New York Jets’ Geno Smith Struggling with Taking Sacks

Jul 31, 2013; Cortland, NY, USA; New York Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg (left) and quarterback Geno Smith (7) talk during training camp at SUNY Cortland. Mandatory Credit: Rich Barnes-USA TODAY Sports

Geno Smith has acquitted himself quite well thus far in camp. He has shown that he has one big arm, and he is accurate with it. He is understanding what to do with the football in this offense, and is doing it well. Some think that Rex might even be leaning his way with the starting quarterback position.

The one problem he has had, however, is getting rid of the football. The West Coast offense requires the ball out of the QB hands quickly and he is just holding it too long. Geno is taking too many sacks. When asked yesterday, he talked about how it’s not easy to know how long he can hold the football. Take a look:

Well, you’ve always got to have that and here in practice it’s kind of difficult to really get that sense of it because you’re not taking real hits. Obviously the offensive lineman can’t cut guys and running backs can’t cut guys which is something they would use as a tactical way to get those guys on the ground because they are great pass rushers and to have a guy like (Calvin) Pace or (David) Harris on one of our backs, you can see where the advantage is in that case. We’ve just got to play it basically how it goes and once the games come we’ll put a game plan together and we’ll take care of that from there but right now we’ve got to focus on what we do here and that’s executing the plays and running the offense and practicing it.

Geno also spoke about why there is such an importance on his footwork, which some have criticized

I mean, that’s the way it is. This offense is based on timing and precision and if you don’t take the proper drops, if you don’t take the right steps, if you’re not on time then obviously it’s not going to be the way Marty (Mornhinweg) wants it and it may not always work out the way you want it to. Sometimes you’re going to get plays where you might have to ad lib or just do things that’s not really in the book but that’s not what you want to do on a daily basis in this offense.

Whether he earns the job or not, Geno Smith clearly has a good head on his shoulders. He will be a huge asset to this team for years going forward. That’s a guarantee.