Just a little news on the upcoming game. It appears Jets quarterback Geno Smith has suffered a season-ending knee injury. Ian Rapoport of NFL Media reports that the initial MRI of the knee that Smith injured on Sunday against the Ravens leaves the Jets with the belief that Smith suffered a torn ACL. Smith exited the game in the second quarter after taking a sack from Ravens linebacker Matt Judon. He said after the game that he didn’t feel the injury was a significant one, but this is hardly the first time that we’ve seen a player get worse news than anticipated once further testing took place. Assuming the diagnosis holds, Smith will miss the rest of the season and likely has played his final snap with the Jets with his contract expiring after the season. It’s a tough blow for Smith, who was in line to start last season before he suffered a broken jaw when then-teammate IK Enemkpali punched him in the jaw. Enemkpali also suffered a torn ACL this year, although Smith will likely look elsewhere for tips on how to rehab the injury. Ryan Fitzpatrick replaced Smith on Sunday and said he believes he should be the starter before anything was known about the severity of the injury. The Jets also have Bryce Petty and rookie Christian Hackenberg on hand, but may opt to go back to Fitzpatrick in hopes that he can show something closer to his 2015 performance than he did in the first six weeks of the year.
While Fitz is probably the most talented QB of the three, he's also the least mobile in the pocket. So I'm sure mister Wake and mister Mario are hoping for him to start...I am too! By the way, we didn't knock Taylor out of the game yesterday but he did have a limp, which makes it harder to plant and throw (which is why he couldn't complete anything on that last series). If our boys can get all over him, then they're going to have a field day with Fitzpatrick and whoever replaces him.
Got 2 weeks to stew over this game. The Jets looked great against the Bills early in the season. Fitzy and Co dominated the Dolphins last season. Not sure if the win yesterday is more a reflection of how bad Baltimore is than the Jets rebounding. I'm pretty sure the Jets front seven will do everything to keep Jay Ajayi under control, but will it come at the cost of allowing Landry, Stills and Co to run free in the Jets secondary. We haven't seen a good *** whopping of the Jets since 2013. Hopefully it'll come this next game.
I think Forte has been a shell of himself lately. Fitz can make some really horrible throws. I mean, really questionable and bad. He thrives off of the wideouts making some incredible catches. That's not to say he can't run a team down the field, but I suspect that Miami might be able to get some good pressure on him, which can really hinder his ability to make good decisions. There IS a reason behind Geno getting the call to come in. Maybe, like Tannehill, he gets a little motivation because of the benching. But almost every QB suffers under pressure, which Miami is one of the best in applying. I'm more afraid of their wideouts making an incredible play on a ball or even getting a deep PI call that could change the momentum.
Fitz recently got a bit ticked with the Jets FO. Depending on their response and his personality he could either use this to motivate himself, or end up playing under a dark cloud. Let's not all get ahead of ourselves on this one. If our last two games have taught us anything it's that 'better' teams shouldn't count on beating 'poorer' teams, even when those teams have players injured. The Dolphins have seen previously discredited players step up. The Jets could too. Here's to hoping Gase continues to keep these Phins' heads in the game and able to handle victory as well as defeat.
