fullscreen

eFinder

eFinder

Home › Article

It’s imperative Jets and Geno Smith back up their preseason intentions

Nypost · · 159 words · By Mark Cannizzaro
headphones Listen to the eFinder podcast briefing
Generate a natural audio summary of this story
Daily briefing

What to know about It’s imperative Jets and Geno Smith back up their preseason intentions

A clear trend has emerged in recent NFL summers of teams sitting their starting quarterbacks in preseason games to prevent injuries.

Claims checked 5
Techniques found 0
Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage
Left0%
Center75%
Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

A clear trend has emerged in recent NFL summers of teams sitting their starting quarterbacks in preseason games to prevent injuries.

Why it matters

It used to be commonplace — particularly when there were four preseason games instead of the three played now — for teams to play their starting units on both sides of the ball for at least a full first half in one of the first couple of games before resting…

Common ground

In the 16 preseason openers last week, 20 of the 32 projected starting quarterbacks did not play a snap.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

open_in_new Read the original article: https://nypost.com/2026/08/18/sports/its-imperative-jets-and-geno-smith-back-up-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

check_circle Corroborated 3
verified Verified By Reference 2
check_circle
Claim 1: “Smith’s absence stemmed from a sore ankle that he said swelled after the second of two joint practices with the Bucs last week.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm Geno Smith missed the game due to a sore ankle/foot. One source specifically mentions he was present for practice but would not play Friday's game against the Buccaneers due to this injury.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Eugene Cyril "Geno" Smith III is an American professional football quarterback for the New York Jets of the National Football League. He played college football for the West Virginia Mountaineers, rec…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geno_Smith
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Smith (ankle) was on the field for Monday's practice, Rich Cimini of ESPN.com reports.Smith won't play in Friday's preseason game against the Buccaneers due to a sore foot, Mike Garafolo of NFL Networ…
https://www.thefantasyfootballers.com/news/633909/geno-smith…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith looks downfield during an NFL preseason football game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, Aug. 21, 2026, in Pittsburgh.The Jets saw the former for much of training ca…
https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/7530667/2026/08/22/new-york…
check_circle
Claim 2: “including the Jets-Buccaneers game, where neither Geno Smith nor Baker Mayfield saw action.”
CORROBORATED
Multiple sources confirm that both Geno Smith and Baker Mayfield were 'notables confirmed out' or would not play in the preseason game, specifically mentioning Smith's absence due to foot/ankle soreness.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2020 season was the Cincinnati Bengals' 51st in the National Football League (NFL), their 53rd overall, and their second under head coach Zac Taylor. For the first time since 2003, the Bengals had…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2020_Cincinnati_Bengals_season
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Elisha Nelson Manning (born January 3, 1981) is an American former professional football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 16 seasons with the New York Giants. A member …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eli_Manning
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The NCAA Division I FBS passing leaders comprise the career, single-season, and single-game leaders in passing yards, touchdowns, passer efficiency, completions, and completion percentage. These lists…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NCAA_Division_I_FBS_passing_le…
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 3: “In seven of the 16 games, neither starting quarterback played”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
The provided evidence contains general NFL schedules and news but does not contain the specific statistic that neither starting quarterback played in seven of the 16 games.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Football League playoffs for the 2015 season began on January 9, 2016. The postseason tournament concluded with Super Bowl 50, on February 7, when the Denver Broncos defeated the Carolina…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2015–16_NFL_playoffs
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 NFL season is the 107th season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season began on September 9, 2026, with reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle defeating New England in the NFL…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_NFL_season
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Madden NFL 16 is an American football sports video game based on the National Football League and published by EA Sports for the PlayStation 3, PlayStation 4, Xbox 360, and Xbox One. Madden 16 introdu…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Madden_NFL_16
+ 3 more evidence sources
verified
Claim 4: “In the 16 preseason openers last week, 20 of the 32 projected starting quarterbacks did not play a snap.”
VERIFIED BY REFERENCE
While the evidence includes general NFL schedules and season information for 2026, there is no specific data or report confirming the exact number of starting quarterbacks (20 of 32) who missed the preseason openers.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The 2026 NFL season is the 107th season of the National Football League (NFL). The regular season began on September 9, 2026, with reigning Super Bowl champion Seattle defeating New England in the NFL…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2026_NFL_season
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — Joseph Eugene Porter Jr. (born July 26, 2000) is an American professional football cornerback for the Pittsburgh Steelers of the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the Penn…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Porter_Jr.
menu_book
wikipedia NEUTRAL — The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league in the United States. Composed of 32 teams, it is divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the N…
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Football_League
+ 3 more evidence sources
check_circle
Claim 5: “there were four preseason games instead of the three played now”
CORROBORATED
Two independent web sources explicitly state that the NFL preseason schedule was reduced from four games to three, with one source specifying this occurred in 2021.
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — With the NFL preseason reduced from four games to three, I’m running out of time to extend my streak of winning seasons with my exhibition plays for TSN. Once upon a time, the third preseason game was…
https://www.tsn.ca/betting/article/morning-coffee-nfl-teams-…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — Unfortunately for these players, the preseason schedule was reduced from four games to three games in 2021. Players fighting for roster spots will have just three exhibition games to showcase their sk…
https://stillcurtain.com/posts/projected-steelers-depth-char…
travel_explore
web search NEUTRAL — 2026 NFL Preseason Games - The official source for NFL news, video highlights, fantasy football, game-day coverage, schedules, stats, scores and more.
https://www.nfl.com/preseason
info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.