Is time running out on Geno Smith?
Coach Rex Ryan said the rookie will remain his starting quarterback this week against the Ravens, but said he would consider giving backup Matt Simms practice reps with the starters this week.
“I think without question Geno’s going to start this game,” Ryan said.
Smith is coming off one of his worst performances of the season — a four-turnover mess in a 37-14 loss to the Bills. Over his last five games, Smith has thrown just one touchdown and committed nine turnovers. The Jets have committed 21 turnovers as a team this season — Smith has accounted for 20 of them.
Ryan said it is unfair to blame Smith for all of the problems. The offensive line had a bad game in Buffalo, allowing four sacks and eight quarterback hits. Ryan also said the receivers have to give Smith more of a chance.
“I think Geno has a chance to be a good quarterback,” Ryan said. “Everything starts with protection with any quarterback. There’s times where, quite honestly, we’ve got to get open. We weren’t getting separation. A lot of things contribute to a poor performance like that.”
The Bills brought a ton of pressure at the Jets. It clearly rattled Smith and he threw three interceptions, one for a touchdown, and fumbled on a sack.
Ryan benched him in the fourth quarter for Simms, who fans have begun calling for to start.
Smith said he is not concerning himself with his job security.
“I leave it up to the coaches,” Smith said. “I go about my day the same as I’ve always done. I work hard. I try to win every single game and I try to win every single day. I leave that up to the coaches. Obviously, I want to be the starter here. [I] never want to come out of games. [I] never want to not play in a game, but I have to take care of what I can control, which is practicing hard, working hard and then going out and executing on game day.”
By almost every statistical measure, Smith is having a terrible year. He is second in the league with 16 interceptions and his 65.1 passer rating is better than only Josh Freeman.
“I don’t [think] statistics tell every single thing, every part of the story,” Smith said. “I obviously don’t want my stats to look like that. [I] don’t want to play like that. But I’ve gotten better. I’ve become a smarter player. I’ve just made poor decisions in some situations in games.”
The team drafted Smith in the second round last April and will face a decision this offseason whether he is the franchise quarterback to lead them forward or if they need to draft another quarterback. With six games left, Smith said he is not worried about running out of time to prove he’s the answer.
“I haven’t seen a timer on that so, no I don’t have any concerns,” Smith said. “I’m going about it day by day as I have always done and just working hard. [I’m just] trying to progress and get better every single day.”
Simms has played in two blowout losses this year and he has moved the team fairly effectively, but it is hard to gauge anything because the game was out of reach and defenses eased off. Simms, the son of Giants legend Phil Simms, said his job is to back Smith up.
“I’m the second quarterback,” Simms said. “Obviously, everyone’s a fan of the backup quarterback when something goes wrong. I’m very well aware of that. My job is to get the defense ready and be prepared myself for any situation and just do my job and not worry about what the outside world, [what] you guys are saying or what’s going on. I can’t control any of that.”