Jets coach Rex Ryan made official after Friday night’s preseason game what has been expected all along: Geno Smith will open the regular-season as the starting quarterback.
Ryan said that the Jets have been pleased with Michael Vick, but Smith has earned the starting job.
“He’ll be our starter,” 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.”
Ryan was asked if Smith is “a week-to-week starter,” and he didn’t seem to like that question.
“Oh man. It’s week-to-week. We don’t name starters all the dang time. We don’t have to do the song-and-dance,” Ryan said. “We’re happy with both the quarterbacks, period. We think we can win with both quarterbacks. Just refer to any other coach who has a similar situation and what he would say. I know we have two really good quarterbacks. A lot of things happen. That’s why I never wanted to do this. Last year, we thought the competition was still wide open, but Geno had three interceptions in one game. It wasn’t great. You leave it there and let guys compete. The thing that I love about what Mike and Geno are doing is that they push each other. They support each other more than anybody. It’s a great situation to have and one that I feel blessed to have. We have two outstanding quarterbacks.”
Now Smith has to play like an outstanding quarterback when the season starts, so Ryan can stop getting questions about Vick.