Dan Orlovsky calls Stephen A. Smith out for not taking a stance on Daniel Jones

Stephen A. Smith is never shy about calling his First Take co-hosts out, but he just had the tables turned on him by Dan Orlovsky.

Since taking the reins of First Take, Smith has preached the importance of having an opinion and giving a take without fear of being right or wrong. But Thursday morning on First Take, Smith didn’t exactly heed his own advice, and Orlovsky was right there to call him out on it.

While discussing whether Daniel Jones is capable of handling the Super Bowl expectations that were now put on the Indianapolis Colts after they went all in by trading two first round picks for Sauce Gardner, Smith opted to take more of a wait and see approach.

“I hate when people in our role say, ‘I gotta see it to believe it.’ I’m just not a fan of that,” Orlovsky interjected. “Anyone can sit there, watch it happen and then tell somebody, ‘yes, because it’s already happened, I believe in it!’ The question is, do we believe that Daniel can handle lofty expectations… if he plays the way he has this year, the answer is yes.”

Smith, however, wasn’t about to concede, pushing back on Orlovsky by accusing him of taking that same “gotta see it to believe it” approach with Sam Darnold last season.

“You can hate all you want to what people say,” Smith fired back. “But that don’t make it false just because you hate it. The fact is, you do have to show up and prove. Game 9 of the season doesn’t cut the mustard.”

That’s an entirely reasonable take from Smith. But safe, measured, reasonable takes have no place on First Take.

Every week, First Take either asks if the Dallas Cowboys are championship contenders or if their season is over based on their most recent performance. And every week, Smith could, technically, dismiss the question by opting to take a wait and see approach. But that’s not what Smith does, he flip flops back and forth every week like a true politician.

If Orlovsky or anyone else on First Take responds to a topic by saying “the jury is still out,” Smith is going to demand they take a stance whether they’re ready to or not. And Orlovsky was bold enough to hold Smith to the same standard.