Jets won’t commit to Geno Smith as starting quarterback for 2014

The New York Jets won their final two games of the season to finish on a high note. Geno Smith was the team’s quarterback for almost the entire season, and the rookie led his the Jets to an 8-8 record. All things considered, the end result was not that bad. Smith’s numbers, however, left plenty to be desired.

There were a ton of growing pains for the former West Virginia star, as Smith threw just 12 touchdown passes to go along with a whopping 21 interceptions. His passer rating of 66.5 was last in the NFL. Perhaps that is why general manager John Idzik refuses to commit to Smith for 2014.

“We’re all excited about having Geno as part of the Jets but we will always look to improve every position in any manner we can and that doesn’t change going into 2014,” Idzik said Tuesday, via Seth Walder of the NY Daily News. “We’ll look at quarterbacks, yes we’ll look at quarterbacks.”

Idzik was then asked if Smith would be the starter when training camp begins next summer, and his answer was just as vague.

“We don’t look too far into the future with that,” he said. “Again, Geno started 16 games for us. You all witnessed how he did, how he finished strong. We’re very, very excited and happy that Geno is with us.”

The GM added that he believed Smith improved by “leaps and bounds” as the season progressed. If that was the case, you would think Smith would surely get another shot at leading the team to begin his sophomore season. Remember Mark Sanchez? He, too, is still under contract with the team.

“We’ll get to that in time. He is a Jet,” Idzik said of Sanchez. “We consider all our guys Jets until we make a decision or something happens that changes that. So with Mark — I met with him yesterday as well — our focus is to get him healthy, just as it has been really the entire season and then we’ll take it from there.”

Rex Ryan is returning next season and the players are thrilled about it, but the situation is still less than ideal. Teams who lack a reliable option at quarterback have a hard time winning games in the NFL. The fact that New York’s quarterback situation remains so muddled is an obstacle the team will have to address this offseason.