Geno Smith: It’s Just A Minor Ankle Injury

Geno Smith was on the practice field today during #JetsCamp.  He was asked if it was important to practice today to help win the QB competition and he responded, “I felt it was important just to practice. You can’t miss a day of practice. I pride myself on being out there at all times and one little ankle injury wasn’t going to keep me from practicing and competing with my teammates.”

The trainers gave him the green light to practice which is a strong indication that this isn’t a serious injury.  Geno said it isn’t a sprain.

I wouldn’t say a sprain. It’s just a minor ankle injury. I’m not really sure. We had x-rays. We did an MRI and had great results. Nothing showed up, so pretty much just a little ankle injury.

Geno said the ankle doesn’t hurt but it is sore.  He spoke to the media after practice and discussed the NY Jets offense and his status for the Jaguars game.

On whether he has gotten any indication whether he will be starting on Saturday…
No, not yet.

On how he felt about the offense’s performance in the preseason game at Detroit…
The time that I was in, I think the offense did a pretty good job. One thing we needed to correct was penalties, that’s something that hurt us. We weren’t able to sustain drives and that’s something we need to do a better job of. Moving the chains and hopefully we can get points on the board.

On whether he thought it would be detrimental for him to miss a day of practice…
I don’t know. I don’t plan on missing any days. As long as I have the chance to compete and practice, I’m going to be out there.

On whether he is still excited about his play in the preseason game after watching the game tape…
Obviously, there’s room for improvement. Nothing was perfect. Overall, I think I did a pretty good job. We speak as a whole and as a group. The offense as a whole, we didn’t put points on the board.  I think we had two or there, three and outs, so that’s never good. We’ve got to do a better job of sustaining drives and when I’m in there, I’ve got to make sure that we don’t have any penalties or turnovers. Just do a better job of getting the ball down the field and progressing the offense.

On why he thought Coach Mornhinweg was telling him not to limp…
I mean, that’s Marty. He doesn’t want me out there limping. He’s that type of coach. He’s going to coach me hard. He’s going to coach all of us hard. That’s the way he is. He’s an old school coach. He told us about Brett Favre and the way he played through every single injury, so I try to be the same way.

On if he thinks it is important his teammates think he can play hurt…
Of course, those guys, they’re hitting non-stop. This is a contact sport, a very physical and violent game. And those guys are constantly putting their bodies on the line, so a little injury, such as an ankle, shouldn’t keep me out of practice. It’s important to show those guys that no matter what happens, I’m always going to come out there and give it my best.

On whether he should have sat out of practice since it’s August…
I don’t think so. I think this is one of those injuries where it’s best to push through it. It’s best to get out here. You don’t want the ankle to get stiff and get tight on you, so the more you can flex it, the more you can get out here and run, it helps. It helps strengthen the ankle. It helps me get back into the groove, as well as stay on pace with the progress  I was making throughout camp.

On what he needs to improve on personally…
Overall, just moving the offense (and) getting first downs, whether it’s third-and-short or third-and-long. We had a few third downs that we didn’t convert. And as the quarterback, of course, we want to work on that as a team, but you also want to put some of that burden on yourself because that’s what this game’s about, converting those first downs. Usually, it depends on the quarterback to do so.

On whether he looks forward to getting Joe McKnight and Chris Ivory back…
Yes, we love those guys and we hope they can contribute. We expect a lot out of those guys. To get Joe (McKnight) back, to get Chris (Ivory) back, along with other guys who have been nicked up, is going to  really help us out as an offense.

On whether it is harder to gauge the offense without McKnight, Ivory and Santonio Holmes…
Yeah, Tone (Santonio Holmes) is a big-time player, a key contributor for us, so we have to make sure we just get those guys back healthy and continue to get better as an offense. The guys that are out there have to step up and we all have to do a great job just competing, practicing and getting better.