Al Iannazzone: Jets' Geno Smith making a strong first impression on Garrett Wilson, rest of the club
FLORHAM PARK, N.J.
The Geno Smith-Garrett Wilson connection will be a critical component if the Jets are going to have success this season. It’s off to a good start.
Smith made a very strong first impression on Wilson, the star receiver who is playing with his 10th starting quarterback in five seasons. Not only does Smith throw “a really friendly ball,” but Wilson was impressed by the way Smith discussed and detailed the ins and outs of new coordinator Frank Reich’s offense. So much so that Wilson thought it was “Geno’s offense.”
It is Reich’s offense that he has tailored to fit Smith’s strengths, but Wilson’s point was well taken.
Smith is returning to the Jets as a far different person and player from the one he was when he played for them from 2013-16. He has the scars to prove it, and he just wants to make things better and easier for his teammates.
“He’s a top-notch human,” Wilson said Thursday. “As a receiver, we search out, we want to talk to our quarterbacks. We want to have those conversations. We want to know what they’re thinking because at the end of the day, we want to catch the ball. So it’s like, ‘Hey, what do you think so I can catch the ball?’ And that’s the reality of it.
“He’s super-receptive on all that. Not to mention, he was so good at verbalizing the offense on what Coach Reich had talked to him about early on that I thought it was Geno’s offense that he had kind of brought with him from the past. But no, man, he’s just that receptive, that willing to learn. I think that says a lot about someone.”
It would be an understatement to say that Smith’s first stint with the Jets didn’t go well. After they drafted him 39th overall in 2013, he appeared in 33 games and went 12-18 as a starter. What everyone remembers, though, is Smith suffering a broken jaw when he was sucker-punched in the locker room by IK Enemkpali in 2015 over an unpaid debt.
To Smith’s credit, he put all of that in his rearview mirror and has enjoyed a long career with a second act that few would have predicted. He made two Pro Bowls with the Seahawks and led them to a playoff berth. If Smith can do that with the Jets in his third act and end their 15-year playoff drought, it would be epic.
“That’d be like a story in a movie,” Smith said. “It’s kind of like one of those superhero movies. But my life is based on reality, and we got to focus on getting better every single day.”
Smith is 35 now and doesn’t seem to be one for nostalgia. He acknowledged that when he first walked into the Jets’ training facility after being acquired from the Raiders in March that “great feelings” and “great memories” came back to him. He didn’t let them linger, though.
“I started just thinking about just my first time in the NFL, first time here,” he said. “But it immediately clicked right back in — I got to get to work. I got right back to that.”
Experience and maturity have made Smith different now. He described himself as “a lot more calm” and no longer trying to figure out what to expect. The pressure he put on himself in his first tour of duty with the Jets is gone.
“There’s a lot of unknowns for a rookie,” he said. “Now that I’ve played in the league for a number of years, there’s a lot less unknowns.”
Smith doesn’t believe he has anything to prove to anyone other than himself and his teammates, and Wilson isn’t the only one to speak highly of this version of the quarterback.
Coach Aaron Glenn was a Jets scout when Smith was drafted and has noticed the growth in him as a man, player and leader. Glenn praised the way Smith “commands the huddle,” understands protections and makes sure everyone knows the play call.
Linebacker Demario Davis was Smith’s teammate with the Jets from 2013-15. Davis, who is in his third stint with the Jets, said everything Smith has been through has brought “his spirit to a place of peace.”
“I’m excited to have him in the point of his career,” Davis said. “He’s very comfortable in his skin, he knows who he is. He’s arriving in this moment with his mind right, and you can feel it. It’s a joy to have that competitive counterpart going against every day.”
Smith and the Jets weren’t a good fit the first time around. Now he has a second chance to rewrite history. If he accomplishes that, that indeed would be like a story in a movie.
Al Iannazzone covers the Jets for Newsday after spending nearly two decades on the NBA beat with Knicks and Nets.
