Geno Smith proves his worth against Jaguars

The New York Jets have officially kicked off the preseason with a victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars. Quarterback Geno Smith showed a lot of progression with his opportunities.

There were a lot of positives and negatives that can be taken away from the first preseason game for the New York Jets against the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of the main focuses heading into the game was on the quarterbacks and how they’d play.

Related Story: Ryan Fitzpatrick is not elite

While there is no debate on who the starting quarterback will be Week 1 for the Jets, it was still nice to see Ryan Fitzpatrick out there. Fitzpatrick had an up and down day, he got to play through two series going 3 for 4 for 72 yards.

We knew that Fitzpatrick was going to be on a repetition count per head coach Todd Bowles, but that left a lot of game for the rest of the Jets’ depth chart at quarterback. Seizing the rest of the first and second quarter was quarterback Geno Smith and he had some really nice throws.

Geno Smith, shaking off boos, throws a 17-yard TD to rookie Charone Peake. Terrific throw, Small window. #nyj

— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) August 12, 2016

Smith started out slow, but picked it up and threw a pretty ball in a tight window to wide receiver Charone Peake in the red zone for a touchdown to end the half. While quarterback Bryce Petty appears to be the quarterback on the roster bubble, showed a live arm and nice touch.

More from The Jet Press

• NY Jets should target TE Hunter Henry in free agency
• NY Jets: Why the team should target cornerback Shaquill Griffin
• NY Jets reportedly non-tendering linebacker Harvey Langi
• NY Jets: Why the team should not cut Jamison Crowder
• NY Jets should try to sign Kenny Golladay in free agency

Petty made this quarterback conversation a lot more interesting with his play in the preseason opener.

He showed good mobility, some nice pocket awareness and a rapport with some of the middle to lower tier receivers on the team.

But what the “other” quarterbacks showed, is that the Jets are in capable hands if Fitzpatrick can’t stay healthy.

We saw an example of that last season, specifically in the trip to Oakland, but in general, Fitzpatrick often put himself in harm’s way.

Which means Jets fans and the coaching staff alike, must accept the possibility that Fitzpatrick won’t play all 16 games. So while this is an extremely small sample size and we’re talking about preseason football, it’s an encouraging sign nonetheless.

must read: Larry David gives season predictions

The only quarterback we didn’t get the opportunity to see was rookie Christian Hackenberg. Hackenberg is essentially entering a red-shirt year here with the Jets, or at least that’s the ideology heading into his rookie season.