CORTLAND — Monday morning, the Jets installed Geno Smith as their No. 1 quarterback on paper, atop their depth chart. And later Monday afternoon, Rex Ryan predictably confirmed Smith would start Thursday’s preseason opener at MetLife Stadium over Michael Vick.
“Yes, Geno will start. [We’ve] been happy with the way he’s looked, his command of things, so he’ll start the game on Thursday,’’ Ryan said. “I’ll get with Marty [Mornhinweg, offensive coordinator] and we’ll discuss exactly what the play time will be, and things like that. As we know, those can adjust. But he’ll definitely start the preseason game.’’
Smith starting the preseason opener is no shock, and it would take a huge upset for him not to start the Sept. 7 season opener as well. He took every single first-team snap Monday, 80 percent of them so far in camp and Ryan doesn’t view him as a weak spot to be managed, hidden or overcome.
“I never think about that,’’ Ryan said. “He proved over the last month of the season he can be more than competitive. He had the second-highest quarterback rating the last month of the season.’’
Smith has been slightly outperformed by Vick (Smith taking seven sacks and tossing three interceptions in camp, Vick just five sacks, two picks and two long runs in the intrasquad scrimmage, but Smith showed some fire by getting on Stephen Hill after a poorly run route, and is being given every possible opportunity to hold onto the starting job this season, with even Vick acknowledging it’s not a really open competition.
Ryan downplayed the idea of using Vick as a change-of-pace quarterback.
“I really haven’t thought about that,’’ said Ryan, adding with gallows humor, “It never worked out great the last time,’’ a reference to the Tim Tebow circus.
But Ryan wasn’t laughing when asked whether he’d be willing to play Smith behind a backup offensive line, considering last year’s debacle when he opted to play Mark Sanchez in the fourth quarter of the third preseason game against the Giants behind a backup line and the incumbent starter suffered a season-ending shoulder injury.
“We’ll see. That was a tough situation. If I could go back and change things, of course I would. You don’t want anybody to ever get hurt,’’ Ryan said. “But again, you’ve got to decide. Somebody has to play. Is it fair that somebody else is in there? But whatever.
“That thing, I’m going way back and addressing an issue a long time ago, you guys had your own opinion about it. My opinion was that nobody had done enough to win the job at that time. That’s why Mark was in there. That was my opinion.’’
Ryan admitted after a day off, the Jets were “kind of like running in sand right now,” but he and Mornhinweg were clearly vexed over a formation penalty during a Chris Johnson run.
Backup OT Markus Zusevics didn’t practice (knee) and third-string OT Brent Qvale suffered a head injury.
On the depth chart, RBs Johnson, Chris Ivory and Bilal Powell are all listed as starters. WRs Eric Decker and Jeremy Kerley are on the first team, Stephen Hill and David Nelson the second. Antonio Allen and Dawan Landry are the starting safeties.