New York Jets’ QB Geno Smith Responds to the Critics

Apr 26, 2013; New York, NY, USA; Geno Smith (West Virginia) is introduced as the number thirty-ninth overall pick to the New York Jets during the 2013 NFL Draft at Radio City Music Hall. Mandatory Credit: Debby Wong-USA TODAY Sports

Is Geno Smith entitled and spoiled? I couldn’t say, I haven’t met the man. But one thing is for certain, he is showing the initial ability to handle New York with gusto.

For anyone who hasn’t seen it by now, Geno Smith has been called out in recent days, being accused of firing his agents simply because he was not a first round draft choice. The word also was that he was more interested in texting and tweeting than interacting with coaches during meetings with teams. Smith had a simple answer to the Twitter accusation:

“That’s not true,” said Smith flatly. “I got strong remarks from all the teams I visited with. … I couldn’t care less what’s coming out in the media because I know what’s true.”

He did regret taking his agents’ advice to skip the Senior Bowl. EJ Manuel was the only QB picked in the first round, and coincidentally, he was the Senior Bowl MVP. To his credit, Geno took responsibility for the decision:

“It was a decision I ultimately made,” Smith said. “My first instinct is always to go out and compete. I’m a competitor. It’s one of those things where I trusted those guys. They advised me that it may have been best for me not to go.”

Geno is looking forward to competing against, and working with Mark Sanchez and David Garrard:

“Mark is a great guy,” Smith said. “I have the utmost respect for him and I look forward to competing with him.”

“David sent me a text the day after I was drafted. I expressed how much I was looking forward to learning from him, competing with him and allowing him to mentor me and to help me get better. I’m going to do the same for him.’

Smith is diving into his playbook, and has been working with Marty Mornhinweg and David Lee to learn the terminology and the playbook. He is working hard, and is showing that he does have a thick skin, an essential quality if you are going to play in New York.

I could summarize this, but I am going to CBS sports reporter Pat Kirwan do it for me. He said it perfectly in a Tweet last night, take a look:

Lets all wait to see if Geno Smith can complete passes, run an offense & win games before we judge the guy..The witch hunt needs to cool it

— Pat Kirwan (@PatKirwanCBS) May 7, 2013

Enough said.