Gang Green has an important decision to make at the NFL's most vital position.
The season for the Jets took a tailspin before the ball was even snapped when incumbent quarterback Geno Smith took a sucker punch from IK Enemkpali and broke his jaw. Ryan Fitzpatrick, the bearded veteran graduate of Harvard, was then thrust into the spotlight as the team's No. 1 starter.
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Smith might be able to suit up as the team's backup Sunday against the Eagles, according to the New York Post, but should the third-year signal caller unseat the wily veteran with New York flying high at 2-0?
Smith, 24, has had several off-field incidents over the years, including infamously missing a team meeting to watch a movie and cursing out fans in public. Though the brawl may not have been completely his fault, it was the latest in the line of setbacks for the quarterback.
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As for his work on the field, it may be uglier than his track record off of it.
The 2013 second-round pick often looks uncomfortable in his own skin under center and has thrown more career interceptions (34) than touchdowns (25). Smith's decision-making skills are also questionable. Under Fitzpatrick, the Jets offense hasn't exactly set the world on fire, but it has looked more than capable. Anyone who watches this team can see (as usual) the defense is the sparkplug, generating 10 turnovers in the first two games.
Still, Fitzpatrick has thrown four touchdown passes and has looked reliable at the position. He has a pick in each of the first two games, but he's completed over 60 percent of his passes.
The knock on the veteran has always been his inability to play in cold weather, but Smith doesn't seem comfortable playing no matter what it's like outside. Smith has admitted the setbacks this year made him "extremely angry," but he's preached a team approach to his competition with Fitzpatrick, adding the mantra "we're all in this together."
The decision is ultimately on new head coach Todd Bowels and the rest of the Jets brain trust, but after Fitzpatrick led the Jets over the Colts in Indianapolis, the job should be his to lose, whether the cold weather has anything to do with it or not.
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