It's "Geno Time."
Two days after replacing starter Ryan Fitzpatrick in their Monday night loss in Arizona, Geno Smith will now be the Jets starting quarterback, head coach Todd Bowles announced Wednesday.
ESPN's Adam Schefter first reported the move, which comes less than 24 hours after Bowles backtracked on Fitzpatrick being the starter for Sunday's home game against the Baltimore Ravens.
"I felt like it was time to make a change," Bowles told reporters on Wednesday.
Bowles said the decision to switch quarterbacks was completely his. When asked if Smith would be on a short leash, Bowles said Smith "is our starter right now. We'll see how things go down the line."
On Monday night, Bowles stated that Fitzpatrick would remain the starter shortly after the Jets were embarrassed in a 28-3 loss to the Cardinals. Smith replaced Fitzpatrick with eight minutes remaining.
"First of all, after the game, it's always going to be status quo," Bowles told reporters during a Tuesday conference call. "I'm never going to tell the media anything before I meet with my coaches and my GM and the rest of the staff. So everything is status quo until we have our meeting.
"But [Smith] did show some promise when he was in there. He understood the game plan. He did good for the drive he was in there."
Despite a four-game losing streak and the change in starting quarterbacks, Jets owner Woody Johnson maintained his high level of trust in his head coach and general manager.
"We got 10 games to go. I'm very confident with Todd Bowles and Mike [Maccagnan]," Johnson told NFL.com at the NFL Fall League Meeting in Houston. "I think we've got an excellent team [of leaders]. I really respect Todd, I know he's doing what he's going to do. It's football. He's a good coach. I have long-term confidence in him and in Mike and in their teams.
"That's the way I feel," Johnson added. "Onward and outward, we've had a tough schedule, it's no excuse. We've been in some games. But Monday night was ... we gotta be better than that."
