series by failing to score 21 straight times with the

NEW YORK -- Geno Smith is still No. 1 for the New York Jets. For the moment. Whether its the second-year quarterbacks job to lose, well, offensive co-ordinator Marty Mornhinweg will see what effect Michael Vick has in whats expected to be a hotly contested competition this summer. "We brought Mike in to compete, to push Geno and to make Geno the very best he can make him, and I wanted to make sure Mike was ready for that," Mornhinweg said during a conference call Tuesday. "I think this thing is going to work beautifully. Well see." Smith started all 16 games for the Jets after incumbent Mark Sanchez was lost for the year after injuring his shoulder in the preseason. It was a roller-coaster ride for Smith and the Jets, as the young quarterback led four comeback victories in the fourth quarter or overtime in his first nine games, but then struggled mightily with six interceptions and no touchdowns in three straight losses. He bounced back with a solid final four games, with only two turnovers while leading the Jets to three wins and an 8-8 finish. "Were going to structure it a certain way," Mornhinweg said. "One thing I want to make sure of, that nothing impedes the young quarterbacks progression. Im talking about Geno. He progressed beautifully, and Im talking the last quarter of the season. Played like a winning quarterback, played at a high level." Not surprisingly, Mornhinweg acknowledged that Smith will take the first snaps with the starting offence when the team begins on-field practices in a few weeks. The Jets did the same last spring with Sanchez getting the first snaps over Smith. "Geno will get a few more reps, but not many (more)," Mornhinweg said. "Im going to try to do this thing right, and itll vary day to day, much like Ive done it in the past." Smith said last week hes taking the approach that hes the starter, and Vick acknowledged that when he signed with New York last month. But that doesnt mean Vick will be resigned to the fact he will be the backup, and thats one reason Mornhinweg was happy to be reunited with the veteran after their four seasons together in Philadelphia. "He has a really important role here," he said of Vick. "Hes 33 years old, and hes still got it. I look at him as a young 33. Hes still got it. ... When hes called upon to play, Ive got great confidence in Mike." And, if it turns out its in a mentor-type role as it was for Vick last year with Nick Foles in Philadelphia, Mornhinweg anticipates no issues. "Mikes going to handle that real well," he said. "Hes going to do the right thing." Vick is extremely familiar with Mornhinwegs system, theoretically giving the Jets two starting-calibre quarterbacks who can run the offence with little drop-off in case of injury or ineffectiveness. "I would expect Geno to progress at a high rate with Mikes help," Mornhinweg said. "I want to get Mike back comfortable with our terminology, with our system, exactly how we want these things done, so its just that simple. Vick isnt the only newcomer to an offence that finished 25th overall and struggled with consistency last season. The Jets signed former Titans star Chris Johnson to bolster the backfield and former Broncos wide receiver Eric Decker to upgrade perhaps the teams weakest spot a year ago. Mornhinweg is intrigued by the pass-catching ability Johnson has, but also believes he can be the "electric, dynamic" type of running back he was during his best years in Tennessee now that hes healthy. "Thats a pretty good little 1-2 punch," Mornhinweg said of the Chris Ivory-Johnson pairing. Decker had 87 receptions for 11 touchdowns last season while catching passes from Peyton Manning. Meanwhile, the Jets leading receiver was Jeremy Kerley with 43 catches, and it was clear New York would need to get better at the position through free agency -- they also signed Jacoby Ford -- and the draft. "Last year," Mornhinweg said, "I thought was quite possibly the start of something special." NOTES: Defensive co-ordinator Dennis Thurman said "the skys the limit" for Dee Milliner, the Jets top pick last year who will assume the No. 1 CB spot with the departure of Antonio Cromartie. Milliner struggled at times while dealing with injuries, but Thurman believes he can become "a very good corner." ... While cornerback remains a potential target in the first round, Thurman expressed confidence in his current group. "Im comfortable with our cornerback situation," he said. "We have guys who can play." Joaquin Benoit Jersey . Cabrera-Bello shot a 1-over-par 73 and was caught by Webster, who carded 70 at Doha Golf Club for three-round totals of 12-under 204. They were only one stroke ahead of Adrien Saddier of France, the biggest mover with six birdies in his opening seven holes in a round of 64, South African Thomas Aiken (70) and Denmarks Thorbjorn Olesen (68) on a packed leaderboard. Wilmer Difo Jersey . For the Blue Jays the time was Wednesday and the ace was R.A. Dickey. He stepped up. "I feel some responsibility as a stopper from time to time," said Dickey. http://www.cheapnationalsjerseys.com/?tag=cheap-michael-taylor-jersey . Ireland was the last unbeaten side in the championship after France fell to Wales on Friday, and was favoured to end a three-match losing run to England with a side with more than twice as many caps, rampant momentum, and added incentive to celebrate Brian ODriscolls world record-tying 139th test cap. Sean Doolittle Jersey . Each day, TSN.ca provides the latest rumours, reports and speculation from around the NHL beat. Defensive Depth TSN Hockey Insider Pierre LeBrun is reporting the Toronto Maple Leafs have considerable interest in unrestricted free-agent defenceman Dan Boyle. Jeremy Hellickson Jersey . While hell be dialed in to that tournament on a course he loves, you can forgive him if his eyes glance down the calendar just a bit, towards April.PITTSBURGH, Pa. - Dont worry, Kris Letang insists. The heat is coming. Sure, the Pittsburgh Penguins defenceman admits the New York Rangers dont invite quite the same animosity inside his teams locker room as the Philadelphia Flyers. The Rangers ended any shot of that tantalizing matchup when they beat the Flyers in seven games to set up a showdown with Pittsburgh in the Eastern Conference semifinals starting Friday. That doesnt mean Letang expects the next two weeks to be devoid of drama. Far from it. "Im pretty sure the intensity will get really high at one point when we start," Letang said. "The emotion is always going to be part of the game and were going to have to control it the best we can." Its an internal battle the Penguins won during a taut first-round series against Columbus. Expected to send the inexperienced Blue Jackets home without much effort, Pittsburgh needed six trying games to advance. The way the Penguins figure it, thats a good thing. Forced to respond to adversity, they played what coach Dan Bylsma called their best 120 minutes this season to avoid the upset. "We keep coming and we keep coming, playing forward and playing in the offensive zone and grinding teams down with that play with that speed and quickness," Bylsma said. "Games 5 and 6 were our best at playing that way." The Penguins will need to do it four more times if they want to advance to the Eastern Conference finals for the second straight year. They split their four regular-season meetings with New York, all of them coming before the Olympic break. The Rangers hardly look like the team that was still struggling to find an identity when they last faced Pittsburgh in early February. Pittsburgh is no longer the patched-together unit that cruised to the Metropolitan Division title despite having stars Letang, Evgeni Malkin, Paul Martin and James Neal miss large chunks of the season due to injury. The Penguins are healthy. New York is hot. Five things to look for heading into Game 1. SLUMPING STARS: Pittsburgh captain and likely NHL MVP Sidney Crosby hasnt scored a goal in his past 10 playoff games. New York forward Rick Nash has just one in 19 post-season contests wearing a Rangers sweater. Whichever sttreak ends first could swing the balance of the series.dddddddddddd Crosby had six assists against the Blue Jackets, including one to Malkin in the first period of Game 6 in Columbus that gave the Penguins a 2-0 lead. Crosby knows he needs to take more chances. So does Nash, who can live with the drought as long as the Rangers keep it going. "Thats all that matters," Nash said. "Im going to try to keep getting my game going." LUNDQVIST VS. FLEURY: New Yorks Henrik Lundqvist and Pittsburghs Marc-Andre Fleury are the two winningest goaltenders in the regular season over the past five years, combining for 334 victories. Yet Lundqvist has yet to lift the Rangers past the conference finals while Fleury has struggled in the playoffs since helping the Penguins win the Stanley Cup in 2009. Both had their wayward moments in the first round. Both responded with brilliant play. Whoever gets hot — and stays hot — will give his team the upper hand. POWERLESS POWER PLAY: The Rangers went just 3 for 29 on the power play against Philadelphia, ending the series by failing to score 21 straight times with the man advantage. Not exactly the recipe to hang with the Penguins, who had the NHLs best power play during the regular season and was a solid 4 for 15 against the Blue Jackets while adding a pair of short-handed goals in the process. GENOS BACK: Like Crosby, Malkin was in the midst of a lengthy goal drought before coming up with his second career playoff hat trick in the clincher against the Blue Jackets. The rust that came with missing the final three weeks of the regular season appeared to vanish as he lit up Columbus goaltender Sergei Bobrovsky in Game 6. Playing alongside Crosby at times to try to shake loose the cobwebs, Malkin got hot. Expect to see the two MVPs on the ice frequently against New York. NEW YORK MINUTE: Game 1 marks the middle of a busy stretch in which the Rangers will play five times in seven days. Thats fine by them considering it beats the alternative of watching from home. "Now were in the middle of it and were in the battle," New York forward Brad Richards said. "This is when it gets real fun." ___ AP Sports Writer Ira Podell in New York contributed to this report. ' ' '