“This game is about players,” Reich said twice. “You can’t flinch. We talk about it all the time. We know we have the talent to do what we want to do this year. What does that exactly look like? I’m not sure yet. I just know we have the talent and we have the quarterback to do good things, and so we just got to work really hard.”
With the Green & White, Reich is now coaching in some capacity with his sixth NFL team (he’s made two stops in Indianapolis).
In 2013, he was the quarterback coach with the San Diego Chargers the year the Jets selected Geno Smith out of West Virginia in the NFL Draft. Reich said he always liked what he had seen of Smith.
“I remember him coming out, I had a high grade on him,” Reich said. “I thought his throwing mechanics, I’m talking pure upper-body mechanics, they’re pure. There’s only a couple guys in the league that I would say are pure. Geno’s one of them.
“And then here’s the other thing. The other comment that I would make about Geno — it just hit me — is I don’t know how old he is. He isn’t past 35? It feels like he’s 28. I’m telling you, it feels like physically, he is in his prime physically, his arm, the way he moves his feet in the pocket. He’s physically in his prime so he takes great care of himself and that’s going to help this team.”
When Reich assessed the talent and potential on his offense, he made particular mention of Smith’s veteran presence and focus, and second-year RT Armand Membou‘s youngish, but focused intensity.
“We talk about Geno’s laser-like focus,” he said. “Membou brings an intensity that everybody feeds off. We feed off of Geno’s focus, and we feed off of Membo’s intensity. Right? He’s an intense human being, and I think that’s a big part of our leadership up front. “