The absence of New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez made rookie Geno Smith the de facto starting signal caller for Week 1. Although the rookie was named the starter, both coach Rex Ryan and Woody Johnson made it clear the quarterback competition isn't over. If the Jets do have doubts about Smith, it wouldn't be the first time.
At the start of training camp, Smith was believed to have a very real chance of supplanting Sanchez as the starter. The rookie's time on the field during preseason, however, tampered those beliefs and showed Smith needed more time to adjust to playing in the NFL.
The questionable call to put Sanchez in during the fourth quarter of the third preseason game resulted in the incumbent starter going down with a shoulder injury. While Sanchez's preseason didn't win him the starting job straight out, he was in contention for it.
With no timetable for Sanchez's return, Ryan announced on Wednesday that Smith would be under center for Week 1. Ryan declined to commit to Smith as the long-term starter or even say Smith won the quarterback competition, according to ESPN, which indicates Smith is being evaluated on a week-by-week basis.
Johnson was more forthcoming about the team's quarterback situation.
"We're having a competition between quarterbacks, and that competition isn't finished," Johnson said, via ESPN.
Smith has more upside than Sanchez, but he's still a second-round rookie. The team's refusal to commit to Smith isn't exactly a ringing endorsement for the potential next face of the franchise, and it suggests the Jets could have doubts about Smith.
It wouldn't be the first time the Jets have had doubts about Smith, either. Ian Rapoport of NFL.com published an article on Thursday detailing how the Jets' pre-draft meeting with Smith failed to impress team officials.
"In fact, the Jets' early impressions of Smith came in a meeting at the NFL Scouting Combine with all members of the team's brass, sources informed of the quarterback's draft process said. The Jets felt he was lethargic, disinterested and tired - unimpressive," Rapoport wrote.
After being convinced to have another meeting with Smith, the Jets were wowed by the West Virginia quarterback, who came across as a "completely different guy." New York, of course, ended up selecting Smith in the second round of the NFL draft.
The Jets said Sanchez wouldn't go on IR. By the looks of it, the team's quarterback competition could last all season if one of the four quarterbacks is unable to step up and play consistently.
