Jon Gruden: ‘Too Soon To Give Up On Geno Smith’

Former Super Bowl winning head coach and ESPN color commentator Jon Gruden says it’s too soon to give up on Jets quarterback Geno Smith.

By Robby Sabo

Inconsistencies on the field and at times absurd behavior. This is what Geno Smith has portrayed to New York Jets fans and all of the NFL during his first two seasons in the league.

It’s not enough to endure a QB-INT ratio of 25-34, but we have to suffer through rumors of his immature ways.

Getting socked in the jaw in the locker room was just the cherry on top of the other stuff, for example missing a team meeting on the west coast due to him not knowing the time difference.

In any event, ESPN personality and former Super Bowl winning head coach Jon Gruden firmly believes it’s too early to give up on Geno.

Via Rich Cimini of ESPN New York:

“I don’t know the exactness of his role in what happened, but there’s a lot of smoke,” the ESPN “Monday Night Football” analyst said Wednesday on a conference call. “Wherever there’s smoke, there’s fire. I’ve never heard of anything like this, but I do think he he’s a young quarterback with talent.”

Gruden also touched on the Ryan Fitzpatrick mentor angle:

“I think (Ryan) Fitzpatrick, on his fifth or sixth team, will be a good bridge to the future,” Gruden continued. “But you still have to find out who the future is. Is it Geno Smith? I think it’s too early to give up on him. Hopefully, Fitzpatrick can play solid football until they have an opportunity to decide for themselves.”

It’s true that Smith has shown some pretty solid raw tools at this level. As far as quarterbacks are concerned, he’s one of the toughest. He hangs in the pocket while delivering a strike with the best of the youngsters out there. He also rarely fails to get up off the turf despite how hard a slobber-knocker he just took.

“I like Geno because I know what kind of talent he has,” Gruden said. “There are tapes last year — I think the Miami game … where you say, ‘Man, this guy has the ability to run and throw. There were some throws he made at New England last year that were unbelievable.”

For now the Jets are Fitzpatrick’s team. It’ll be interesting to see what transpires over the next month upon Geno’s return.