Geno Smith Talks About His First NFL Start

Aug 24, 2013; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) scrambles in his own end zone against the New York Giants during the second quarter of a preseason game at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-USA TODAY Sports

Saturday night, Geno Smith’s starting debut was a mixed bag to say the least, with 199 yards, 1 TD and 3 INTS, 16-30 passing. To put it mildly, he didn’t do himself any favors in the starting quarterback race.

After the game, Geno talked about his three interceptions:

A number of things that you can kind of pinpoint things here and there. They don’t need to be thrown. Turnovers are never something that we want to do. We don’t want to put our defense in a tough spot. They did a great job of bailing us out time and time (again). It’s something that we will improve upon. I, myself, will do better at protecting the ball. Just get better day-by-day.

Does he think he hurt his chances by throwing three interceptions:

I don’t know. One thing that I do know is that I’m going to get better from it and it’s going to be another learning experience. I was just happy with the way that the offensive line protected tonight, receivers were getting open all night. It looks like we competed well and came through with the victory.

I sense a little bit of diva in Geno Smith. When asked to do a little bit of self evaluation, he seems to avoid the question. For what it’s worth, Mark has the ability to evaluate plays that have gone wrong. It just doesn’t sound humble to me to dodge a question about what went wrong.

Is he doing it deliberately? Not sure. But he wouldn’t be the first young quarterback to be a little bit arrogant. Geno just needs to be careful that he doesn’t let that get in the way of getting better.