The Jets are 1-0 after an improbable 18-17 win against the Buccaneers on Sunday afternoon and they won’t be making a change at quarterback as they go for two straight wins against the Patriots on Thursday night.
Coach Rex Ryan announced that Geno Smith will start the game and that Mark Sanchez will again be inactive because of the shoulder injury he suffered in the third preseason game. Ryan also confirmed that Sanchez will be getting another opinion on the shoulder this week -- Sanchez reportedly has a torn labrum in his right shoulder, which was also reportedly dislocated on the hit by former Giants defensive tackle Marvin Austin -- in hopes of coming up with a firmer timeline for his return to work.
“He’s not going to play this game. It’s a short week, he’s not going to play this game,” Ryan said, via Seth Walder of the New York Daily News. “This is a mutual thing with the team and Mark to let’s go get, find out exactly where he is, maybe a different opinion. But he hasn’t had a setback or anything else. He’s been doing a good job with his rehab, but this is just, the situation, clearly he’s not going to play this week. So let’s make sure that everything’s, that we are 100 percent confident in what we think we have.”
Even if Sanchez were healthy, it’s hard to imagine the Jets pulling Smith off his performance against the Bucs. It wasn’t perfect, but Smith looked better as the game went along and he showed an ability to make plays with both his arm and legs over the course of the afternoon. With plenty of reason to believe he’ll be better with more experience, it’s a clear edge over a fifth-year player whose best moments haven’t been much better than what Smith did on Sunday.