Geno Looks to Improve Ball Security

[flgreen]

Geno looks to improve ball security

 

 

By Brian Costello

 

 

October 1, 2013 | 4:01am

 

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Geno looks to improve ball security

 

 

 

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You don’t have to be Vince Lombardi to figure out what went wrong for the Jets on Sunday in their 38-13 loss to the Titans.

 

 

There were basically four issues — Geno Smith’s first turnover, his second turnover, his third turnover and then his fourth turnover.

 

 

“We’ve got to quit turning the ball over,” coach Rex Ryan said Monday in a conference call with reporters. “That’s killing us right now. It wasn’t obvious until this past game. The reason it wasn’t obvious is because we played real good red-zone defense. That wasn’t the case yesterday.”

 

 

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Geno Smith loses the football during Sunday’s loss to the Titans.

 

 

Yes, the Titans scored 28 points off the turnovers and maybe you could argue the defense should be able to keep them out of the end zone even on a short field, but Smith is the main culprit from that loss whether Ryan wants to admit it or not.

 

 

Ryan gave a harsh assessment of his rookie quarterback, but said he’s not ready to bench Smith yet.

 

 

“It’s not a thought at this point right now,” Ryan said. “Not a thought.”

 

 

Smith has 11 turnovers through his first four games, tied with Giants quarterback Eli Manning for the most in the NFL. In fact, the Giants are the only team in the NFL that has more turnovers than Smith does.

 

 

On Sunday, he threw two interceptions and had two fumbles. Smith owned up to his mistakes and said he is working in practice to eliminate them.

 

 

“I think if we take care of the ball, if we take care of those penalties, I think we have a fighting chance,” Smith said. “It’s something that we have to clean up, we’re going to emphasize it. As far as those turnovers go, they have to stop now.”

 

 

After the loss on Sunday, Smith went to several of his teammates and apologized for his errors, vowing it will never happen again.

 

 

“I felt that I owed the defense an apology,” he said. “They work their butts off to be one of the best in the league and they pride themselves on not giving up points. Whenever you turn the ball over and they lead to scores, and they’ve bailed us out time-and-time again so far, but whenever you turn it over that many times its hard for those guys to go out there and do their jobs. It’s a short field. I just wanted to talk to those guys and let them know that I was aware of my mistakes and that I wanted to clean them up and that I will clean them up.”

 

 

Smith has a passer rating of 68.6 — only Christian Ponder, Brandon Weeden, Josh Freeman and Blaine Gabbert are worse. All four of those quarterbacks have either lost their starting spot or are in jeopardy of doing so. But Ryan insisted he believes in Smith, although he sounded like a man losing patience.

 

 

“You can’t buy experience,” Ryan said. “With that being said, we still have to do a much better job with Geno in particular, ‘I have to protect the football at all costs’. You can’t be nonchalant about it. You have to protect the ball. You can talk about it until you’re blue in the face. But when it happens, now you see it over and over. That’s the way we can improve.”

 

 

The Jets coaches want Smith to be more careful holding the ball. He has a bad habit of holding it with one hand, just like his predecessor Mark Sanchez. They are also trying to instill in Smith the notion he no longer has to make every play himself like he may have had to do in college.

 

 

“It’s also been an eye-opener for me, allowing me to understand that my role on this team is different from what I’ve been used to. I’m not asked to score as many points,” Smith said. “I have a great defense and we can rely on those guys. I have great guys up front, a great running game and that’s something as well that I can rely on. As long as I take care of the ball, just keep managing the game, just keep us in good situations, we’ll have a chance.”

 

[Patriot Killa]

Geno looks to improve ball security

By Brian Costello

October 1, 2013 | 4:01am

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Geno looks to improve ball security

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You don’t have to be Vince Lombardi to figure out what went wrong for the Jets on Sunday in their 38-13 loss to the Titans.

There were basically four issues — Geno Smith’s first turnover, his second turnover, his third turnover and then his fourth turnover.

“We’ve got to quit turning the ball over,” coach Rex Ryan said Monday in a conference call with reporters. “That’s killing us right now. It wasn’t obvious until this past game. The reason it wasn’t obvious is because we played real good red-zone defense. That wasn’t the case yesterday.”

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Geno Smith loses the football during Sunday’s loss to the Titans.

Yes, the Titans scored 28 points off the turnovers and maybe you could argue the defense should be able to keep them out of the end zone even on a short field, but Smith is the main culprit from that loss whether Ryan wants to admit it or not.

Ryan gave a harsh assessment of his rookie quarterback, but said he’s not ready to bench Smith yet.

“It’s not a thought at this point right now,” Ryan said. “Not a thought.”

Smith has 11 turnovers through his first four games, tied with Giants quarterback Eli Manning for the most in the NFL. In fact, the Giants are the only team in the NFL that has more turnovers than Smith does.

On Sunday, he threw two interceptions and had two fumbles. Smith owned up to his mistakes and said he is working in practice to eliminate them.

“I think if we take care of the ball, if we take care of those penalties, I think we have a fighting chance,” Smith said. “It’s something that we have to clean up, we’re going to emphasize it. As far as those turnovers go, they have to stop now.”

After the loss on Sunday, Smith went to several of his teammates and apologized for his errors, vowing it will never happen again.

“I felt that I owed the defense an apology,” he said. “They work their butts off to be one of the best in the league and they pride themselves on not giving up points. Whenever you turn the ball over and they lead to scores, and they’ve bailed us out time-and-time again so far, but whenever you turn it over that many times its hard for those guys to go out there and do their jobs. It’s a short field. I just wanted to talk to those guys and let them know that I was aware of my mistakes and that I wanted to clean them up and that I will clean them up.”

Smith has a passer rating of 68.6 — only Christian Ponder, Brandon Weeden, Josh Freeman and Blaine Gabbert are worse. All four of those quarterbacks have either lost their starting spot or are in jeopardy of doing so. But Ryan insisted he believes in Smith, although he sounded like a man losing patience.

“You can’t buy experience,” Ryan said. “With that being said, we still have to do a much better job with Geno in particular, ‘I have to protect the football at all costs’. You can’t be nonchalant about it. You have to protect the ball. You can talk about it until you’re blue in the face. But when it happens, now you see it over and over. That’s the way we can improve.”

The Jets coaches want Smith to be more careful holding the ball. He has a bad habit of holding it with one hand, just like his predecessor Mark Sanchez. They are also trying to instill in Smith the notion he no longer has to make every play himself like he may have had to do in college.

“It’s also been an eye-opener for me, allowing me to understand that my role on this team is different from what I’ve been used to. I’m not asked to score as many points,” Smith said. “I have a great defense and we can rely on those guys. I have great guys up front, a great running game and that’s something as well that I can rely on. As long as I take care of the ball, just keep managing the game, just keep us in good situations, we’ll have a chance.”

If he wants to be the franchise QB he cannot just manage the game his whole life... I understand while he is a rookie.. but further down the road he has to take charge.

[flgreen]

This is why the new CBA really blows for young players.  If Smith is going to start changing his mechanics, and game philosophy, he needs to be spending a lot of time with Lee, and Marty.  Problem is they are maxed out just trying to install the weeks game plan under the hours that are allowed under the new CBA. 

 

In the off season the players aren't even allowed to talk to the coaches.  This is great for the vets, who don't want to be there, but for a young QB who hasn't played in an NFL type program, it is murder.   That's why these places like T E S T are thriving in the offseason, with guys like Chad and Garcia playing the role of QB coaches for hire

[slats]

Smith has a passer rating of 68.6 — only Christian Ponder, Brandon Weeden, Josh Freeman and Blaine Gabbert are worse. All four of those quarterbacks have either lost their starting spot or are in jeopardy of doing so. But Ryan insisted he believes in Smith, although he sounded like a man losing patience.

This is such a BS passage.

Geno has 400 more yards than the next QB on that list. Geno is averaging 8 yards per attempt, the next guy is averaging 6.9, then 6.1, then 6.0, then 4.5.... Geno has 4 TDs, the other four QBs have combined for 5. Oh, and Geno is the only rookie on the list. Any slack Geno might be getting, he deserves.

Meanwhile, Geno's passer rating isn't all that unfavorable when compared to Eli's 69.1 or Flacco's 69.4.

If he wants to be the franchise QB he cannot just manage the game his whole life... I understand while he is a rookie.. but further down the road he has to take charge.

Mornhinweg doesn't coach game managers. This isn't a concern.

[flgreen]

Rex Ryan and Geno Smith working on two different timelines

 

 

The head coach likely needs immediate results to stick around beyond this season. The rookie quarterback needs time to show enough promise to have the inside track on the starting job beyond this season.

 

Comments (17)

 

NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

 

 

Tuesday, October 1, 2013, 12:15 AM.

 

 

 

 

 

Geno Smith needs to take his time to develop in this league, but Rex Ryan needs immediate results to keep his job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rex Ryan is trying to accelerate Geno Smith’s learning curve to warp speed when it’s simply not realistic.

 

 

Ryan and Smith have two very different timelines. The head coach likely needs immediate results to stick around beyond this season. The rookie quarterback needs time to show enough promise to have the inside track on the starting job beyond this season.

 

 

Ryan’s admission on Monday that benching Smith in the wake of a four-turnover meltdown against the Titans was “not a thought at this point right now” was hardly a ringing endorsement of the kid quarterback. Four years ago, Ryan took a decidedly different tack with rookie Mark Sanchez after an eerily similar four-turnover disaster in a Week 4 road loss in New Orleans.

 

 

“He’s like a tiger,” Ryan said of Sanchez at the time. “He’s going to come roaring back. There is no doubt. I have 100% confidence in him.”

 

 

Ryan, of course, wasn’t coaching for his job back then, either. Now, the embattled coach admittedly wants (and needs) things to change “quickly” with his young quarterback even if he knows that’s probably not going to happen.

 

 

Although Ryan expressed his faith that Smith can reverse course after an NFL season-high-tying 11 turnovers in the first four games, seeing is believing for a 2-2 team that begins a potentially season-crushing five-game stretch at Atlanta on Monday night.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I do believe it,” Ryan said of Smith’s stance that he can fix his mistakes in a hurry. “But I think sometimes it’s something that you have to see…. Again, it has to get better. It’s not just we talk about it. We have to see it.”

 

 

Ryan admitted that Smith’s nightmarish performance conjured up images of Sanchez’s five-interception disaster four years ago in an overtime loss against the Bills. Sanchez’s turnovers trailed him throughout his rookie season. He committed 16 of his 23 in 2009 after his four against the Saints.

 

 

It’s likely that Smith, whose on-the-job training in Marty Mornhinweg’s West Coast offense has predictably had its fair share of ebbs and flows in the first month, will experience similar growing pains. Ryan & Co. were fully aware that Smith’s transition from West Virginia’s offense was going to take time.

 

 

But the head coach desperately needs the rookie to pick up the pace if the Jets have any realistic chance of being a playoff contender. Ryan’s patience is undoubtedly wearing thin, but he doesn’t have better options.

 

 

Sanchez, who was placed on short-term injured reserve a few weeks ago and isn’t eligible to return until Week 11 at the earliest, visited Dr. James Andrews again for a scheduled appointment on his bum shoulder on Monday, according to two sources. At this point, the veteran quarterback hopes to continue to rehab the shoulder and return in 2013 even though season-ending surgery remains an option.

 

 

So, Ryan’s fate will be affected more by Smith than any other player on the roster. The coach took solace in Smith’s history of taking care of the ball in college. Smith threw an interception once every 86 attempts as a senior at West Virginia. He’s thrown a pick once every 17 attempts through his first four NFL games.

 

 

 

 

 

“It’s something that has to stop now,” the rookie said.

 

 

The fumbles are a bigger concern than interceptions for Ryan, who saw Smith treat the ball like a loaf of bread and a basketball on two careless fumbles in Tennessee. Smith was exceedingly careless on a second-quarter scramble that was easily jarred loose. He was downright reckless on his fourth-quarter attempt to put the ball behind his back as he was about to get drilled.

 

 

“You can’t buy experience,” Ryan said. “But with that being said, we still have to do a much better job of, with Geno in particular, protect(ing) the football at all costs. You can’t be nonchalant about (ball protection technique). You have to protect the ball.”

 

 

Smith, who apologized to defensive players after the loss, called the flurry of turnovers an “eye-opener.”

 

 

Smith has been accountable for his early pitfalls. He knows his transformation won’t happen overnight. It will take time.

 

 

And time isn’t on Ryan’s side.

 

 

http://twitter.com/MMehtaNYDN

 

 

 

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/sports/football/jets/mehta-rex-qb-grow-fast-article-1.1472305#ixzz2gTc7GfXR

[joewilly12]

Maybe Geno Smith can use some the spray Tom Brady was using during the Monday Night Game.

[HessStation]

Geno might never turn out to be good, or maybe he does, but he's easy to root for. I like him.

[BroadwayJoe12]

Geno might never turn out to be good, or maybe he does, but he's easy to root for. I like him.

 

Very true. All I can picture after a game like that is Sanchez standing at the podium, talking about how he thought he played well and didn't seem to really care. 

 

That having been said, as much as I like Geno, he needs to show he won't turn the ball over and not just talk about it. I guess Mark hasn't told him the secret about turnovers yet, that they're just a mental thing.

[budda12ax7]

Funny,,,you could see it comming with him holding the ball out like that.....I was yelling "tuck the ball"....to no avail....

[MexiRoll6]

I wonder why not one of these media 'wonks' has referred to Geno's difficulties at W.Va. with fumbles. I read he had something like 36 in his college career - supposedly due to small hands - but I can see the way he carelessly holds the ball why he fumbles a lot. If they couldn't cure him of it in three years of college ball, I doubt he'll get the message any time soon at the next level. But as always, time will tell. From where I am sitting I can see a high draft pick on a QB next year.