Geno Smith missed a team meeting on Saturday, one day before he was benched in a 31-0 loss to the San Diego Chargers. A team spokesperson told Manish Mehta of the NY Daily News that Smith made an "honest mistake" and got his times crossed on Saturday.
Geno Smith missed meeting on Saturday
Geno Smith will start in Week 6, but his leash is getting shorter.
Jake Roth-USA TODAY Sports
According to the Jets spokesperson, Smith "got the times confused" and showed up 5-10 minutes after the conclusion of the meeting. He was caught up to speed on the content of the meetings by offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg and quarterbacks coach David Lee. This is reportedly the first time Smith has missed a meeting in his career with the Jets.
The incident comes less than a week after Smith nabbed headlines for his negative reaction to booing Jets fans following a poor showing in Week 4. Video showed Smith tossing expletives at the unhappy fans, which he later apologized for.
Smith followed the missed meeting with a 4-of-12 passing performance against the Chargers that featured just 27 first-half passing yards. That dismal showing against the Chargers defense led to a halftime benching of Smith, who replaced by Michael Vick. The backup didn't find much success, either. In the second half, Vick accumulated just 47 yards with no touchdowns or interceptions, completing 8-of-19 pass attempts.
After the game, Smith called his play “pathetic,” although Ryan absolved him some by saying that the quarterbacks weren’t the ones that should take all the blame.
“We could’ve had Joe Namath, it wouldn’t have been any different today,” said Ryan.
Smith began the 2014 season with a 23-of-28 performance against the Oakland Raiders that featured one touchdown, one interception and a 96.6 passer rating. His highest passer rating in the four-game losing streak that has subsequently followed is 71.5 and he hasn't managed to finish any of his five starts without an interception.
Next up for the Jets, who appear ready to be led by Smith once again, is a home game against the Denver Broncos.
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