geno smith

Rodney Harrison isn't a fan of Geno Smith. (Frederick Breedon | Getty Images)

Rodney Harrison, the former NFL safety and current NBC analyst, went on the radio Friday and hammered the Jets and their third-year quarterback, Geno Smith.

Harrison, who finished his career with the Patriots from 2003-08, was co-hosting a show called "Under Center" on NBC Sports Radio.

Mike Reiss of ESPNBoston.com got his hands on Harrison's quotes. Here's what Harrison had to say about the Jets, Smith and cornerback Darrelle Revis:

"You can say whatever you want about Darrelle Revis, and I do believe he's the best cornerback in the league. But Darrelle Revis has not thrown a touchdown pass. He's not your quarterback. Yes, he can shut down a No. 1 receiver, but they need a quarterback. The Jets are, all of a sudden, on a high thinking they're going to win a championship. You're not going to win a championship, you're not even going to make the playoffs, because you don't have a quarterback. If you go into the season and you're expecting Geno Smith to improve, it's not going to happen.

"He might get a little better, but when times get tough, when adversity hits, guess what he's going to do? He's going to fold just like the last couple years. I don't believe in Geno Smith. I think this is a huge mistake. Hopefully in this draft, they try to address this quarterback situation, because if they go into the season with Geno Smith, they might win five or six games."

Harrison's quotes, of course, came a day before a Jets contingent, including head coach Todd Bowles and general manager Mike Maccagnan, are scheduled to put Oregon quarterback Marcus Mariota through a private workout in Eugene, Ore.

Obviously, Bowles and Maccagnan know Smith is far from a proven NFL quarterback -- he struggled for most of his first two seasons -- so they're looking into potentially selecting Mariota with the sixth overall pick. But Bowles and Maccagnan probably aren't as down on Smith as Harrison is. And if they are, they're not going to talk about it publicly. Either way, they haven't anointed Smith as the Week 1 starter yet. Not even close.

Nor have Bowles and Maccagnan said anything publicly that resembles this quote from Harrison: "The Jets are, all of a sudden, on a high thinking they're going to win a championship." Everything the coach and GM have said has been very measured, regarding increased expectations. Maybe some Jets fans think they're going to win a championship, and that is what Harrison is referring to. Who knows?

Harrison also believes the Patriots, his former employer, made the right decision by letting Revis leave for the Jets in free agency.

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"Darrelle Revis is a special cornerback," Harrison said. "There are only 2-3 Darrelle Revises -- Richard Sherman [and] maybe [Joe] Haden. [Bill] Belichick has had a lot of success, but I think the way you offset that shutdown corner is you have to be able to bring in pass-rushers and you have to be able to put pressure on the quarterback. But also offensively, you know you're going to score points, you're going to probably score 25 to 30 points a game. It's kind of that bend-but-don't break mentality, when you get down in the red zone, you toughen things up, hold teams to a field goal.

"That's the thinking. Bill, he's not going to sell the farm for Darrelle Revis, because as good as Darrelle is, you know in a year or two maybe Darrelle is not going to be quite the same player he was this past season for the New England Patriots. So I believe that was the right move to make."

Darryl Slater may be reached at dslater@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @DarrylSlater. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.