QB dept. : Geno Smith ~ ~ ~

[kelly]

 -- New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith said he learned a lot, became a better quarterback and is "appreciative of everything that's happened" this season, which he spent serving as the backup to Ryan Fitzpatrick.

That doesn't mean he wants to do it again.

Standing in the Jets' locker room Monday, the day after the season ended abruptly for the Jets with their 22-17 loss to their former coach Rex Ryan and the Buffalo Bills, Smith said he wants a chance to be a starting quarterback again next season."I'm extremely competitive. I was put in a tough situation this year; I think I did my best to handle it in the best way possible," Smith said. "And being that I didn't play, it probably was the first time I hadn't played in -- ever since I was about 8 years old. So I want to be out there. We all do.

"But I use things for motivation; that's due to my fire. And everything that I went through, everything that's been said, I listen to, I hear it and I use it."Smith was the Jets' starting quarterback in his first two NFL seasons and was on schedule to start again this year before he suffered a broken jaw during training camp when he was punched by then-teammate IK Enemkpali. Fitzpatrick took over and played well, and Smith never got a chance to reclaim the starting role.

Fitzpatrick, 33, set a franchise record with 31 touchdown passes. Smith, 25, played in just one game, a loss in Oakland on Nov. 1. Fitzpatrick was injured on the first series and Smith took over, going 27-for-42 for 265 yards, with two scoring passes and an interception.

Smith said he has no regrets about his part in the training camp incident that led to losing his starting job. Now he is hoping the slate will be wiped clean next season and he'll get a chance to again compete for the role. However, Jets coach Todd Bowles -- while professing how much he likes Smith -- said he definitely wants Fitzpatrick to return, and not to compete for the job.

"If he comes back, he'll be the starter," Bowles said Monday of Fitzpatrick, who is a free agent.

So Smith, who remains under contract with the Jets, might find himself in a backup role again next season -- something he didn't want to speculate about."It's still early," he said. "We're still coming off a bad loss from yesterday, so we've got to let things play out and see how it goes. No one knows what will happen; no one can predict the future."Asked if he would prefer to be in a situation where he would have a fair chance to earn the starting spot, Smith said yes."Of course, yeah. We all do," he said. "I think that's why we play football -- to be out there and compete. So I guess if you're saying I don't have that opportunity here, I don't believe that. We don't know what's going to transpire, we don't know what's going to happen. We have to see. We have to all wait and see."

Then he was asked if he would ask the Jets to trade or release him if they didn't plan to give him a chance to compete for the starting job."That's a very hypothetical question," Smith said. "I don't really know the answer to that question. I haven't done it yet."

>    http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/57752/jets-geno-smith-wants-opportunity-to-compete-for-starting-job-in-2016

[GandWFan]

Delusional

[Joe Jets fan]

Day after Super Bowl is about right to cut his ass. 

[rex-n-effect]

He'll stick around as a backup next year. It's too cheap of an option on the rookie contract but nobody is picking this idiot up after that.