On Friday, TheMMQB.com reported that unnamed Jets coaches were disappointed that quarterback Mike Vick wasn’t more “hell-bent” on winning the starting job. A source close to Vick blasted the idea that Vick even had a chance to win the job, no matter what he did.
After Friday night’s game against the Giants, Vick said that his coaches had no issues with his effort.
“That’s not true; that’s not true at all,” Vick said, via Dom Cosentino of NJ.com. “Me and my coaches, we have great conversations, we have a different dialogue, and that was far from the case. So whoever wrote that story, it was on the side of being very fictitious. You’ve got to come up with better stories that that. There’s better things to talk about.”
The Jets pushed the idea after Vick signed that he’d compete with Geno Smith for the starting job, in the same way that Vick and Nick Foles competed for the starting job in Philly a year ago. Vick, however, was told from the outset that Smith would be the starter.
Vick may have ruffled some feathers by opting for honesty, since it disrupted the intended charade that: (1) Vick and Smith were going toe-to-toe; and (2) Smith would beat out the veteran.
At a time when pretty much every team is pretty much always lying about something, it’s admirable that Vick told the truth. Then again, it’s also understandable. Why would Vick want the world to think he couldn’t beat out Smith? In a truly open competition, chances are that Vick would win the job easily.
Which leads to a bigger question. Why would the Jets not allow a true competition at the position? What, if anything, did Smith do as a rookie to merit not having to actually earn the job in 2014?
Moving forward, the real question is what will he do to actually keep the job? And at what point will coach Rex Ryan opt to see what Vick can do?