Geno Smith followed up one of the best statistical games of his career with a shaky one. Now he’ll try to bounce back. 

In one of the stranger games you’ll ever see, Smith was 8-for-15 passing for 119 yards and one touchdown. Fifty-eight of those yards came on the fourth-quarter touchdown pass to Isaiah Williams. 

Smith completed only 53.3 percent of his passes. It was a surprise to see how inaccurate Smith was because his accuracy had been his strength in the first three games of the season. 

There were so many things that went wrong in Chicago, it’s unfair to pin the 23-12 loss on Smith but he was one of the culprits. The Jets need him to rebound against the Browns at MetLife Stadium this Sunday to end the three-game losing streak and keep the Jets season alive. 

Jets coach Aaron Glenn chalked Smith’s performance up to life in the NFL. 

“I wish this was fairy land and every week is going to be [perfect],” Glenn said. “You have to fight through some things and that’s one thing, and I’ve told you guys this before, that’s one thing that attracts me to him because he’s been through so much and he’s able to overcome. 

“[In] this game, was he at his best? Probably not. But I think what he did was somebody’s best, you know, if you look at it that way. But I know that he’s going to get right back to who he is, and that’s completing a high percentage of throws, but I have no concern with that with this player because of who he is and his career and how he’s operated.” 

While it is fair to view the Bears game overall as an outlier, there is one troubling trend that Smith and the Jets offense has shown in the three-game losing streak. They have gotten off to slow starts. In Chicago, the Jets only had four plays in the first quarter and they came in the shadow of their own goal post. But it was not just against the Bears where they struggled early. 

The Jets scored on their first possession of the season in Tennessee, with rookie Kenyon Sadiq rushing for a touchdown. Those seven points are the only ones the Jets have scored in the first quarter this year. The Jets have punted seven times in the first quarter and they gained 43, 45 and 15 yards, respectively, in the last three games. 

Smith’s statistics have gotten better as games have gone along. He is completing 63 percent of his passes in the first quarter. That percentage goes up to 68 percent in the second quarter, 75 percent in the third quarter and 85 percent in the fourth. Three of Smith’s five touchdown passes have come in the fourth quarter. He has one in the first half, none in the first quarter. 

Jets players said there has been an emphasis placed on getting off to better starts this week. Smith was asked what the key is to having early success. 

“Executing better,” Smith said. “That’s really it; we’ve got to execute down in, down out, and whether that’s the first or the fourth quarter, you’ve got to do your assignment. That’s the key; us playing 11 as one and going out there and doing our assignments and just having that mindset to go score every single time.” 

The Browns have allowed 27 points in the first quarter, tied for the fourth most in the NFL. So, it seems like this is an opportunity for Smith and the Jets to do something early in the game. 

Smith said he has moved past Sunday’s performance in Chicago. 

“I just stay in the moment,” Smith said. “Not think ahead, not think behind and just focus at what’s at hand, which today we got to go out there and have a great practice. I think you want to develop good camaraderie throughout the week and just have a great feeling about the game plan, so when you go out there on Sunday, you’re not thinking about it, you’re executing, you’re reacting and just going and playing your game. For me, it’s all about the process and that’s something I continue to focus on.”