Three hours after saying he might use a color-coded system to help rookie quarterback Geno Smith, Rex Ryan put a red light on the idea.
Ryan said during his Wednesday press conference he is considering going back to the red/yellow/green traffic-light coding system, which he used in 2009 when Mark Sanchez was a rookie, to differentiate risk/reward within a game based on the play that is called after Smith committed four turnovers in Sunday’s ugly 38-13 loss in Tennessee to the Titans.
But a few hours later, Ryan said he had decided against it.
“To be honest with you, I don’t plan on doing that now,” Ryan said during his weekly paid appearance on 98.7 ESPN.
Back in 2009, Red signified being cautious, green allowed Sanchez to be aggressive and yellow was in between.
Through four games, Smith already has 11 turnovers, which puts him on pace for an astronomical 44. The Jets have the second worst plus-minus turnover differential in the NFL, ahead of only the winless Steelers.
“I’ve been thinking about it,” Ryan said about using the color codes earlier in the day. “It’s a fine line. We want to be aggressive, there’s no question, you want to be aggressive, but you don’t want to do something to the detriment of your football team. Clearly, turning the football over has been a real problem, not just this season, but the last couple of seasons. And we know what that leads to.”
Smith is expected to have limited options at wide receiver anyway, as Santonio Holmes (hamstring) and Stephen Hill (concussion) are question marks. The Jets have signed former Bills receiver David Nelson, and Ryan said he could see action behind Jeremy Kerley and Clyde Gates.