Names Have Changed, but the Quarterback Mess Remains The Jets" Geno Smith, who was 4 of 10 for 29 yards on Sunday, will remain the starter. FLORHAM PARK, N.J. - The first quarterback to walk into the Jets" locker room Monday was David Garrard. Geno Smith followed. And soon after, so did Matt Simms. By then, it had been revealed which of them would start Sunday against Oakland. "We were just told that we're going to keep things the way they are," Simms said. Keeping things the way they are: a Jets forte. Only the names have changed since last season, when they mismanaged a quarterback mess that also involved three players. Smith has assumed the role occupied last December by Mark Sanchez, who can relate to being benched in Week 13 before being given a chance to redeem himself in the next game. Smith retaining his job for another week is akin to being recognized for serving the best spicy tuna roll in South Dakota. That, in not so many words, is the Jets" problem - one of them, rather. It is another year in which the focal point for the team's struggles settles on the quarterback, and the fact that the Jets are reliving this experience a year later cannot be a coincidence. Sanchez and Smith share a predilection for committing turnovers and overthrowing receivers, but also for sharing the huddle with a paucity of offensive playmakers. All three elements were on display during a 23-3 loss to the Miami Dolphins on Sunday, when Simms replaced Smith at the start of the second half. Every year, the talent eroded around Sanchez. Smith inherited much of that group, plus a crowd of castoffs. Smith shoulders a significant share of the blame for the Jets" three-game losing streak, but how a quarterback can develop, let alone thrive, in this environment should be the subject of a master's thesis. Coach Rex Ryan has to know that this situation is unlikely to help Smith over the next four weeks, nor will it help the Jets" quarterback next season, whoever that is. Perhaps the ideal chain of events for Smith - and, in turn, for Ryan - is that his performance in each of the next four games merits another start. That by season's end, General Manager John Idzik deems it harmful to Smith's development if he were to fire Ryan and the offensive staff. The Jets" coaches and front office are around Smith every day. They know his study habits and his retention rate and his ability to understand and decode defenses. They know just how much Smith has improved this season. It is their responsibility to isolate his attributes - both positive and negative - from the results and determine his capacity for growth. Ryan said he did not think it would be beneficial for Smith, who has looked overwhelmed as well as overmatched these last three games, to watch from the sideline. "People like to say, "Is a guy regressing?" " said Greg Cosell, a senior producer at NFL Films whose analysis of game film is widely respected around the league. It's not a matter of improvement or regression. It's whether the positives can become more consistent. That's what you're hoping for. That's what you hope to coach. Cosell spoke last week, before Smith endured his third consecutive poor outing: 4 of 10 passes for 29 yards and an interception against Miami. In all, he has thrown 19 interceptions while completing 54.7 percent of his passes. The Jets have scored one touchdown on their last 36 drives with Smith at quarterback. Simms, for his part, did not play better than Smith on Sunday. He was just different. His inability to spark the offense seemed to influence Ryan's choice. "If we're just looking at that tape, the option doesn't look very good - for either guy," Ryan said. Not to mention Garrard, the 35-year-old third-stringer who was given as much consideration to start as Tim Tebow was last year. Which leaves the Jets back where they started, with Smith. In his opening statement at Monday's news conference, Ryan announced his decision by saying, "We're going to go with - I'm going to go with Geno." That Ryan corrected himself - or felt the need to correct himself - was interesting. It might have meant nothing. It might have been an oversight, a verbal tic. Or it might have been Ryan's way of asserting himself, of proclaiming his power in the process, wary of the perception that under Idzik he now has a diminished role in personnel matters. In 10 months as general manager, Idzik has rebuilt the Jets, purging overpriced veterans to create cap space; dealing Darrelle Revis for draft picks; and turning over half the roster in his quest for sustainable success. He made the call to select Smith. And he also made the call to surround him - and furnish Ryan - with meager offensive talent this season. What Smith does with it, a week after being benched, will be revealing, but not defining.