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Mehta: Jets Should Bench Geno Smith


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NY Jets should bench Geno Smith for Michael Vick after missed meeting movie fiasco follows cursing out fan

 

Smith’s lack of off-field professionalism aside, he simply hasn’t produced on Sunday afternoons. Smith is tied for the most interceptions (6) and turnovers (8) in the league.

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Wednesday, October 8, 2014, 11:30 PM A A A

 

 

 

Geno Smith isn't producing on the field and isn't conducting himself professionally off of it, which means it is time for him to grab some pine on the Jets sidelines

 

Geno Smith, the foul-mouthed, movie-goer quarterback, talks a good game, but his time-zone challenged derriere should be planted on the bench Sunday against the Broncos.

 

 

At a time when the Jets should hold Smith accountable for skipping out on a team meeting on the eve of the shutout loss to the Chargers, Rex Ryan has curiously coddled the second-year “pro,” making excuses for a player who has not earned the right to be the starter right now.

 

 

Ryan said he consulted GM John Idzik (shocking!) before deciding to play Smith in San Diego. Although Smith said Wednesday that he received support from his teammates after apologizing for his gaffe, the Daily News received less-than-favorable feedback from team members, who are not thrilled with how the quarterback has acted recently. One starter, who actually attended every meeting, believed Smith’s flop in the first half that got him benched was predictable given his sloppy preparation the night before.

 

 

Members of the organization don’t want to dwell on Smith’s pair of recent slip-ups — remember, he cursed out a fan twice after a home loss to the Lions two weeks ago — but they aren’t happy with how this so-called leader has comported himself.

 

 

Smith’s convoluted explanation of the time-zone mix-up — he had a revelation 30 minutes into watching an unnamed movie that a team meeting might be taking place (insert eye-roll here) — matched Ryan’s insistence Wednesday that this player is a leader. Sometimes. Sort of. Maybe.

 

“Is it 100%?” Ryan said after waxing poetic about Smith’s command of the offense and work habits. “Like some of the things like missing a meeting? Obviously that’s not typical of what a leader would do.”

 

 

 

 

 

So the 1-4 Jets have a part-time leader at quarterback. Got it.

 

 

Smith’s lack of off-field professionalism aside, he simply hasn’t produced on Sunday afternoons. Smith is tied for the most interceptions (6) and turnovers (8) in the league. Tennessee’s Jake Locker is the only current starter with a worse completion percentage.

 

 

Translation: Smith stinks right now.

 

 

For an organization rooted in Idzik’s (laughably selective) competition mantra, Smith obviously hasn’t earned the right to remain the starter over Mike Vick through the first five weeks. When asked whether he believed his production to this point warranted keeping the job over Vick, Smith predictably repeated what everyone already knows. “Those decisions are made by the coaches,” Smith said. “My job is to go out there (and) try to earn their respect every single day.”

 

 

F-bombs to Woody Johnson’s paying customers and figurative slaps in your teammates’ faces by missing meetings is no way to earn that respect. Making poor on-field decisions over and over and over is no way to earn that respect.

 

 

 

The Jets brought in Vick to play if Smith faltered - and that's exactly what's happening.

So, he needs to sit.

 

The Jets are on the edge of the cliff to nowhere, a scary place to be one week into October, but have a chance to keep the season alive if they can somehow beat the Broncos and Patriots within a critical five-day stretch.

 

Vick gives the Jets the best chance to pull off a couple of miracles. Smith, who has regressed after a solid final month in his rookie season, has shown no indication that he is the man to lead the Jets out of this football-field sized hole.

 

Ryan incredibly said that the inaccurate, turnover-prone Smith still gives the Jets a better chance to win than Vick, who has actually proven that he can rally and lead teams during his career. “We’ll find out if he has the ability to persevere,” Vick said of the guy above him on the depth chart.

 

Smith continued to spit out programmed answers about his recent mistakes. It can’t happen again. It won’t happen again. Work harder. Watch film. Stay humble. We’ve heard all of this before after past errors on and off the field. Sooner or later, the words ring hollow. Smith talks about “outside distractions” as if he didn’t create this mess with his potty mouth, lack of “clock management” and terrible play.

 

 

Rex Ryan needs to put his second-year quarterback on the bench.

 

H e’ll return to MetLife Stadium Sunday for the first time since Jets fans booed him and started chanting for Vick a couple weeks ago. No word if the fans fall under Smith’s “outside distractions” category, but he maintained that he hasn’t really thought about how he’ll react if the home crowd turns sour if/when he doesn’t play well.

 

 

“Will they turn on me?” Smith said. “I don’t know. I can’t really focus on that. I don’t know what’s going to happen when mistakes happen, because they do happen. If that does happen, I’ve just got to motor through it and keep working.”

 

 

Smith’s struggles contrast starkly with the success of his Broncos counterpart, Peyton Manning, who is the Anti-Geno in every imaginable way.

 

 

“The guy doesn’t get lackadaisical with anything he does, from the film room to the weight room to the walk-throughs on the field,” former Bronco Eric Decker said. “Everything is done with a purpose. . . . He definitely was a player-coach.”

 

 

Smith has said that Manning is one of his personal favorites. “Watching a guy like that is something I can learn from definitely,” Smith said. “I’ve been watching him for years.”

 

 

Watching is the only thing Smith should do on Sunday.

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What i don't understand is didn't the guys in the Jets draft war room have a feed of the draft coverage running during the draft? Did they not see the kid absolutely crack and melt down over the pressure of not going on day 1? Did they not hear the same report about how like, his agent and his mom had to wipe away the tears and slap some sense into the kid to show up on day 2? Did they not think a stadium full of NY Jets fans at their wits end and the NY media would be just a bit more pressure for him to face than a faceless tv camera at the draft?

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Geno is better at his job than this guy, that's all you really need to know. I didn't bother reading

Mehta has been writing for months how SMith was imporving and should be the starter. Ans only now he thinks otherwise? Was he blind for the past year and half? How precious.
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How exactly could he be worse? Geno had a rating of 7...I never even heard of a lower rating...

Vick had ONE job: be prepared. and he wasn't. Smith may suck because he sucks but that makes me significantly less angry than the guy who didn't do his ONE JOB.

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Vick had ONE job: be prepared. and he wasn't. Smith may suck because he sucks but that makes me significantly less angry than the guy who didn't do his ONE JOB.

 

Maybe Vick forget to set his playbook for west coast time

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Vick had ONE job: be prepared. and he wasn't. Smith may suck because he sucks but that makes me significantly less angry than the guy who didn't do his ONE JOB.

Smith was obviously brutally unprepared.  Only difference is Vick admitted it.  

 

This team is back in the Kotite era mentality  

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Vick had ONE job: be prepared. and he wasn't. Smith may suck because he sucks but that makes me significantly less angry than the guy who didn't do his ONE JOB.

Apparently, Geno was unprepared as well. Missing a meeting is as much of an admission to that as what Vick said.

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I gave up on Geno with this movie/lying about the movie thing. It's one thing to be a struggling, young QB, but it's another thing to be an oblivious douche. It wouldn't bother me if he got cut in-season.

 

 

Smith was obviously brutally unprepared.  Only difference is Vick admitted it.  

 

This team is back in the Kotite era mentality  

 

 

Apparently, Geno was unprepared as well. Missing a meeting is as much of an admission to that as what Vick said.

 

At least Vick took responsibility. Geno's plan was to foist a self-disproving lie on the team and the fans--a lie that requires one to be able to tell time (to make the movie on time) for it to work. But why was he forced to use such an obvious lie? It's the only way he could also explain away not picking up his phone when the team called to see where the Hell he was. The fact that Rex fell for this is quite frankly unbelievable.

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Mehta is a jerk 9 times out of 10 but this article is dead on. There's no reason to keep playing Geno. Hoping he gets better? cmon. 

 

I agree.  I dislike Mehta as much as the next guy, but the article is spot on.  Geno has not played well and has not displayed a level of maturity to indicate that he has earned the right to lead this team.  He should be given a seat on the bench.  

 

Problem is, Vick has already said that he was not prepared last week, so do you sit Geno for lack of professionalism and poor performance, only to play VIck who has displayed lack of professionalism and also performed poorly.

 

Says as much if not more about coaching than about the two players.

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maybe I'd just prefer to go with the young guy than the old guy, but the fact that Vick is supposed to be the veteran role model rubs me the wrong way.

 

Rubs everyone the wrong way, and it should. The Jets have two horrendous options. The difference is Vick's career is almost done, who cares about his development. The only way to save Geno--and it is a long shot--is to hit the restart button and bench him. Kid has a lot of growing up to do. That doesn't happen in a world with no consequences.

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