Jets veteran guard Willie Colon is going through the league’s broadcast boot camp this week to learn how to talk about the news of the NFL.
And while he was there, he decided to make some of his own.
Colon said during an interview with SiriusXM NFL Radio that quarterback Geno Smith wasn’t prepared to be thrown into the starting job two years ago, something which was apparent to anyone with functioning eyes.
“Geno’s career, right now, is extremely turbulent,” Colon said, via Darryl Slater of NJ.com. “He was never ready to be the starting quarterback of the New York Jets. When Mark [Sanchez] went down [with a season-ending shoulder injury in the 2013 preseason], he was thrown into the fire and he was forced to cook. Everybody knows in this league, to be a quarterback, which is the No. 1 position on the field, it’s a maturation period you have to go through. And it takes the mental, the physical, and everything to go along with it, to be the best, or even be in the top 10.
“Now, Geno, with that said, has made his mistakes. He’s said some things where you look at him like, ‘What are you talking about?’ But I think that’s all about his maturation period. And I think right now, like [teammate Antonio Cromartie] just mentioned, we bought the Porsche. We’ve given him the keys. He can’t crash it. Bottom line. He can’t crash it. We need him to be on top of his game. And we’re doing everything we can as an offensive line to make him comfortable back there.”
Despite his dismal record (41 turnovers in two years), the Jets are hoping that adding wide receiver Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall will help Smith look like the quarterback they were hoping for, and not just the guy with the keys to the broken down sports car on the side of the Turnpike.