Jets coach Rex Ryan was asked Wednesday about any lessons he may have learned about managing a rookie quarterback, now that he is going through it for a second time as a head coach.
“Yeah, play great defense,” Ryan joked.
This week, that will have to apply to both teams in the Jets-Bills matchup. Geno Smith and EJ Manuel, the first two quarterbacks taken in April’s draft, will square off at MetLife Stadium. Smith and Manuel know each other fairly well, having attended a football camp in high school together and then getting to know each other during the draft process.
The Bills took Manuel with the 16th overall pick in the draft out of Florida State, passing up on Smith and leaving him to sit uncomfortably in the green room. The Jets took Smith the following day in the second round. With the two quarterbacks landing in the same division, the comparisons will begin Sunday and could last a few years.
“To be compared to EJ, I’ll take it. EJ’s a great guy,” Smith said. “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.”
Ryan said this is not about being proven who was right in April, but about which team, with both at 1-1, wants to avoid going into the basement of the AFC East.
“I don’t care who looks good. We don’t care. Just win, that’s all we care about,” Ryan said.
This is the first time the Jets and their opponent have both started rookie quarterbacks in team history, except for the strike year in 1987 when the Jets and Cowboys both had replacement players at quarterback.
For Smith, Manuel is not the only familiar face on the Bills. New Buffalo coach Doug Marrone was successful against Smith in college when he was the head coach at Syracuse and Smith was at West Virginia. Syracuse went 3-0 against Smith and bothered him with its pressure. Smith threw five interceptions in those three games and was sacked 12 times.
Smith’s struggles against Syracuse surely figured into the Bills’ decision to go with Manuel instead of him.
“It’s different,” Smith said of meeting Marrone in the NFL. “I know Coach [Marrone] had a different team then, than he has now. So 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 [from college]. 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.”
Through their first two games, both quarterbacks have had their moments, but Manuel has taken the early statistical lead. Manuel has completed 68.2 percent of his passes to Smith’s 53.4. Smith has a slight edge in yards (470-446) but Manuel has the higher passer rating (95.9 to 55.2). Manuel has thrown one interception and Smith has four.
Smith said this game carries no extra motivation because it is against Manuel.
“I think that mindset would be selfish,” Smith said. “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.”