Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez has been publicly proclaiming that he has no intention of losing his starting job to rookie Geno Smith. But Smith is confident, too.
Smith, the second-round pick from West Virginia, told the Charleston Gazette that he likes his chances.
“I feel like I have a great shot,” Smith said. “I did a pretty good job overall of just adapting to the [Jets’] system and playbook and felt very comfortable with it by the end of OTAs and mandatory camp.”
It will be at least a few weeks before either Smith or Sanchez has done enough to earn the starting job, but Smith believes he has what it takes to separate himself.
“Going into training camp I’ve got a great opportunity and feel very good about it,” Smith said. “I’m going to go in there with the right mentality, the same mentality I had throughout my entire career, which is to work hard, to better myself and help my teammates get better and we’ll see what happens at the end of preseason.”
For the Jets, Smith winning the starting job would be a sign of hope that the franchise quarterback of the future has arrived. Then again, a couple years ago, that’s what they thought about Sanchez.
