Gang Green’s four-game skid is for the Birds
It’s time for Plan B. After the Jets stumbled to a 1-5 start, Jets coach Todd Bowles pulled the plug on the team’s $12 million quarterback, Ryan Fitzpatrick, this week and replaced him with Geno Smith. It will be on Smith to try to snap the Jets out of their funk Sunday afternoon against the Ravens at MetLife Stadium.
“I think it’s an opportunity for all of us to go out there and try to get a win,” Smith said. “We’re on a four-game losing streak. No one likes it. It’s a bitter taste in our mouths. We just have to put together some good practices, build momentum up into the game and then go out there and just play recklessly, play hard with a reckless abandonment and do whatever we have to do to get this victory.”
Smith can’t play much worse than Fitzpatrick, who threw a league-high 11 interceptions in the first six games and was the lowest-rated passer in the NFL. This is Smith’s first start since the end of the 2014 season and first since IK Enemkpali broke his jaw in a locker-room scuffle last summer.
Teammates say they are behind Smith, but it is not all on him to get the Jets out of this four-game skid.
“He’s done everything he’s been asked to do,” linebacker David Harris said. “Everybody needs to play better. It’s not just on one man’s shoulders. We all have to step up. We’ve been underachieving as a team. We’ve all got to do our part.”
The Jets enter this game with the Ravens (3-3) ranked 26th in total offense and 32nd in scoring. It was clear Bowles had to do something, and bringing Smith in from the bullpen was that thing.
“I’m very confident in him,” cornerback Darrelle Revis said. “I think everybody is. Right now, everybody has to be supportive. We need a spark. Coach feels that this is maybe a spark. We have to support coach’s decision moving forward. We’re behind Geno 100 percent.”
For the Ravens, this is their second consecutive game at MetLife Stadium. They lost to the Giants last week here. They come into the game with a rash of injuries, but always have played the Jets tough. The Jets are 1-8 all-time against the Ravens, with that one win coming in their first meeting in 1997.