Jets’ Rex Ryan: ‘I believe in Geno’

On Monday, New York Jets’ rookie quarterback Geno Smith let it be known that Jets’ quarterback coach David Lee told Smith he would continue to start for the Jets when they take on the Oakland Raiders Sunday.

After Smith had another absolutely dreadful performance in a 23-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins Sunday, many thought Smith had lost the job.

After completing four-of-10 passes for 29 yards with no touchdowns and an interception, Smith was benched in favor of Matt Simms. Simms completed nine-of-18 passes for 79 yards with no touchdowns and a pick.

Later in the day, Jets’ head coach Rex Ryan backed Smith.

“I’m going to go with Geno as our quarterback,” Ryan said via Charlie Frankel of NewYorkJets.com during Monday’s news conference. “I believe in Geno. I think he has the tools to be a good quarterback in this league.

On the season, Smith is 179-of-327 for 2,256 yards with eight touchdowns and 19 interceptions. Smith has completed less than 50.0% of his passes in each of his last four games and the Jets have lost four of their last five games to fall to 5-7.