After they lost 19-3 in Baltimore on Sunday, Jets coach Rex Ryan said he needed to watch film before naming the team’s starting quarterback for Week 13.
Ryan didn’t build much suspense during his Monday meeting with the media before announcing that Geno Smith will remain in the starting job. Ryan never pulled Smith in favor of Matt Simms during the loss to the Ravens, but he’s done it in the fourth quarter of two other blowout losses this season. Smith was 9-of-22 for 127 yards and two interceptions with the bulk of the yards coming when the Jets were already way behind.
Neither that performance nor the four straight games without a touchdown pass dissuaded Ryan from the feeling that Smith is the right man to pilot the offense.
“Right now, I would feel that he gives us the best chance to win,” Ryan said, via Bob Glauber of Newsday.
Simms has two quarters of NFL experience and David Garrard appears to be on the roster as a mentor rather than a viable option to play, which doesn’t leave Ryan with a compelling alternative to Smith. Losing to the Dolphins in Week 13 will leave the Jets with very long odds of making it back into the sixth seed in the AFC that they held going into Baltimore in Week 12. They’ll go down or continue to float with the guy that’s brought them this far.