On short notice, New York Jets fourth-round rookie Cade Klubnik started Friday’s preseason opener as Geno Smith was ruled out at the last minute due to foot soreness.
However, he didn’t get as many reps as many expected, attempting only seven passes over two series before getting pulled for the Jets’ second team, led by Bailey Zappe.
Zappe struggled, tossing two interceptions, including a pick-six, although the other was due to Arian Smith’s drop.
Speaking to the media following the game, Glenn was asked if he considered keeping Klubnik in longer.
“I just felt that he had enough plays at that point, and I really wanted to make sure that I had a good shot at seeing all three of the quarterbacks,” said Glenn. “When I said Geno was going to be down, I knew at that point that I was going to try as much as I can to see all of those guys. I can’t tell you the rep number right now, but I wanted to make sure it was somewhat even across the board. But again, I’m happy with how he operated.”
It was a puzzling decision by the Jets’ head coach. With Smith out, the Jets had a chance to get an extended look at the top two players in the backup quarterback competition, who appear to be Klubnik and Zappe, instead of forcing a look at all three signal-callers.
Just as Klubnik seemed to hit his stride, Glenn yanked him, preventing a longer look at the fourth-round rookie.
Forcing Cook into play for the last quarter-and-a-half was a surprising choice. Cook had four starts last season and struggled mightily as he led the Jets to an 0-4 record. That’s not entirely his fault; he was a rookie UDFA. However, the Jets got a long enough look to recognize that he isn’t in the QB2 discussion this year.
It was understandable to want to get a look at him at some point during the preseason, but it seems like a wasted evaluation opportunity for Cook’s pass attempts (15) to be more than double Klubnik’s (7).
The Jets need to see more of Klubnik, and with Smith out, Friday was a missed opportunity to do so.
