David Nelson says he and his fellow Jets receivers are as much to blame as quarterback Geno Smith for the offensive failures in Sunday’s loss to the Bills. And Nelson says the receivers vowed to let Smith know that.
Nelson told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News that the receivers all agreed that they owed it to Smith to approach him this week and let him know that they realize they didn’t do a good enough job on Sunday.
“We didn’t all walk up to him at once,” Nelson said. “It was one of those things where we made a decision as a group that if you get a chance and see Geno today, let him know that we appreciate him and we know he’s capable of leading this team to the playoffs.”
The quarterback always gets too much credit when things go well and too much blame when things go poorly, so it’s no surprise that Smith is taking a lot of heat this week after a terrible game from the Jets’ offense. Nelson wanted to take some of that heat off Smith.
“Whether it be receivers weren’t in the right spot or the protection wasn’t the way it was supposed to be, there were a lot of miscues in that game,” Nelson said. “A lot of mental errors. It wasn’t just on Geno.”
That’s nice of Nelson to say, and if the other receivers are in agreement, it’s a good sign that Smith has the respect of his teammates. Still, even while it’s obviously true that Sunday’s loss wasn’t “just on Geno,” it’s also obviously true that Smith has to play better. And playing better is the only way Smith will keep the confidence of his receivers.