New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith has performed poorly on the field this season, and the reports we have heard about his off-field behavior have been just as troubling. During a conference call with the Boston media on Monday, Smith was asked how he has handled his “topsy-turvy” season thus far. His response was that it hasn’t really been topsy-turvy, the media just makes it seem like that.
“For me, it hasn’t been,” Smith said, per Rich Cimini of ESPNNewYork.com. “I think, obviously with everything that goes on with the media, a lot of things are, I would say, miscommunicated, and then it just gets misprinted and then misunderstood.”
There are two things we know happened that Smith can’t really claim the media blew out of proportion. He swore at a Jets fan after a loss earlier this season and later apologized for it. Smith also missed a team meeting because he got confused over time zones during a west coast trip.
“The main thing is that we just have to find a way to get a win,” he added. “The hardest part about it all is losing. With the effort, the time that we put in, the preparation that we put in throughout the week, coming up with game plans — we always have a really good game plan going in — and then obviously we haven’t executed as well as we’d like. Those things are tougher than I guess what can be said and what is portrayed out there in the media.”
The stuff that Smith says is being “portrayed” could be the report about him getting into altercations at bars during the offseason. Still, the second-year quarterback has made enough off-field mistakes to warrant criticism, and we know how the media in New York can be.
The best thing Smith can do — aside from winning games — is to start taking some accountability. When you miss a team meeting to go to a movie because you forgot what time it was on the west coast, you deserve to be criticized for it. The same is true when you turn the ball over at crucial times. Smith has done all that and then some.
