Transcript of quarterback Geno Smith's news conference following our Wednesday afternoon in front of his locker at the Atlantic Health Jets Training Center:
On what he's seen from Buffalo on video…
They have a great front seven. Those guys are active. I think the one game I saw, Mario Williams had about four, five sacks, so that was impressive. They have a few guys down in the secondary, but for the most part those guys have played well. They made it tough on quarterbacks. They play a ton of press coverage and you can tell they can run. I mean, those guys are active. The back end is smart. So they're going to present a challenge for us.
On if it is especially important to get the ball out quicker against Buffalo...
Oh yeah, of course. It's always important to get the ball out and to get it out on time. You never want to sit back there and pat it and babysit the ball. So that is an emphasis and going up against a defense and a guy like Mario, it is going to be an emphasis to get the ball out. At the same time, I trust my offensive line. I think those guys are definitely going to be prepared for the challenge and I look forward to it.
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On if it helps going up against a defense in practice that's similar to Buffalo's…**
They're similar in many ways, but they're also different. What I have to do is continue to study film, get to know those guys on tape, get a feel for them. I have a ton of resources here, as far as guys who've played under Mike Pettine, as well as coaches who coached with him. So I get information from [them] as well, but the main thing is to study the film, continue to focus on what we do best here and just get better.
On if going into the game against Buffalo he has extra motivation to prove he should've been the first quarterback drafted…
No, I think that mindset would be selfish. It's about this team. It's about all of us going out there and getting a win for each other. I'm not going out there worrying about what happened at the draft because that's come and gone and those feelings are far behind me. I'm just focusing on leading this offense, leading this team and then going out there on Sunday and playing well.
On if he's watched the game tape of when he was at West Virginia playing against Doug Marrone…
I've watched [it], yeah.
On if there's anything that he's learned from those games against Marrone that he can use on Sunday…
No, it's different. I know Coach had a different team then than he has now. It's always different. Every single game that we played back then was different and even now is going to be a lot different. So I'm not focused on what happened then. I haven't gone back and watched any tape. I don't think it's necessary. The key thing is just to continue to study this team he has now and the way they do things, which is a lot different from what they did then.
On if Marrone was exploiting anything specific...
No, I doubt that.
On if he has watched film of his college games against Marrone in the past…
Yeah, in the past.
On if he watched film of his college games against Marrone this week in preparation for Buffalo…
No.
On if it's fair to be compared to EJ Manuel…
Whether or not they're fair or not, I don't know. To be compared to EJ, I'll take it. EJ's a great guy. He's accomplished a bunch in his career and I think the world of him. He's also my good friend, so it's good to compete against a guy like that. But when it comes down to Sunday, there are no friends on the field. We're out there competing for our teams and that's all there really is to it.
On how he felt when Manuel was drafted…
I stood up, I congratulated him and that was it. Like I said, I was happy for him. I was happy for every single guy that got drafted. I'm past that now. I hate to talk about it because I'm focusing on what we have here, which is a great opportunity, [a] good team and we've got a tough matchup coming up on Sunday. We've been preparing for it and we'll be ready.
On if the first time he met Manuel, did they talk about competing in the NFL…
Yeah, sure, definitely talked. Every kid's dream at that point is to make it to the NFL. Ironically enough, two guys that were friends then wind up getting drafted in the same year. I think that's pretty cool.
On if Buffalo expressed interest in him during the draft process…
Yeah, I talked to them and met with them. But I did that with several different teams, so it was about as even as everyone else.
On Coach Ryan saying that the quarterback has to learn how to escape pressure in the pocket…
Yeah, of course and that comes with the process of playing, practicing, [and] going over it through repetition time and time again. And he's right. Quarterbacks, especially in this league, when at times something's going to be covered, you're not going to be able to get to your guy, you may get pressure immediately, so you've got to know how to get the ball out on time and where to go in desperate times. So he's right about that.
On what he's seen from Buffalo on tape and what he's faced in practice…
Multiple fronts. They run a number of fronts, but I can see some single safety. Overall I see those guys are aggressive, similar to our defense. They like to get after the quarterback. They try to rattle you. They try to pressure you. They're going to get up in the receivers' face and try and make it hard on them to run out. That's pretty similar to what we do here.
On how important it is to not start 0-2 in the division…
It's extremely important. We don't want to go down 0-2 in our division. [We] don't want to start off 1-2. We think we have a great opportunity, so we have to continue to prepare and prepare hard. The guys around here are focused. The vets are leading as usual. We'll be ready for Sunday.
On if there is any extra motivation competing against a quarterback drafted ahead of him…
No, I don't think so. I'm way passed that now. I'm a ways away from that. I'm not going to be selfish and go out there with that on my mind. I think that's a distraction. I'm focusing on going out there and running the offense and leading my team. What happened at the draft has come and gone. I'm blessed to be in this position here with this team and I look forward to it.
On Coach Ryan saying Kyle Williams is one of the most underrated players in the league…
That guy's constantly getting penetration. He disrupts the offense the way he does things. He's always in the opponent's backfield. Like Rex said, he's one of the underrated guys. You don't hear his name out there much, but when you turn on the tape, he's showing up on tape. So he's right about that.
