Geno Smith did not play in Friday night’s preseason opener against the Buccaneers, held out with ankle soreness after the joint-practice week. Aaron Glenn called the decision precautionary, and Cade Klubnik took over as the Jets’ first-team quarterback in a preseason loss to Tampa Bay at MetLife Stadium, according to the Jets’ official game recap. Two possessions is a thin sample, but it is the clearest look the Jets have had at Klubnik running the offense with the starters around him, and it is worth working through carefully.
Why Cade Klubnik Got the Start
Smith was held out with ankle soreness after the joint-practice week, and by kickoff Friday he was sidelined entirely. Glenn framed the move as precautionary, according to the Jets’ official game recap.
Klubnik got the start and operated with the first group despite having taken only limited first-team reps in camp. Glenn told him ahead of the game that he would start because of Smith’s injury and credited him for running the huddle with the veterans around him, according to the Jets’ Klubnik recap. Most of the Jets’ other regulars saw limited first-quarter action alongside him, so the offense he ran looked close to the group Smith normally leads.
The starting defense played two series in that stretch and forced two punts. On Tampa Bay’s opening series, Will McDonald opened the game with a seven-yard sack before the Jets forced the first punt, according to the Jets’ official game recap.
What the Two Scoring Possessions Showed
Klubnik played two possessions before giving way to Bailey Zappe, finishing 5 of 7 for 56 yards with no touchdowns and no interceptions, a line that included one sack for two yards and a 94.9 passer rating, according to the official NFL gamebook. Both possessions ended in points, and the way Klubnik got there mattered more than the box score line by itself.
The first drive covered 12 plays and 65 yards in 6:05, a methodical march rather than an explosive one, and it ended with Cade York’s 27-yard field goal, per the official NFL gamebook. Klubnik connected with Mason Taylor for gains of 12 and 7 yards and found Garrett Wilson twice, for 21 and 11 yards, 32 yards on those two completions combined. Moving the chains on twelve plays without a sack that stalled the drive or a throw that put the offense in a bad down and distance is its own small signal about pocket composure.
On the second possession, Klubnik hit Omar Cooper Jr. for five yards before handing the offense to the run game, according to the official NFL gamebook. Braelon Allen carried three times for 8, 4 and 31 yards, the last one going for a touchdown and a 10-0 lead. Klubnik operated the drive without a turnover and spread the ball to three different targets across the two possessions before Allen finished the second one.
Why Bailey Zappe’s Turnovers Changed the Comparison
Zappe replaced Klubnik in the second quarter and threw interceptions on back-to-back possessions, per the official NFL gamebook. Ayden Garnes returned the first one 47 yards for a Buccaneers touchdown, and Rashad Wisdom picked off the second. Zappe finished 6 of 10 for 55 yards, no touchdowns, two interceptions, two sacks for 16 yards and a 35.4 rating.
Klubnik operated cleanly across seven attempts. Zappe turned the ball over twice in a short window, and the Garnes return directly tied the game after the Jets had built a 10-0 lead. That gap strengthens the case that Klubnik earned a longer look going forward.
Glenn’s comments in the Jets’ Klubnik recap described the first-group operation as outstanding, while also flagging mistakes that need correction. Klubnik, in that same report, called the opportunity fun, acknowledged his own mistakes and credited the veteran players around him. Glenn separately told the Jets’ official recap he liked several early developments but saw late-game areas that still need work, a comment that applies to the broader roster and not to Klubnik alone.
What the Jets Can and Cannot Take From Seven Attempts
Patrick’s read after the game, laid out in JetCast’s reaction episode, was that the short outing helped Klubnik’s case to be QB2, and that Smith’s absence created a look at him the Jets otherwise would not have gotten this summer. That is JetCast’s read on the tape, built from a first-team drive that scored and a second one that did too.
Seven attempts is a small sample, and Tampa Bay rested its starting defense for the entire game, according to the Buccaneers’ own postgame report.
Klubnik ran the first-team offense for two possessions, did not turn the ball over, and connected with Garrett Wilson twice for 32 yards, according to the official NFL gamebook. He helped the Jets to ten points before Zappe’s turnovers changed the game’s shape. The final score was Buccaneers 24, Jets 16, a result driven far more by Zappe’s turnovers and Tampa Bay’s second-half rushing touchdowns from Josh Williams and Jalon Daniels than by anything Klubnik did in his two series, according to the Jets’ official game recap. That is the useful signal from Friday night, and it is the thing worth watching as the Jets continue sorting out the QB2 competition behind Smith.
JetCast’s preview of the Buccaneers matchup published the day before kickoff, after both joint-practice reports were already up, and framed Klubnik’s preseason work as part of an ongoing QB2 audition. That preview followed a week of practice coverage: JetCast’s day nine joint-practice report covered Smith’s two early interceptions and the offense’s red-zone rebound, and JetCast’s day ten joint-practice report covered sharper short and red-zone execution along with Klubnik’s practice touchdown.