Geno Smith Among Jets to Accidentally Miss Team Meeting Before Loss to Chargers

Updates from Tuesday, Oct. 7

Rex Ryan talked about Smith and the meeting Tuesday:

Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News and Rich Cimini of ESPN.com add more:

Original Text

A day before his halftime benching in the New York Jets' 31-0 loss to the San Diego Chargers, Geno Smith was one of "a few" Jets players who accidentally missed a team meeting Saturday evening. 

According to Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, Smith and other teammates were mistakenly late to the meeting after catching a movie in San Diego. The players were mixed up because of the three-hour difference between East Coast and West Coast times. 

Jets coach Rex Ryan, per Cimini, keeps team meetings on East Coast time even when the team is in a different time zone. Smith mistakenly used the internal clock on his phone, which had converted to West Coast time, causing him to arrive after the meeting had ended.

A Jets spokesperson told Cimini it was an "honest mistake" and not atypical for an East Coast team traveling west. Brian Costello of the New York Post indicated the team does not consider Smith's absence an issue:

Albert Breer of NFL Network was quick to weigh in on the missed meeting:

Smith was benched at halftime after completing just four of 12 passes for 27 yards and an interception during the first half. His replacement, Michael Vick, was not much better, going 8-of-19 passing for 47 yards, much of which came during garbage time in the fourth quarter. After the game, Ryan announced that Smith would retain his starting job going forward.

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"I'm going with Geno Smith," Ryan told reporters. "This wasn't on him. He wasn't the guy out there blocking or blowing assignments or doing whatever. It's not on one player. It's on one individual, and that's me. Geno will be our quarterback next week. That's just the way it is."

Smith called his performance "a pathetic showing" and said he understands why he was benched. The second-year quarterback has thrown for 949 yards and four touchdowns against six interceptions in five games this season. He has turned the ball over at least once in every game and has the third-lowest QBR among qualifying quarterbacks so far, per ESPN, ahead of only EJ Manuel (who was benched this past week) and Chad Henne.

Vick signed a one-year deal in New York this offseason. The former Pro Bowler lost a quarterback competition to Smith in camp and did not look comfortable Sunday. 

The Jets' loss to San Diego was their fourth straight. Given that the team hosts Denver next week, Smith and the Jets offense likely aren't done hearing about their struggles.

It remains to be seen if Smith will have a short leash in Week 6, but the Jets will have to plan accordingly if the Broncos jump ahead early.

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