For Geno Smith, potential has to start producing results

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – The lack of composure that has put Geno Smith on pace to throw at least 20 interceptions for a second straight season is now showing off the field for the New York Jets quarterback.

The word "potential" has followed Smith for years, from the time he was a U.S. Army All-American in high school through a record-setting career at West Virginia in a pass-happy scheme that covered up for his deficiencies in the pocket. But Smith is still living on that "potential" label and as he gets ready for start No. 21 of his NFL career, that’s all he has to show in his young career. Just a lot of "potential."

At 1-3, the Jets are in a rough spot. They’ve had arguably the league’s toughest schedule so far this season, a factor compounded by their inability to finish games (no loss this year has been by more than eight points). If the Jets are going to rebound and string together a couple of wins to redeem the season, they need the enigma that is Smith to start playing like he’s a franchise quarterback. They need that "potential" to become something a bit more tangible.

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It isn’t enough anymore for Smith to simply not lose games for the Jets. They are asking him to eliminate the mistakes, poor decisions and all the turnovers and actually start winning some games on his own. He hasn’t done that yet in his career.

Smith characterizes his development in terms of wins and losses, a dangerous proposition for a quarterback whose team has dropped three straight games.

“You know what - it’s about, like I said, the team. I’m not worried about focusing on myself when it comes to my growth individually,” Smith said on Wednesday. “It’s about us growing as an offense and growing as a team and we are growing as a team and I’m doing my best to make sure that we continue to progress and we are. It’s an ongoing thing. We’ve got to make sure that we stay together in this thing and we are. We’re just going to keep working and go out there and get us some wins.”

It was an uncomfortable and awkward time with the media for Smith on Wednesday. He bristled when confronted about the prospect of veteran Michael Vick perhaps coming into Sunday’s game at the San Diego Chargers if things go south. He answered questions with answers like “It doesn’t make sense” and “That’s not a question. Next question.”

That came after Smith cursed out fans at MetLife Stadium following the Week 4 home loss to the Detroit Lions, when he turned the ball over twice.

In that game, Smith went through a stretch late in the first half in which he completed just one of eight passes.

Smith experienced the expected growing pains as a rookie last year, throwing 21 interceptions for the league’s second-worst passing offense. He was benched several times in response to those struggles. A steep learning curve was expected, but it was supposed to get better this year. Through a limited sample size of four games so far this season, it isn’t better.

There were concerns even before the 2013 draft if Smith could develop into a franchise quarterback for the Jets, something that this team hasn’t had since 2007. The question wasn’t about his "potential" but if he could develop. Some of those doubts appear to be well-founded at this juncture of his career.

With a full offseason under his belt, Smith was supposed to have improved. In offseason workouts, minicamp and training camp, he looked more poised and polished. But that was in shorts and not in pads, in a setting designed to help him succeed.

Through four games this year, he is just one interception off last year’s pace, a sign perhaps that his development is stuck in neutral. However, like he did with Mark Sanchez, head coach Rex Ryan is playing the cheerleader role and talking up Smith’s growth despite the apparent struggles.

The Jets needed Smith to step up over the past three weeks, especially as the team dealt with some injuries in the secondary. Instead, they got a quarterback who has a 54.6 completion percentage during that three-game stretch, a number worse than last year. And in those three games – all losses – Smith has three touchdowns and four interceptions.

Numbers that show a quarterback who clearly is not progressing in his second year in the league.

And numbers that, with a four-time Pro Bowl quarterback in Vick on the sidelines, might mean a short leash moving forward for Smith.

“It’s the everyday life of being an NFL quarterback. Every single quarterback has got to produce. Every single guy in the NFL has got to produce. So, it doesn’t take another person for me to understand that it’s all about production,” Smith said. “My progression is, obviously, I’m getting better, but it’s all about wins and losses and I’m trying my best to help us win these games, so I’m going to be extra critical on myself this week to make sure that I have to be nearly perfect in order to help us win games.”

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Kristian R. Dyer writes for Metro New York and is a contributor to Yahoo Sports. Follow him on Twitter @KristianRDyer