NFL news: New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles silent on QB Geno Smith role at first press conference

At his introductory press conference on Wednesday, newly-hired New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles indicated that he was unsure on the future of QB Geno Smith.

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“Going forward, we’re going to be a tough team, we’re going to be an intelligent team. We’re going to do things the right way,” Bowles said.

In an introductory press conference that also included team owner Woody Johnson and newly-hired GM Mike Maccagnan, Bowles was mostly silent on the issue of what kind of role Smith would have in the new regime. Currently Smith is the only QB the Jets have under contract with at least one NFL start – the only other is QB Matt Simms, who has played in spot duty the past two seasons.

Bowles recognized that Smith was a “good college quarterback” at West Virginia University, but had no comments as to his play since being drafted by the Jets under former general manager John Idzik in 2013.

2014 was not exactly a banner year for Smith. After winning the season opener against the Oakland Raiders, the Jets lost six in a row and Smith seemed unable to get out of his funk. He was benched several times but finally regained the starting job in the final month of the season, going 2-2 in December and playing the best game of his career against the Miami Dolphins. He became the only QB in NFL history to have a game with a passer rating of zero (o.0) and perfect passer rating (158.3) in the same season.

With the No. 6 overall pick in the 2015 NFL draft it is unlikely they will be able to land QBs Jameis Winston or Marcus Mariota – and the remaining QBs available are underwhelming. Speaking of underwhelming, however, there are very few free agent QBs available that aren’t either coming off injuries or terrible seasons – making the pickings in the upcoming free agency period rather slim.