The New York Jets won’t have Mark Sanchez for the rest of the year, and Matt Simms is the only man backing-up Geno Smith at the moment. Instead of sitting back and hoping Smith stays healthy, the team is opting to add more insurance behind him, and it’s in the form of David Garrard:
David Garrard, who "retired" in May because of chronic knee condition, has returned to team, #Jets announce. Placed on 2-wk exempt list.
— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) October 10, 2013
Jets now make it official: David Garrard has re-signed with them. Placed on Exempt List for next 2 games. Could be activated after that #nyj
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaSports) October 10, 2013
"“I was able to take the whole summer off and let my body heal. I started training a couple of months ago and my knee feels great,” said Garrard. “I’m sitting at home, watching games thinking, ‘Why am I at home? Why I am doing this to myself? I didn’t want to have any regrets one day.”“I reached out to Mr. Idzik,” Garrard said referring to a call he placed to Jets GM John Idzik. “He has given me another chance, so it’s truly a blessing.”"
For his career, Garrard has thrown for 16,003 yard, 89 TDs and 54 INTs while completing 61.6% of his passes, all of which were with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
He was having a promising career with the Jags, and in 2008, the Jaguars signed Garrard to a contract extension for $60 million for 6 years.
Since then, his career has been marred by injuries and inconsistent play, and after the Jets signed him this offseason to compete with Mark Sanchez for the starting QB job, the team drafted Geno Smith, and seeing the writing on the wall, Garrard opted to retire rather than be a backup.