DETROIT — Sunday against the Lions, Geno Smith played the best game of his second Jets stint — albeit in a losing effort. 

The veteran quarterback was 31-for-37 passing for 321 yards with three TDs and no INTs in the 31-24 loss to the Lions at Ford Field. 

“I thought he did an outstanding job,’’ Jets head coach Aaron Glenn said. 

“He’s a warrior, man,’’ tight end Jeremy Ruckert said. “He just stands in there. Looking at the plays that we put in during the week, even when he was back in Seattle or younger in his career, he stands in that pocket and delivers the ball while he gets hit. 

“He’s a field general. We have the utmost confidence in him. We need to do a better job of keeping him upright, giving him places to throw the ball because we know that we have a quarterback that can get it to us.’’ 

Indeed, Smith, who was sacked five times in the game, was sacked on the final Jets offensive play, fumbling the ball away to the Lions. 

Smith entered Sunday having started three games against teams coached by Lions head coach Dan Campbell, all between 2022-24 when the quarterback was with the Seahawks. 

In those games, Smith had a 2-1 record, throwing for more than 300 yards in each of those games.

He’d completed 73.2 percent of his passes for 1,043 yards with fives touchdowns and one interception. 

This marked the second consecutive week that Smith faced an opposing coach against whom he had previous success.

Last week, Smith faced Packers defensive coordinator Jonathan Gannon, against whom he was 4-0 before losing 20-17 in overtime.