For the second straight year QB Geno Smith becomes the team’s Week 1 QB following a preseason game against the Giants, though this year under far more pleasant circumstances.
In the aftermath of a 9 of 14 for 137 yards and a TD performance against the New York Giants, the Jets officially named QB Geno Smith the starter for week 1 against the Oakland Raiders.
“He’ll be our starter,” head coach Rex Ryan said of Smith. “He’s done everything that we’ve asked him. This is no slight to Mike Vick because, believe me, I wanted to come out of this with two really good quarterbacks that we think we can win games with, and in my heart, I feel that we have two that we can win with. I’m really happy with the way Mike played as well, but we’re going to go with Geno. I feel very comfortable with that.”
Geno Smith competed with incumbent QB Mark Sanchez for the starting job in 2013, but a preseason injury against (ironically enough) the Giants forced the Jets to play Smith even though he had struggled for much of the preseason. Smith started all 16 games for the Jets in 2013 despite never being named the team’s official starter and led the team to an unexpected 8-8 season with a team considered one of the worst in the league in before the season began.
Early in the offseason, the Jets signed former Eagles QB Michael Vick to a one-year contract in hopes that he could compete for the job and possibly mentor Smith. He went 4 of 5 for 35 yards and a TD against the Giants. Vick will be the primary backup for games where Smith starts.
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