Geno Smith Has Perfect Performance in Jets Preseason Game

PITTSBURGH, PA - AUGUST 21: Geno Smith #7 of the New York Jets throws a 13-yard touchdown pass in the first half against Patrick Queen #6 and Alex Highsmith #56 of the Pittsburgh Steelers at Acrisure Stadium on August 21, 2026 in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. (Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images) Getty

It couldn’t have gone any better.

New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith made his preseason debut on Friday, August 21 against the Pittsburgh Steelers. The former West Virginia product was only in for one drive, but it went flawlessly.

Smith finished 7-for-7 for 65 passing yards with a passing touchdown and no interceptions. He averaged 9.3 passing yards per attempt and had a 144.9 quarterback rating.

Smith led the Jets on a 10-play drive for 69 yards that took 5:56 off the clock. He found tight end Jelani Woods on a naked bootleg for the 13-yard score.

After that successful drive, head coach Aaron Glenn pulled the starters and put them on ice.

Coach Comments on Smith’s Showing

“Very, very efficient. Man, I think he had two third-down completions within that. He threw to five different receivers within that drive. He looked very comfortable. [Smith] did exactly what we were looking for, but again we still have some things to work on because our run game wasn’t where it needs to be. So we are going to take a good hard look at that and make sure that we clean that up,” head coach Aaron Glenn said of Smith’s opening drive.

The run game was abysmal for the Jets. As a team, they finished with 24 carries for 62 rushing yards, averaging 2.6 yards per carry. Now context is always important. The team didn’t have Breece Hall as he recovers from a groin issue. Braelon Allen only played the first drive for the Jets.

Hall should be back by Week 1, but the Jets wanted to be cautious with Allen because they can’t afford for him to get hurt. Isaiah Davis is also on the shelf and should be back by the season opener.

Smith Checked off the Boxes After His Ankle Issue

The ankle issue was ominous. Suddenly, Smith didn’t play in the preseason opener last week because of a mysterious injury that we learned about an hour before kickoff.

While Smith returned to practice this week, he wore a sleeve on his leg, and at one point it was bandaged. So his status for this Steelers game was very unclear. Despite all of that, Smith ended up playing in the game.

“Listen, there’s not a player, and I’m talking about from the start of camp until now, that’s not dealing with some type of pain. That’s just part of the job. So I’m proud of all of our guys. They’re all hurting to some degree. Geno did what I expected him to do. I’m going to look at the tape to see if there is anything that we need to improve on,” Glenn said.

“It was good to see how efficient he was; it was good to see him hit five different receivers, but man, we’re onto the next thing,” Glenn added.

Is This All We Have Seen From Smith in the Preseason?

Head coach Aaron Glenn was asked if he had seen enough from Smith or would he consider playing him in the preseason finale against the New York Giants.

“Well, that’s not even a thought process right now. I want to make sure I look at this game and see exactly the things that we got to clean up so we can get ready to practice and start to work on those things … So yeah, I don’t want to make any decisions on that right now,” Glenn responded.

“The big story, of course, was Geno Smith, only one series in his first start, but it was perfect. He was 7-for-7; he looked really comfortable back there. I think the two plays that jumped out to me were the 21-yard strike on the sideline to AD Mitchell. That ball actually traveled 35 yards in the air, officially, so that was a really, really good throw by Geno Smith,” ESPN’s Rich Cimini said on Instagram.

“Then maybe the most impressive play was the off-schedule play, off-platform when he had to get flushed to his right, and he was able to move and hit Garrett Wilson for a conversion on third down. That was important because he had been a little hobbled in practice with that ankle injury, so he moved really well on that play. So I think that should alleviate any concern about that ankle injury,” Cimini added.

One other play that happened on that drive featured Smith standing strong in the pocket waiting to deliver a pass at the perfect moment. It required him to take a hit on a blitz, and he went to the ground. You typically never want to see your quarterback get touched, but it was good to see him take a hit and get back up.

Like HEAVY's content?Be sure to follow us.

This article was originally published on HEAVY

The post Geno Smith Has Perfect Performance in Jets Preseason Game appeared first on HEAVY.