Cade Klubnik looks about as you would expect in relief of injured Geno Smith

The offensive injuries were piling up for the New York Jets during their Week 10 loss to the Buffalo Bills. It started with wide receiver Omar Cooper Jr. on their opening drive, continued with left guard Dylan Parham in the second quarter, and then, worst of all, quarterback Geno Smith in the second half.

Smith was evaluated for a concussion after a dirty hit late in the first half, and then, after being cleared and returning to the field, he injured his ankle midway through the third quarter. It allowed rookie fourth-round draft pick Cade Klubnik his first chance to play in a regular-season game.

The former Clemson standout completed 11-of-20 pass attempts for 137 yards with one interception and no touchdowns. He also managed to scramble for 26 yards on three carries, but it should come as no surprise that Klubnik didn't provide any major sparks for a team that was looking for one.

But what did people expect? Klubnik was inserted on the fly against arguably the best team in football right now. Did anyone really think he was going to be able to operate the Jets' offense at a higher level than Smith?

Cade Klubnik shouldn't have surprised any New York Jets fan in NFL debut

After the game, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn was asked to assess the rookie quarterback's performance, and he sounded pretty positive about the way he played.

"I thought he did a pretty good job. I'll tell you what, that first drive that he did was pretty impressive. Some of the throws that he had were pretty impressive. His ability to maneuver around the pocket and evade some of these guys and make plays with his feet were impressive. But it was such a tough situation, and I really want to go back and look at it."

That first drive was pretty nice, all things considered. Klubnik's first regular-season pass was a 29-yard toss to Garrett Wilson, providing some level of optimism.

He led the Jets on a 10-play, 61-yard field goal drive, and completed 2-of-4 pass attempts for 39 yards and two rushes for 19 yards. He nearly threw an interception in the back of the end zone, but it was arguably the most productive drive New York had all day.

It remains to be seen just how banged up Smith is. Will he miss time with the ankle injury, and could Klubnik see his first regular-season start next week against the Los Angeles Chargers?

We'll see. The only other quarterback the Jets have is on the practice squad, and that's former Tennessee Titans draft pick Will Levis.

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