flgreen Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Simms gets legit shot tonight to steal Jets' No. 3 job from McElroy By BART HUBBUCH and BRIAN COSTELLO Last Updated: 9:07 AM, August 29, 2013 Posted: 2:29 AM, August 29, 2013 Jets Blog While the Jets’ starting quarterback situation won’t get any clearer tonight, their No. 3 quarterback situation will. With Geno Smith and Mark Sanchez sitting out, incumbent third quarterback Greg McElroy sidelined by a knee injury and Graham Harrell not even signing until last night, Matt Simms will get his chance to shine when the Jets end an eventful preseason schedule against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium. Those expected absences for the exhibition finale aren’t the only reason Phil Simms’ son appears to have a legitimate shot to knock off McElroy for the No. 3 job, though. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Simms has actually had the better camp and outplayed McElroy in the Jets’ first three preseason games, completing 11 of his 15 passes (73 percent) for 193 yards and a touchdown without an interception. That’s a big step up from McElroy, who is 11-for-19 (58 percent) for 145 yards and a touchdown. McElroy hasn’t thrown an interception, either, but he’s been sacked three times to once for Simms. McElroy also is suffering from a case of bad timing. The third-year pro re-injured his knee in practice this week, according to a source, and is not scheduled to play. McElroy has been dealing with knee and ankle injuries all month, in fact, and has missed the last two preseason games. That creates a big opening for Simms, who will start and play most, if not all, of the game against what was one of the NFL’s worst defenses last season. Philadelphia also is transitioning to a 3-4 defense this year, and the switch hasn’t exactly been a smooth one under new coach Chip Kelly. McElroy is taking the high road when the subject of possibly losing his roster spot is broached. “I’m happy for Matt,” McElroy said Tuesday. “He’s done a great job, and as a teammate, I’m thrilled to see him out there executing as well as he has.” How much Simms plays will be determined by Harrell’s availability. The former Packers backup, released last week after being beaten out by Vince Young, just agreed to terms with the Jets yesterday. So Harrell will need a crash course in the Jets’ offense if he is going to play tonight. But one of the reasons the Jets signed Harrell is because he is familiar with the basics of the West Coast offense used by new Jets offensive coordinator Marty Mornhinweg from playing in Green Bay. One thing appears certain: Smith won’t play in order to protect him for the regular season, while Sanchez is sidelined with a shoulder injury sustained when Rex Ryan controversially used him in the fourth quarter of last week’s 24-21 overtime win over the Giants. Ryan actually sounds more impressed with the Simms-McElroy competition than he does with what has been an unimpressive pillow fight between Smith and Sanchez for the starting job. “That’s great competition,” Ryan said Monday when asked about the Simms-McElroy duel. “We’ve said there’s different levels of competition on this football team, but certainly that is a tremendous competition.” As with his starter, Ryan isn’t showing his hand with the No. 3 job. “I feel confident in Simms because, I’ll tell you what, he’s earned respect and everything else,” Ryan said. “The thing about Greg is, he thinks he’s the smartest guy in the building because he is. Obviously, I feel good about those guys.” bhubbuch@nypost.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JetNation Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Matt Simms has an opportunity tonight to lock down the #3 QB job for the New York Jets. The son of former Giants great Phil Simms will start the preseason finale against the Philadelphia Eagles. Mark Sanchez is out with an injured shoulder, Geno Smith isn’t expected to play and Greg McElroy is hurt as well. According to source, Greg McElroy re-injured his knee in practice this week, leading to Harrell signing. Matt Simms starting tomorrow. #NYJ — Brian Costello (@BrianCoz) August 28, 2013 Simms, who played for Don Bosco Prep in NJ, has looked good this preseason. He has a strong arm and against the Jaguars he was 5 of 5 and looked like he was set to claim the 3rd QB job. Recently signed Graham Harrell is expected to back up Simms against the Eagles. The Jets will have to make a decision shortly after the game. NFL rosters must be trimmed to 53 players by August 31st at 6pm. Based on his performance tonight, Matt Simms can stake a claim to one of those spots. Follow Me: View the full article Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt39 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Brady starting for the Pats tonight. Geno sitting. Cant make it up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JiFtheOracle Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Brady starting for the Pats tonight. Geno sitting. Cant make it up. Good. And I hope Brady dies on the playing field. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Il Mostro Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Bye-bye McNoodle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jetlife33 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Do the 1's on the O-line play tonight? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Do the 1's on the O-line play tonight? You're not going to see any established starters out there tonight. The closest you'll likely get are the guys still competing at the safety position, Bohanon (if you even count him as a starter), and maybe some other work-in-progress guys like Vlad and Milliner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Greenseed4 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Good. And I hope Brady dies on the playing field. Just means Mallet will lead them to greener pastures. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stugotz81 Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I dont know about anyone else....but I am beyond fired up to see Simms play tonight. More than I would be to see Geno out there again.....Just seeing Simms throw the ball has hard as Favre did gets me excited....But I fear if he is playing behind a 2nd n 3rd string Offensive line we are gonna see him on the ground a lot tonight. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I dont know about anyone else....but I am beyond fired up to see Simms play tonight. More than I would be to see Geno out there again.....Just seeing Simms throw the ball has hard as Favre did gets me excited....But I fear if he is playing behind a 2nd n 3rd string Offensive line we are gonna see him on the ground a lot tonight. That's all he's played behind so far this preseason, so I'm not sure why it would be any different. It's not like the Eagles are going to be trotting their starting defenders out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CobraVerde Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Matt Simms is shooting for the #2 job as the backup so at any sign Sanchez falters he's our guy before Geno... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Matt Simms is shooting for the #2 job as the backup so at any sign Sanchez falters he's our guy before Geno... Fair or not, there's absolutely no way that's ever going to happen. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faba Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 You can not evaluate Simms based on playing against 2nd and 3rd stringers- all you want to see is his decision making - does he look like he knows what he is doing out there Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Blocker Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I suppose there' still some chance Geno might get into this game. I don't think Harrell has had a single play in practice. Is Simms going to play the whole game? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 I suppose there' still some chance Geno might get into this game. I don't think Harrell has had a single play in practice. Is Simms going to play the whole game? If Geno had any chance of playing, he'd be getting the start. There's a chance Simms plays the whole game, and at the very least he'll play the vast majority of the game. Harrell might get some clean-up time even if he hasn't had any practice time with the Jets. He was with GB up until a few days ago, so it's not like he's not ready or in shape to play, and reports are that the whole reason they chose him was because, with the similarly between GB's and Mornhinweg's systems, he would be able to get thrown right out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 I dont know about anyone else....but I am beyond fired up to see Simms play tonight. More than I would be to see Geno out there again.....Just seeing Simms throw the ball has hard as Favre did gets me excited....But I fear if he is playing behind a 2nd n 3rd string Offensive line we are gonna see him on the ground a lot tonight. I'm with ya Stu. When camp opened I was surprised Simms was even still on the roster. I thought he totally sucked. Got to say he has really impressed me. He may flame out tonight, but I really want to see him Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NJ Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Love nothing more than to see him excel - so far he looks like a gamer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 I suppose there' still some chance Geno might get into this game. I don't think Harrell has had a single play in practice. Is Simms going to play the whole game? No chance we see Smith tonight unless there are 2 injuries to QB's Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Blocker Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 No chance we see Smith tonight unless there are 2 injuries to QB's I think that's right. The chance of him being in there is purely theoretical as long as Sanchez is questionable for the TB game. Having said that, I frankly do not know at tihis point whether Simms or Smith would be the better choice on Opening Day if Sanchez cannot play. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
flgreen Posted August 29, 2013 Author Share Posted August 29, 2013 I think that's right. The chance of him being in there is purely theoretical as long as Sanchez is questionable for the TB game. Having said that, I frankly do not know at tihis point whether Simms or Smith would be the better choice on Opening Day if Sanchez cannot play. Simms is probably going to get 3 quarters of play tonight. Lets see how he fares in that longer stint against 2nd and 3rd stringers before we start talking about opening the season. Very, very unlikely but it would be fun Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
73andMe Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Good luck tonight, Matt. It's all in the genes! You just might Phil the bill! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Blocker Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 Simms is probably going to get 3 quarters of play tonight. Lets see how he fares in that longer stint against 2nd and 3rd stringers before we start talking about opening the season. Very, very unlikely but it would be fun I merely meant that we have seen so little of Smith that it seems odd to say he should be the starter if Sanchez can't play even if Simms plays very well. It's been a concern to me that hte messages we get out of Jetland all during camp and pre-season has been that it was really two competitions at Qb, one between Sanchez and Smith, the other between McElroy and Simms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larz Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 please let simms play well bye bye mcelrat Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bleedin Green Posted August 29, 2013 Share Posted August 29, 2013 That didn't take too long, huh? Must be something about that Jets starting QB position. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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