{"id":849191,"date":"2026-04-02T12:26:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:26:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849191\/"},"modified":"2026-04-02T12:26:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T12:26:15","slug":"former-jets-coach-todd-bowles-offers-take-on-geno-smiths-return","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/849191\/","title":{"rendered":"Former Jets coach Todd Bowles offers take on Geno Smith’s return"},"content":{"rendered":"

When he was head coach of the New York Jets, Todd Bowles saw the worst of Geno Smith as a quarterback and leader. <\/p>\n

Bowles was the head coach in 2015 when Smith\u2019s time as a starter for the Jets had run its course. In August, Smith was punched in the face by teammate IK Enemkpali over an alleged $600 owed. With Smith sidelined due to a broken jaw, New York turned to Ryan Fitzpatrick during the regular season.<\/p>\n

Smith was shoved out the door.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s safe to say things have changed since then, over a decade ago. <\/p>\n

Nearly 10 years have passed since Smith\u2019s last start with the Jets: Week 7 of the 2016 season. Smith finally got his second chance as a starter, only to tear his ACL in the first half, ending his first tenure in New York.<\/p>\n

Since his departure, Smith has enjoyed a career resurgence as both a leader and quarterback, so much so that the Jets opted to bring him back through a trade with the Las Vegas Raiders<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Geno has returned to New York. And his former head coach thinks a second chance might bear great fruit for the franchise.<\/p>\n

Bowles backs Jets\u2019 QB decision<\/p>\n

Speaking at league meetings in Arizona on Monday, Bowles emphasized that many quarterbacks around the NFL have found success after getting a change of scenery.<\/p>\n

Smith, he believes, may be the latest.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ve seen Sam [Darnold] come out and come back and succeed elsewhere,\u201d Bowles said.<\/a> \u201cYou\u2019ve seen Baker [Mayfield] come back and succeed elsewhere, you\u2019ve seen quite a few guys \u2013 [Daniel] Jones made a resurgence. So Geno\u2019s played enough football, maybe he\u2019s at the right place at the right time.\u201d<\/p>\n

Smith\u2019s resurgence began in Seattle<\/a>, where he replaced Super Bowl-winning quarterback Russell Wilson and went 28-24 as a starting quarterback. His 68.5% completion rate, coupled with 76 passing touchdowns to 36 interceptions, proved he could be a quality starter in the NFL.<\/p>\n

Things took a dive in Las Vegas last season, though. Smith won just two starts as a member of the Silver and Black and had been benched several times due to the struggles on offense. <\/p>\n

But not everyone is pinning Vegas\u2019 troubles on their quarterback.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was out there a couple of times, he was the leader,\u201d NFL Network\u2019s own Brian Baldinger said on the Jets\u2019 Official Podcast. \u201cYou know, he played really well last year. I don\u2019t know if any quarterback could have been successful. The offensive line fell apart. Lost their left tackle, lost their left guard. They were a disaster.\u201d<\/p>\n

Through all the turmoil in Las Vegas, though, Smith\u2019s attitude didn\u2019t change. It\u2019s something that Bowles believes should help him going into his second run with the Jets.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you\u2019re in this league long enough, you\u2019re going to learn how to become professional and how to handle things and deal with adversity,\u201d Bowles said. \u201cSo the fact that he\u2019s still in the league, I\u2019m sure he\u2019s done that.\u201d<\/p>\n

The head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers acknowledged that he hadn\u2019t seen or heard much about Smith since their short time together in Florham Park. What he has heard, though, is a player who is more mature, and a quarterback who understands how to win in the NFL. <\/p>\n

Both things are needed now more than ever in New York. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When he was head coach of the New York Jets, Todd Bowles saw the worst of Geno Smith…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":849192,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2051],"tags":[7,3228,226,1917,255,2321,2097,6,4403,3231,3916,3234,31834,7763],"class_list":{"0":"post-849191","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-new-york-jets","8":"tag-football","9":"tag-free-content","10":"tag-jets","11":"tag-new-york","12":"tag-new-york-jets","13":"tag-newyork","14":"tag-newyorkjets","15":"tag-nfl","16":"tag-ny-jets-coaches","17":"tag-ny-jets-news","18":"tag-ny-jets-players","19":"tag-standard","20":"tag-syndication","21":"tag-todd-bowles"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/116335108814988439","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849191","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=849191"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/849191\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/849192"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=849191"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=849191"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=849191"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}