After a wild Jets run that nearly landed them in the playoffs, there was a collective moment in time when everyone remembered how the season began, and the fact that Ryan Fitzpatrick was not always the starting quarterback.
That was once Geno Smith, before he got his jaw broken by teammate IK Enemkpali and before Fitzpatrick led the team to 10 wins.
But Smith doesn't think 2015 will have any bearing on 2016. He was "defiant" during interviews Monday, according to several reports.
"I guess if you're saying I don't have an opportunity here, I don't believe that," Smith said, via the New York Post. "We don't know what's going to transpire, we don't know what's going to happen. We'll have to wait and see."
Smith is right. He has a low salary-cap number and his trade value is probably close to nonexistent. He'll most likely be there the whole time, while incumbent starter Ryan Fitzpatrick tests the open market and attempts to work out a long-term deal with the Jets. Even then, Smith, 25, could finally have the offseason everyone has been waiting for -- or Fitzpatrick could get hurt, or he could fail to work out a deal to stay in New York.
That's why Smith is somewhere between ready and restless.
"Well, I'm not getting any younger," he said. "I don't look at it like that. When I came in, from Day 1, I wanted to play. That's never going to change. I want to compete. I want to help my team. Obviously, yes, I am young. But none of that means anything. I want to be out there playing."
