take any of this for granted, get thrown out there in the fire and not be ready.”
He gave himself a C-plus/B-minus grade for the offseason.
“But I want to leave this training camp feeling like I’m on the B-plus side, borderline A-minus,” Vick said.
If Smith (25 turnovers) plays the way he played in September, October and November of his rookie season, he won’t make it to October this time.
Even with a strong finish, no one finished with a lower passer rating than Smith (66.5). Vick’s presence either will push Smith to new heights or push him to the bench.
“I don’t know if we’ve had a better quarterback situation since I’ve been the head coach here,” Ryan said.
This could prove to be a delicate balancing act for Ryan, fraught with potential peril. Ryan can’t afford to play Idzik’s chosen quarterback if it becomes obvious to his team that Vick is the better, if Vick is able to recapture some of his old dynamic magic. In such a scenario, Ryan, with major input from Mornhinweg, would be faced with picking the precise time and place to pull the plug on Smith and make the franchise-jarring switch.
Or maybe Smith, 10 pounds of muscle bigger and stronger, steps up and values ball security and uses his legs from the get-go to add that dimension to his game and never looks back.
He better not look back, because Vick might be gaining on him.
Watch your back, Geno.