New York Jets Quarterback Not Feeling Pressure
May 27, 2015; East Rutherford, NJ, USA; New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith (7) gets ready to take the snap from New York Jets center Nick Mangold (74) during organized team activities at Atlantic Health Jets Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Ed Mulholland-USA TODAY Sports
The three-year mark is when you find out if a draft pick is a solid pick or a bust by the organization. And there’s a tremendous amount of pressure high picks that haven’t proven themselves yet. The year 2015 marks that time for starting quarterback and 2013 No. 39 overall pick Geno Smith.
But the third-year quarterback isn’t feeling the pressure that comes with the expectations. The Jets took quarterback Brice Petty in the draft and picked up Ryan Fitzpatrick in free agency this offseason. They’re obviously coming for his job and still, Smith sounds like he isn’t worried at all.
He told New York Jets.com at his local youth football camp, “I don’t feel any pressure. The key thing is that going into [training] camp, going in with the right mindset. I feel like we have a lot of room for improvement, but I love the way we’re working and competing. To have guys around me that are so, so good, it takes all the pressure off of me.”
“I’m in competition with myself to try and be perfect. I’m in competition with Ryan, I’m in competition with Bryce, all the guys out there, the defense,” Smith said. “I’m in competition with the guys on the offense. We all want to try and perfect our game, and we’re all going to set the standard high and try and hold each other accountable.”
Well, it does hurt that the Jets have added Brandon Marshall and Devin Smith to their receiving corps. The Jets will have a great defense too so all they need Smith to do is not screw it up. Therefore he doesn’t have the pressure on him to go out there and try to do too much.
But if it doesn’t go well early, that pressure mount fast.