New York Jets quarterback Geno Smith is ahead of schedule in his recovery from a jaw injury and practiced in full on Wednesday. His broken jaw was the result of a punch thrown by the Bills' IK Enemkpali.
Smith has been cleared by doctors to practice and could return for Week 3 against the Philadelphia Eagles, head coach Todd Bowles said. The Jets initially expected him to be out for about six to 10 weeks.
The 24-year-old quarterback missed the whole preseason because of the surgery he underwent to repair two fractures in his jaw. Two weeks ago, he began practicing on a limited basis which mostly involved seven-on-seven drills. On Wednesday, he took part in team drills for the first time following his surgery.
However, even if Smith returns for Sunday's match, it looks like he will not be the team's starting QB anytime soon. Coach Bowles made it clear on Tuesday that fellow Ryan Fitzpatrick will continue to assume the starter and will receive all the first-team snaps, even after the injured QB returned to full health.
"Ryan is the starting quarterback right now. I mean, we're going good. We have good chemistry and everything else. Geno understands that." Bowles mention earlier in the week.
On Thursday's practice, the Jets' head coach continues to talk about injuries and who will be participating in the impending game versus the Eagles. He noted that two of the team's key players, cornerback Darrelle Revis and wide receiver Eric Decker, are still questionable for Sunday.
Revis has sustained a strained groin and Decker has sprained his knee. The cornerback was able to practice on Thursday in limited action but wide receiver was not.
Given the fact that his injury has improved since the beginning of the week, Revis is hopeful that he will make it in time. He said that this is the first time that he has dealt with a groin injury. Bowles noted that the 30-year-old cornerback's injury does not appear to be serious and he did not have an MRI test or anything.
Bowles added that Revis is "a playmaker and he's a heck of a football player. Anytime you lose a heck of a player you're not going to be the same, but we have a bunch of guys that can go out there and play. I'm confident that they'll go out there and perform."
More uncertainty is surrounding Decker return for weekend's game. He has sprained his left knee during the recent match against the Indiana Colts and has not practiced since.
When asked about his thoughts on Decker's return on Sunday, Bowles said, "Not yet, he hasn't done anything. He said he was feeling better but he still hasn't done anything. Until we can see him run, we haven't ruled him out. We'll see if he can get running around and moving in the next couple days."
