Getty Images

Geno Smith isn’t happy with Steve Spagnuolo’s decision to start Eli Manning this week, and the Giants quarterback made it clear he doesn’t agree with his benching. But Smith also isn’t about to create waves.

“I wasn’t [happy],” Smith said, via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. “Any competitor wouldn’t be. To be put in that situation where you get a chance to play and then you’re being pulled, but it’s not because you played bad so you try to figure out why. But you’ve got to understand that some things happen in this business, and you’ve just got to roll with it.”

Smith became a trivia answer last week when he ended Manning’s consecutive starts streak at 210. Smith saw his start streak end at one despite going 21-of-34 for 212 yards and a touchdown.

“I respect the heck out of Coach [Ben] McAdoo,” Smith said. “I think he did something maybe not a lot of people would have. He gave me an opportunity and I respect it. I appreciate it.

“As far as sympathy or something like that, I’m not looking for it. I don’t need any sympathy. I’m built for all of this. I’m built for everything that’s going to come my way. And I know that all of these tests and these trials are preparing me for something greater. So I look at adversity as something that can be positive. I’m thankful for the adversity, and I look forward to it.”

Smith, who signed a one-year, $1.2 million deal with the Giants, likely has started for the final time this season and perhaps for the only time in his Giants career. He becomes a free agent in the offseason.

With a lack of quality quarterbacks in the league, Smith may have done enough Sunday to convince a quarterback-needy team to give him another chance to start.

“To some people it may never be enough, and to others it will be,” said Smith, who is 12-19 in his career as a starter. “That’s not my job to focus on that. My job is to get better as a player, focus on my game and how I can improve.”