You misread my post. I never said he had an excuse. I said in the real world the way the Jets treated his situation fed into this mess. And calling Smith a bona fide starter, given his situation, is rather laughable.
http://espn.go.com/blog/new-york-jets/post/_/id/42254/jets-qbs-coach-raves-about-matt-simms "Matt Simms has improved as much as any guy I think I can ever remember coaching," Lee said. "Early on, he threw so hard, our backs couldn't catch it. There was no touch. He developed some touch, and developed more touch. Right now, he is accurate."
Is there any evidence to that besides what Lee says? He said the same thing about Fitzpatrick in Buffalo. He was a 'different' QB!
Rex doesn't like starting Caucasian QB's. Seriously, I don't know why he hasn't been given a legit shot. I really do think it's a pride thing because he had a hand in selecting Sanchez and Geno. He doesn't like admitting he was wrong, and he believes his own BS.
Simms was a UDFA, those guys have to pretty much outplay the competition to get a look. In his one shot last year he didn't do anything to prove he deserved another.
I didn't mean to imply he was a bonafide starter. I was talking about all backup QBs who were not given a real competition, including ones behind guys who have the job locked down.
vick is obviously a guy who needs more direction than others. looking at this in hindsight this was probably a very bad landing spot for him for both parties.
That and 5 buks will get you an Arby's Roast beef sandwich. Didn't do anything for Simms except land him pretty much on the last roster spot. If that's Lee's idea of improvement, he needs to go.
People always forget that we didn't even draft him. He's never been thought of as a potential solution by our front office/coaching staff. He's 3rd string for a reason.
I bet Vick talks so much shit on the Jets. "Geno, you got drafted by a shitty franchise sorry homie, not much I can do to help out. I'm bout to collect this 5M though, I'll take you out after the Denver game - I got some purple drank for you"
Given the FO's stellar record of recognizing and developing Qb talent, their evaluation of Matt Simms comes as no surprise.
I think he could do no worse than Geno or Vick given reps with the first string. I could say the same thing for Vick but Big John sabotaged that back in the summertime.
