Geno Smith needed one drive. He took the field in Pittsburgh on Friday night for his first game as a Jet since 2016, completed all seven of his passes for 65 yards, walked the offense 69 yards in 10 plays, and threw a touchdown. Then he was done for the evening.
Nine years and 302 days between Jets appearances. The reunion lasted about six minutes of game clock.
The touchdown came with two defenders closing. Smith rolled left, found tight end Jelani Woods leaking out on play action, and Woods walked in from 13 yards. Smith also converted both third downs the Steelers forced on the possession, which is the part that should interest anyone worried about the ankle.
“It felt good to be out there with the guys,” Smith said.
That ankle is why he sat out the preseason opener. He showed enough mobility under pressure Friday to suggest it is behind him, and Aaron Glenn called the drive very efficient and said Smith looked comfortable, which was the entire point of putting him out there.
The shutout deserves an asterisk, and that’s fine
The final was 17-0, and the defense was genuinely good. It also spent the night facing Pittsburgh’s third and fourth quarterbacks, with Aaron Rodgers and Mason Rudolph both out. Will Howard threw two first-half interceptions. Drew Allar took three sacks after replacing him.
New York got four sacks total, two from Nate Lynn, who was signed recently and played for Glenn in Detroit in 2024. Rookie edge David Bailey, the second overall pick, recorded his first sack of the summer and held up in the run game.
That is a real evening of work against a real NFL roster, even a backup-heavy one. It is not evidence that this defense is finished cooking.
Where the offense actually stands
The honest read on Smith is not that he solved anything. He is 36, he is not an elite thrower, and one perfect series against reserves proves very little on its own. What it does establish is that the Jets have a quarterback who can operate an offense on schedule, convert third downs, and get the ball out under pressure. That has not been reliably true here in a long time.
Behind him, fourth-round rookie Cade Klubnik went 10-of-14 for 75 yards. Rookie receiver Omar Cooper Jr. took reps with the first-team offense, which settled a week of speculation about the pecking order.
The Jets close the preseason Aug. 28 against their MetLife roommates, the Giants. Whether Smith plays at all in that one is the next question, and after Friday there is a decent argument he does not need to.
