Tonight, the New York Jets will play their second preseason game of the year against the Pittsburgh Steelers (7 p.m. EST).

Unlike last week, all four quarterbacks are expected to be active for New York. Geno Smith was surprisingly ruled out of last week’s game less than two hours before kickoff due to ankle soreness. Now, he is set to get the start.

With that said, the Jets will have to decide how to divvy up the reps among their four signal-callers tonight.

Here’s the blueprint they should follow.

Geno Smith: 1-2 drives

While it’s wise that the Jets are giving Smith some preseason reps to knock off the rust and get some game action in Frank Reich’s offense, it’s vital that they don’t leave him in too long.

Their mentality tonight with Smith should be: if he drives New York down the field for a score, pull him from the game. If the first drive is a three-and-out or a bad possession, give him one chance to redeem himself.

There should be no reason Smith plays more than two drives tonight.

While it’s just the preseason, Jets fans will get their first chance to evaluate Smith. There will be a large portion of folks who overreact, as always, but his short stint tonight won’t tell us much. Still, after an up-and-down training camp thus far, tonight will be a nice barometer to measure where Smith is in Reich’s offense.

Was 2025 a fluke season, or was it the beginning of Smith’s decline? That question won’t be answered in its entirety tonight, but at the very least, we will get a look at Smith before Week 1.

For a team like the Jets that can’t afford to get off to a sluggish start, playing all starters is wise, particularly their 35-year-old quarterback.

Cade Klubnik: 5-6 series

One of the Jets’ questionable decisions during last week’s opener was not giving Cade Klubnik enough snaps.

The fourth-round rookie attempted just seven passes and was on the field for 15 plays. On those seven passing attempts, he completed five of them (71.4%) for 56 yards, while both of his drives led to points.

Klubnik should undoubtedly take the bulk of the snaps tonight. While he appears to be the leader in the clubhouse to earn the Jets’ QB2 role, there needs to be a larger sample size to fully evaluate him.

Similar to Smith, he has had an up-and-down training camp. The difference, though, is that Smith has been in the league for over a decade while Klubnik is a Day 3 rookie fighting for an important role.

After last week’s game, it seems highly unlikely that Bailey Zappe or Brady Cook will be the Jets’ QB2 even if Klubnik struggles to close the preseason. However, the Jets need an extended look at Klubnik to find out whether they should add a veteran before the season starts to assume backup QB duties.

Klubnik is expected to run with the Jets’ second-team offense tonight, unlike last week, when he played with the starters because of Smith’s foot soreness.

Bailey Zappe/Brady Cook: Split the remainder

Whether fans like it or not, Brady Cook and Bailey Zappe will most likely play in tonight’s game.

Last week, Jets head coach Aaron Glenn emphasized wanting to get a look at all four quarterbacks throughout the preseason.

While he should not be blamed for taking that approach, that isn’t a valid reason for cutting Klubnik’s snaps short. Both quarterbacks have had their chances.

Cook started the final four games last season and struggled badly, while Zappe has made nine career starts. Both have thrown more interceptions than touchdowns in the regular season.

There is still some value in seeing whether either has improved throughout the summer, as third- and fourth-stringers don’t get many reps in practice, but the Jets should already have a strong idea of who these players are. For that reason, New York can comfortably relegate Zappe and Cook to the back end of the game while Klubnik assumes the next five to six drives after Smith’s exit.