Jets Pushed to Add Veteran QB After Surprise Geno Smith Injury

New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith was surprisingly ruled out of the preseason opener.

ESPN New York’s Ty Butler explained on “SportsNite” that he would like to see the team bolster the QB room with a veteran.

“I would like to see the team acquire a veteran because, as we saw tonight, he’s one hit away from coming into an NFL game. So if that’s against the Titans or the Lions or the Bears or the Packers — these important games coming up in the regular season in the first month for the Jets, I don’t exactly feel comfortable with fourth-round pick Cade Klubnik coming in and trying to help the Jets in what is a huge, huge season for them,” Butler explained on SNY.

“Listen, I’m not going to hit the full-blown panic button, but it’s disappointing [and] it’s mildly concerning because all week long we talked about Geno Smith and the importance of him playing in this game. He is coming off of a year where he was considered one of, if not the worst starting quarterbacks in football, and now you’re on a brand new team with a new offensive coordinator [and] the Jets have raved about all of these weapons so you want to utilize this time, real game action,” Butler said.

“I understand it’s the preseason, but to get some reps so you can build that confidence. He is 35 years old; I don’t know if you know this, but you don’t get older and healthier. So you just hope and pray that it doesn’t cause him to miss practice time; this doesn’t become an impediment going forward because you can have all of the weapons you want, but if your starting quarterback is not healthy, it’s not going to mean anything,” Butler bluntly stated.

Coach Provides Smith Update After the Game

NFL Network Insider Mike Garafolo broke the news on Friday, August 14, that Smith was going to miss the Tampa Bay Buccaneers game.

After the contest, head coach Aaron Glenn addressed the Smith situation.

“When it comes to injuries, the only injury of note is Geno has a sore ankle. It actually happened to him in the last joint practice with Tampa [on Wednesday, August 12]. Nothing to be alarmed about. It’ll be day-to-day,” Glenn said. “Thursday I told him he wasn’t going to play [for] precautionary [reasons].”

A media member followed up by asking Glenn if Smith is dealing with a “sprain.”

“He was just sore,” Glenn responded.

Garafolo initially described the injury as “foot soreness.” Glenn clarified that it was an ankle issue.

Path to Acquire One Is Murky

The available options in free agency aren’t great. Gang Green will likely be forced to wait a few more weeks to see if better choices become available.

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder. Will the options be better later? Unclear, but there should be more of them. Final roster cuts are approaching at the end of August. General manager Darren Mougey has developed a reputation for taking advantage of that timeline.

The Jets have the No. 2 overall waiver wire priority on free agents. They also have ample draft picks to potentially flip for a player they want to skip the line on.

ESPN’s Rich Cimini said on the “Jets Collective” podcast that there are two teams to watch. The Philadelphia Eagles and the Pittsburgh Steelers have busy QB rooms. It’s unlikely that teams keep four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster. That should provide a potential opportunity for the Jets to strike.

The two names to watch are veterans Mason Rudolph and Andy Dalton.

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