Geno Smith Out With Sore Ankle In Jets Preseason Opener Surprise

The return of Geno Smith will have to wait. 

In a pregame sideline interview on CBS before the game, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said Smith has a sore ankle and was held out for “precautionary” reasons. 

Glenn said earlier this week that “everybody’s playing” when asked if the starters would play. Something changed between then and Friday and now Smith’s preseason debut could come next Friday in Pittsburgh. 

The Jets traded for Smith in March, acquiring him from the Raiders along with a seventh-round pick in exchange for a sixth-round pick. Glenn immediately said Smith would be the Jets starting quarterback. It’s a return to the Jets for Smith, who was a second-round pick of the team in 2013 and played for the Jets from 2013-16. 

Smith has been shaky so far in training camp and has had a bad week of practices, first against his own defense and then against the Buccaneers in joint practices. 

Glenn may have been nervous about putting Smith on the field against a Tampa’s defense, which was expected to be mostly backups. It can be dangerous when guys just trying to make the team are on the field against starters. 

The expectation was that rookie Cade Klubnik would take most of the snaps at quarterback with Smith out.

The Jets have Klubnik, Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook at quarterback behind Smith. Klubnik, a fourth-round pick from Clemson, is the favorite to win the No. 2 job behind Smith, but it is still possible general manager Darren Mougey will swing a trade for a veteran backup before the season starts on Sept. 13.