The last day had been 3,623 days earlier, and it had ended badly. Geno Smith, briefly reinstated as Jets QB1 because Ryan Fitzpatrick had grown addicted to throwing interceptions, actually had a nice moment early in that game, Oct. 13, 2016, lofting a 69-yard touchdown pass to Quincy Enunwa.
But then, not long thereafter, he was on the run in the Jets backfield. Baltimore’s Matthew Judon caught him and flattened him, and Smith heard the most dreadful sound a quarterback can ever hear.
POP went his right knee.
It was his ACL. It meant his season. It meant that a star-crossed career with the Jets that had contained a couple of hopeful notes and one career-altering punch to his jaw was now, officially over. To his credit, Smith came back. He was briefly and unwittingly the most unpopular man in New York a year later when he wound up being the quarterback used as a cudgel by Ben McAdoo to effectively end Eli Manning’s Giants career.
