Geno Smith will start at quarterback for the New York Jets in the season opener Sunday at home against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

The team announced its decision through its Twitter feed Wednesday, finally confirming what had been expected since Mark Sanchez injured his right shoulder in a preseason game against the Giants on Aug. 24. Smith, who had an up-and-down preseason, was the team's second-round draft pick out West Virginia.


 

Geno Smith stands on the sidelines
Geno Smith stands on the sidelines (Jeff Zelevansky/Getty Images)
loading...

On the team's website, coach Rex Ryan said, "We're going to go with Geno Smith as our quarterback and we are excited about that."

Offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg said that Smith "came out the other day and looked like he was 100 percent."

After Smith threw three interceptions and took a safety in three-plus quarters against the Giants, it was widely assumed Sanchez was in good position to win the job. But Ryan chose to put Sanchez in the game in the fourth quarter — and the quarterback suffered the injury that could sideline him several weeks.

Tt's unfortunate that Mark was injured, obviously, but he is working extremely hard to get back,” said Ryan on the Jets website, “But he's just not ready right now. It's similar to last week — we knew he wasn't ready then. He's not ready now and we'll see what the future holds as we move forward.”

The 6’3”, 221-pound Smith was picked No. 39 overall in April’s draft after compiling a 26-13 record as starter at West Virginia. Smith appeared in two preseason contests for the Jets, completing 60% of his passes with 1 TD and 3 INTs.

The Associated Press contributed to this report

More From New Jersey 101.5 FM