NFL

Former Jets QB coach rips Geno Smith: His play ‘killed us’

Former Jets quarterbacks coach David Lee pointed the finger for the Jets’ struggles in the last two years at his pupil Geno Smith.

Lee, now the Bills quarterbacks coach under former Jets coach Rex Ryan, told the Bills’ website the Jets played good enough defense to win games the last two years — the team went 8-8 and 4-12, respectively — but Smith doomed them.

“Rex and I talked about it, he had some inconsistency, and the up-and-down part is what killed us,” Lee said of Smith. “He would get loose with the football. We played good enough defense to win over there both years, but his play it’ll cost you and it cost us. But he also did some great things. The last five games this season he was the seventh-rated passer in the league. He had a perfect passer rating in his last game at Miami. The potential and ability is there.”

Now, Lee will try to turn around EJ Manuel, who was drafted a round ahead of Smith in 2013, and has had his share of struggles. Lee praised Manuel’s pre-draft work with the Jets, saying he did better on a test Lee administered than any other quarterback in that draft, including Smith.

“We flew him in before the draft and I gave him a test,” Lee said. “I gave him a pamphlet to study and told him I was going to test him the next morning. It was long and detailed and he aced it. He didn’t miss anything. No other quarterback that came in did that, but he did.”