Jets can be special

Geno Smith heard Michael Vick’s name more than a few times last season in the New York Jets’ offensive meeting room.

This season, the real Vick, not the ghost, will be sitting alongside Smith in the meeting room.

That can be a good thing — Smith can learn straight from the source — or a bad thing if he becomes unnerved by Vick’s presence.

“I don’t want to make any statements or put anything out there, but once the season comes, I mean, I expect big things,” Smith told ESPN.com in a recent interview.

Right now, the Jets have eight-win talent, but that modest number jumps to double digits if Smith improves as much as they believe he can.

Murray/USA TODAY SportsWill Michael Vick’s presence be a good thing or a bad thing for Geno Smith? Thousands of words will be written and spoken this summer about Eric Decker and Chris Johnson, the Jets’ marquee additions, but 2014 is all about Smith, whom the Jets expect to be their season-opening starter.

Former Jets quarterback Brady Quinn, a member of the team for the first half of the season, marveled at Smith’s resilience.

There were long stretches last season in which Smith showed questionable instincts for the position, making poor decision after poor decision.

You could certainly argue that Vick, 34, is better than Smith and deserves a fair shot at the starting job, but the powers-that-be have decided to stack the competition in Smith’s favor, making it his job to lose.