Geno Smith Might Play Saturday

Rex Ryan says even though Geno Smith is not starting Saturday against the Jaguars, he might play.

Rex: "It seems there's an assumption (Geno) will not play in this gm. That decision has not been made." Says Mark will play 1st half #jets

— Kimberley A. Martin (@KMart_LI) August 15, 2013

The media covering the Jets gets a lot of grief from fans because there are times certain writers blow things out of proportion, but this is a good example of how this team feeds the monster and brings a lot of the crazy coverage upon itself. Rex Ryan's handling of this needlessly creates drama around what should be a simple story.

If Geno can't play, he can't play. There is nothing to be gained from hiding that. He has a sprained ankle. The team doesn't want to push him. This game is meaningless. Who cares whether the Jaguars know? Mark Sanchez is preparing to play either way, whether he starts the game or the second half. He doesn't need a ton of notice.

If Geno plays, that is a pretty big story. A fair competition would seem to include giving both players an equal opportunity to show what they can do. Sanchez got his chance to start and work with the first team last week against the opponent's first team defense. It would figure that this would be Geno's week to start. Some fans have concern Rex is inclined to favor Sanchez in this competition. That belief didn't just appear out of thin air. People aren't being paranoid. Rex has a long history of not being honest or objective when he assesses Sanchez. It's not hard to imagine that happening one more time.

Rex is either allowing a nonstory to take wings and become a distraction, or he isn't providing a level playing field in this quarterback competition. We'll find out soon enough which it is, but it feels like the handling of this was sloppy.