Geno Smith will be the starting quarterback for the Jets against the Raiders in the season opener, but he’s not guaranteed all that much beyond that if he doesn’t show clear improvement over his rookie season.
Quarterbacks coach David Lee thinks that Smith has already showed real progress in one area. Lee said Smith had a tendency to “go off the reservation” last year, but has reined things in as he’s become more comfortable in the offense. As a result, Smith is showing an increased ability to hang onto the ball heading into his second NFL season.
“That’s probably been the No. 1 most encouraging thing, is he’s secured the ball in the pocket,” Lee said, via the Newark Star-Ledger. “He’s had two hands on the ball, he’s working with two hands on the ball as he’s escaping the pocket and moving and sliding. Just his ball security has been a gigantic [improvement]. And that’ll be the biggest turnaround thing for us, if he just takes care of the ball and doesn’t get it knocked loose. So that’s a good observation. That’s the big thing he’s improved.”
Smith turned the ball over 25 times last season, but only two of them came in the final four weeks of the regular season and he’s thrown one interception this preseason. Keeping that up would be a major plus for both the offense and the defense, to say nothing of Smith’s chances of remaining the starter ahead of Michael Vick for the entire season.