New York Jets rookie quarterback Geno Smith excited fans when he jogged on to the practice field on Sunday morning after suffering a very minor ankle injury during the team’s preseason opener against the Detroit Lions on Friday.
There was no word on how serious Smith’s injury was, but it looked minor and that was confirmed when he did not miss any practice.
However, it looks like Smith maybe jumped the gun and would have been wise to sit out a few practices.
You can understand that Smith doesn’t want to miss practice while he is still in the mix to be the team’s starting quarterback, but he will do himself even more harm by continuing to take the practice field when he is clearly not ready to be playing.
According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, Smith has been limping through practice and showing signs that he is clearly not ready to be back on the field.
He writes:
Geno Smith was noticeably limping as he jogged into endzone on install. #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) August 11, 2013
Geno Smith looks a bit off on his drop backs as he plants and pushes off his gimpy right ankle (heavily taped). Still throwing nice ball
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) August 11, 2013
Geno Smith working with starters in team drills. Noticeably gimpy on drop backs. He does not look ready. #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) August 11, 2013
I love Geno Smith's desire to play and although he doesn't look horrible today, he should have taken the day off and rested his ankle #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) August 11, 2013
What’s going on is obvious.
Smith wants to play, but he isn’t ready.
Hopefully he will be able to avoid hurting himself even more or else he will completely lose any chance he may have of earning the starting job. Smith’s wisest move would be to take it easy and rest his ankle so that he can be 100 percent for this week’s preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.