Geno Smith is learning, and in a hurry.
And that has only partially to do with football, but everything to do with how he deals with the attention he’s going to be getting as a Jets quarterback.
Smith said reports about his immature behavior before and after the draft were “inaccurate,” during an interview with Alex Marvez of FoxSports.com and Jim Miller on SiriusXM NFL Radio.
“It’s just eye-opening. It allows you to see exactly what business you’re in,” Smith said. “I understand it’s part of my job to handle that. I’m going to take it in stride and do all the things that are necessary to make me and my team look good.”
Good luck with that.
From reports about his draft weekend travel plans, to the criticism he’s taken for switching agents, Smith thinks he’s been unfairly portrayed.
“From the standpoint of me being a diva, you talk to my teammates and coaches from Little League. Nobody will say that,” Smith said. “From the standpoint that I switched agents because of where I fell in the draft, I’m not naive. I understand an agent can’t get you selected higher or lower. It’s based on what teams need and the decisions they make in the front office.
“Just the whole draft experience and everything that went down, I was supposed to be leaving the draft and all that stuff, that was inaccurate again. There were a lot of things that were said that were anonymous and inaccurate. But all that comes with [the territory]. I’m built for it, so I’m not really worried about it.”
Given the Jets’ recent dysfunction, he has an opportunity to not only win a starting job, but to make himself look good in the process simply by being the new guy. He’s prematurely predicted playoffs, but he’s never butt fumbled, which gets him off to a good start.
But to succeed, he’s going to have to prove he can handle both responsibility and criticism, because both are coming.