Same old Jets? Geno has a Broken Jaw

from: Instagram
Eugeno ‘Geno’ Smith

Geno Smith will be sidelined for the next 6-10 weeks thanks to a broken jaw he suffered in a locker room altercation. Linebacker, IK Enemkpali, apparently sucker punched Smith in the jaw. Enemkpali was immediately cut by the organization.

After the altercation, Enemkpali said he, “Deeply regrets” what he did and that he, “Should’ve walked away” from the altercation.

At this point, it doesn’t matter whose fault it was, all that matters is that the Jets are out a starting quarterback.

They had a bad quarterback situation as it was and now it is even worse.

Ryan Fitzpatrick is entering his 11th NFL season. He has experience, but he has had his troubles in the past. In 2011 while with the Buffalo Bills, he threw a career high 23 interceptions in the season. His interception numbers have gone down in recent years. Last year, he had 8 interceptions along with 17 touchdown passes and had a completion percentage of 63.1%.

I like Fitzpatrick as a starter because he is a game manager. He is not going to try to do anything fancy. Given the weapons he has on offense, I think he will be good enough for the Jets to have a respectable offense. However it will not be easy. Having been named the backup, he didn’t take too many reps in training camp with Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker. And there isn’t too much time to figure things out considering that the first preseason game is this Thursday in Detroit.

The worst part about this whole thing is the message it sends to the rest of the league. The Jets were one of the worst teams in the NFL last year and they had a circus going on off the field between John Idzik and Rex Ryan. The Jets were losers. They were on the wrong side of every joke. But with new head coach, Todd Bowles, and new general manager, Mike Macaagnan, it had seemed as if the Jets may have turned a corner. And with Darrelle Revis and Antonio Cromarti coming back to the Jets defense, hopes were high for the season. It seemed as if the Jets were back on the right track. But this little middle school fight over $600 just reminded everyone that the Jets are still not serious about winning.

Despite adding a lot of talent in the offseason, the Jets still seem like losers because nothing ever goes their way. In the past two months, the Jets had to deal with Sheldon Richardson, Sheldon Richardson again, and now Geno Smith. That’s too many off the field problems.

Is it possible that Fitzpatrick ends up exceeding expectations? Of course it’s possible, but I doubt it given the short notice. Fitzpatrick still has a lot of work to do before the regular season starts. But if there is a backup quarterback that can do it, it’s Fitzpatrick because he is veteran.