NY Jets: Geno Smith Close To Returning?

It has been five weeks and two days since Geno Smith had his jaw broken on the fist of IK Enemkpali.  The original prognosis for recovery was six to ten weeks, and so far as is known, that hasn't changed.  Today Sports Illustrated published an article about Smith in which Smith expressed his extreme anger at the incident.  You can read the article here.  An inkling of when we might expect a return to action for Geno was included in the article. Smith says he needs to have one final X-ray, which he will receive in the next week, before he is cleared to play.

So apparently Geno Smith might be cleared to play as early as next week, in time to theoretically start the third game of the season against the Philadelphia Eagles on September 27.  Of course, that theoretical possibility is subject to the very real threat of Ryan Fitzpatrick continuing to play well, keeping Geno firmly seated on the bench.  Geno is aware of this and expressed his frustration.

If I was playing bad and got benched, that’s on me. But for something like that to happen, it’s like... What can you do? You’ve just got to kind of weather the storm and move on from there.

It's the cold justice of the NFL.  If you're a superstar and you're injured, you almost certainly won't lose your starting job when you're ready to come back.  For everyone else, hey, tough break kid.  Next man up.

So long as Fitzpatrick plays as well as he did last Sunday, tough break Geno.  Next man up.