New York Jets rookie Geno Smith has stated that he is thankful for the advice legendary NFL quarterback Phil Simms offered him before the league Draft in April.
Smith has enjoyed a mixed first year with Rex Ryan's unit, helping the team to a 5-5 record from their 10 matches so far.
His backup Matt Simms is the son of former New York Giants hero Phil, and Smith has said that the latter offered him solid words of wisdom before he joined the Jets.
Smith told the New York Post: "Matt's dad warned me about what I'd be getting into. Phil told me that no matter what position you play you are going to have struggles, because you have to get adjusted to the NFL, but as a quarterback it's more out in the open because it's easier to tell if you are struggling. He said it just comes with the territory.
"Phil shared a bunch of wisdom with me, before I even met Matt, which was pretty cool that he did that. He talked to me about weathering the storm from bad days like Sunday.
"He said those are things you have to learn to deal with and that you have to be a stand-up guy in order to get the respect of the locker room and your teammates. Phil also told me to just enjoy every minute of it, because it comes and goes pretty fast. I mean, it seems like I just got drafted and now we're 10 weeks into the season."
Smith's words come following his worst display of the year so far in Sunday's 37-14 loss to divisional rivals the Buffalo Bills.
Joe McPhee
