Jets' Early-Season Slate Could Be Make or Break for Geno Smith

Jets fans are patiently waiting for the full 2026 schedule to be released Thursday at 8 p.m. ET, as there’s a ton of buzz surrounding head coach Aaron Glenn’s club heading into Year 2 of his tenure.

The Jets had a fantastic draft last month, bringing in an influx of young players who will be the building blocks of the future. New York also made a couple of trades this offseason, including at quarterback, as Geno Smith is returning to the Big Apple for another stint.

The 35-year-old Smith is coming off an ugly 2025 season with the Las Vegas Raiders, where he completed 67.4% of his passes for 3,025 yards, 19 touchdowns, and 17 interceptions. The veteran signal caller needs a huge bounce-back year, not only to help the Jets, the team that drafted him 13 years ago, but to salvage his career.

If Smith, for some reason, looks like the same quarterback we saw in Vegas last season, New York could look to get rookie Cade Klubnik some playing time to see what he can do. And as for Smith, he’ll be a free agent hoping to land another opportunity if he can’t get it done with the weapons around him.

Luckily for Smith, the reported start of the 2026 season for the Jets is favorable for him to get off on a strong foot.

Jets’ first four games could be a blessing in disguise for Geno Smith

As things currently stand, the Jets’ first four regular-season contests are reportedly against the Titans (road, Week 1), Packers (home, Week 2), Bears (road, Week 4), and Browns (home, Week 5). We don’t know who the Jets will play in Week 3, so for this exercise, we’ll include the Browns.

Smith’s first time will come against the Titans, led by former Jets head coach Robert Saleh. The Titans’ defense wasn’t spectacular in 2025, allowing the 10th-most passing yards per game (230.5) and 15th-fewest rushing yards per game (114.6). Tennessee also had 42 sacks, but only six interceptions.

However, the Titans’ defense improved in the offseason as they added a slew of players, including Jermaine Johnson II, Keldric Faulk (first-round pick), John Franklin-Myers, Alontae Taylor, and Cordale Flott. Smith will have his hands full against this unit, but it's nothing he can’t conquer playing behind his offensive line and the weapons at his disposal.

After Week 1, New York will reportedly return to MetLife to play the Packers’ defense, which may be without Micah Parsons, who is a candidate to be placed on the PUP list as he continues to rehab from his torn ACL.

Not having to face Parsons would be huge, as Green Bay’s pass rush was nonexistent without him. As Will Parkinson of the Turn on the Jets Podcast pointed out, the Packers’ pass-rushing rate dropped from 43.9% to 23.4% (dead last in the NFL) after his season-ending injury.

And think about this, the Packers are without Rashan Gary and Kingsley Enagbare, the latter, who is now with the Jets.

Now, that doesn’t mean Smith will have it easy, as the Packers have playmakers at LB and secondary. But the first step will be to protect him in the pocket, so he can step up and find his WRs and TEs. 

Looking at the other two games against the Bears and Browns, each team will pose its own issues. Chicago feasted on takeaways with a league-leading 33 in 2025. But lost several key members in the secondary, including Nahshon Wright, who is with the Jets.

With the Browns, the goal is not to allow Myles Garrett to ruin the game, but Smith needs to play can football against their linebackers and secondary. If Smith can lead the Jets to a 2-2 or even 3-1 stretch, his job will be safe.

But if things go south with Smith and the Jets start 1-3, Klubnik could be thrown into the mix later in the season, which could play a significant role with what New York does in 2027.

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