As the plays began on the Jets' opening drive at Pittsburgh on Friday night, RG Joe Tippmann and TE Mason Taylor had their backs to quarterback Geno Smith in his first start in a Jets uniform in more than 9 years. That doesn't mean their eyes were wide shut as the veteran signal-caller led the Green & White to a TD to start the 17-0 victory.
What they say, what they experienced in the team's second preseason tilt only confirmed their deeply held belief that there are good things to come -- for the offense and the entire team -- when the regular season begins at Tennessee on Sept. 13.
"It was exciting to see him out there and see him throwing the ball around, and I think he did a pretty damn good job," said Taylor early Saturday morning. The second-year player corralled a third-and-9 pass in plus territory for 10 yards and a first down.
He added: "It was fun to be out there. It was exciting. I think we ran a pretty good first drive right. I'm not sure, maybe 10 plays long (10-66). So we had a couple third-down conversions. Everything felt pretty good. So it was definitely fun to be out there with everyone and just taking the next step."
Smith was picture perfect on the drive that covered 69 yards and took 5:56 off the clock. He completed all 7 of the passes he threw, sprayed the ball around to 6 receivers and converted those pair of third-down plays. On the second third-down conversion, the play before the 13-yard TD pass to TE Jelani Woods, Smith was flushed out of the pocket, rolled to his right and found a sliding Garrett Wilson at the Pittsburgh 13-yard line.
"I have a good vision of where we're going to be and I think we're definitely not there yet," Tippmann said. "But in practice and seeing Geno for the first time in a game, it just got me really excited about what we can do ... the way he holds himself, the way he carries himself, his composure while we're in the huddle. That's been in practice and in the game and is something that just impresses me. And I think it comes from his experience in the league and the ups and downs that he's been through in his career."
Up next is the preseason finale against the Giants on Friday night. When he was asked if Smith would play, HC Aaron Glenn said it was too soon for him to even consider it. The team has only two more practices in training camp, Monday and Tuesday. And after the final preseason game, the Jets (and the 31 other NFL teams) will have until 6 p.m. on Aug. 30 to reduce their rosters to 53 players.
On his single drive of the game when Smith did not throw an incomplete pass -- 7 passes to 6 receivers. The third, deflected at the line of scrimmage by a Steelers defender, fell into the hands of LG Dylan Parham, who juggled the ball and fell to the turf. The catch, a 2-yard loss, prompted a humorous analysis from Tippmann.
"I told him during the game I was in pitch-relation, so next time he knows, he's got to try and get it off to me and we can make a positive play out of that," Tippmann said, with a laugh. "I said it's unfortunate, now he's going to have to get 3 yards just to get himself into positive [yardage] because I think he's 1 reception for minus-2 yards right now."
