There is still a lit candle that makes New York Jets quarterback Michael Vick upset he will not be a starter, but he has been very vocal on how he feels about the situation and what’s in store for the future. “It’s hard not to” Vick told Kimberly Jones. “I think, at times, it does hurt deep down I’m not in that group of the 32 starting QBs in the NFL. Everything happens for a reason, and maybe it’s time for me to just kind of sit back and kind of appreciate what I’m going through now to make me a better quarterback in the future.”
“I still feel like I have a couple years left,” the 33-year-old said. “I still move pretty good, obviously the quarterback position is played from a mental standpoint, so I try to keep that in perspective, so if I keep doing that then I think things will work out for me.”
Vick and New York starting quarterback Geno Smith have been jawing about who will be the starter and who will be the secondary quarterback since Vick has gotten to New York. This mental battle has helped refine each quarterback in practice and in whatever reps they have to do. In my eyes Vick was brought over to the Jets to help Geno Smith become more of an efficient quarterback. He needed more of an experienced quarterback to help mold him to become more aware about where the defenders are located, pocket presence, reading his reads before he makes the decision to throw the ball or tucking it himself to run, and just throw the ball away and live another down.
Each of these categories is where Smith needs to step up to the plate or he will lose his starting job and his teammates that believe in him. Vick understands that his job as a veteran is his role to help improve the growth of Smith. “Geno knows I’m going to push him to the limit, and I want him to push me,” Vick said. “There’s going to be times where he’s going to have to pick me up, where I’m going to have to pick him up. I’m always going to be there for him, always going to help him out, and I think he’s done a great job. I try to mentor all the quarterbacks,” Vick said. “I’m still learning every day and I’ve been playing a lot longer than those guys and I probably won’t be playing as long as they’re going to play from here on out.”
Smith has learned a lot since Vick has gotten there and in his statement he is taking everything in. “Obviously I’m not out here head-spinning as much as I did last year,” Smith said. “I’m still learning, I’m still studying it just as hard as I did last year. I’ve had time to figure out every single nuance of this offense and also figure out my teammates; get the timing down with the wideouts, get the rhythm with the offensive line and just kind of put my stamp on this team. Having Mike has made me better, being a second-year quarterback has made me better,” Smith said. “But everything is all the result of hard work. That’s my mantra says Smith.”
When asked about if there was an open competition between the two quarterbacks coach Rex Ryan had this to say about it; “It’s probably unrealistic to think you can have it at every position,” he said. “But certainly we have competition and competition sometimes has to be maybe manufactured. “You look at our defensive line, there’s great competition there. It might not be for who’s pushing this guy, but they push each other. They’re all young. They came in together and they push each other, so I think that’s a good thing as well.”
