Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has channeled his inner Rocky Balboa on the question of whether Sanchez will keep the starting job. Rookie Geno Smith thinks he has a “great shot” to win the job.
Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg seems to agree with Smith.
“We’ll see,” Mornhinweg told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News regarding Smith’s chances of becoming the Week One start. “That’s up to him. That’s up to Geno. It’s really that simple. He’s been progressing at a very high rate. . . .
“Geno is an excellent athlete. He’s really progressed at a high level. He’s done this fast and it’s because he put in the hard work both on and off the field in preparation. He’s done an outstanding job that way. I know he’s got the mentality of if he can help the team in any way, he’ll do it.”
Mornhinweg added that Smith is “way ahead of the pace of a normal rookie,” and that Smith has the skills to get away with some mechanical flaws.
“They’re just so good athletically that they get away with them for a period of time and then they get better and better and better and better,” Mornhinweg said of players like Smith.
“I think Geno’s close,” Mornhinweg said. “I don’t think he’s there yet. But he’s close to being able to get into a game and function at a high level. So our whole challenge — and his challenge — is that first preseason game [against the Lions on Aug. 9]. Now let’s get to a point where you can function at a high level.”
Mornhinweg declined to speculate on Smith’s possible role as a change-of-pace, read-option-style quarterback if Smith doesn’t win the starting job. But his 4.5-second 40-yard dash at the Scouting Combine suggests Smith has the physical skills to pull it off, even if he didn’t do it much during his college career in Morgantown.