He has a gift for saying the right things. If he moves in the pocket with the grace he shows in a press conference, the Bengals may have something. So spare the kid from this. Don't kill his body with sacks and his spirit with boos and failure. The Bengals were booed off the field at halftime.
Nobody is in the mood for patience.
But patience with Smith isn't just needed. If he's lucky, Smith will have a long career. If Cincinnati is lucky, it'll be here. But Smith doesn't need all the badness this decade still brings. Give him a year to breathe.