Garrard tweeted a photo of himself signing his contract with the Jets back during the last offseason.
Credit: Twitter/@davidgarrard9
If there is the possibility of playing for the Jets next year, backup quarterback David Garrard would like to take advantage of it.
Garrard, who retired this offseason and then signed with the Jets a second time in mid-October, did not appear on the active list in 2013, let alone play in a game. He was brought in originally during the offseason to challenge Mark Sanchez as the starting quarterback but retired when a knee injury limited his mobility. He came back in midseason and told Metro he understood his role was to be that of a mentor to rookie Geno Smith.
Now he’d just be happy to come back.
“I’ve talked with a few people today – just in passing with a few coaches. They always ask, ‘What do you think about moving forward?’ That sort of stuff,” Garrard told Metro. “We are always competing when we’re on the field so they don’t need to tell me specifically about a role. I’d like to be back with Geno and Matt [Simms] and [quarterback] coach [David] Lee. I’d love it.”
But his future with the green and white is very much up in the air.
Set to enter his 11th season in the league, Garrard hasn’t played in a game since 2010 due to pesky knee injuries. He sees the possibility to play some more, even if he doesn’t have a definitive plan or a specified role on the team.
“I just don’t know, you don’t know what the future lies,” Garrard said. “You can say one thing and a couple twists and turns, you’re coaching. I can definitely see it, but not sure if that is in my future. I definitely have one or two more years left. I’m just taking it month to month.”
As for the player he mentored, Garrard was positive about Smith’s development. Despite some definite ups and downs this year, the veteran sees good tools to build around.
Neither head coach Rex Ryan nor general manager John Idzik has said Smith enters the offseason as the incumbent starter.
“I think he’s definitely proven [he can be the starter]. He’s brought a team that not a lot of people gave a shot to get to .500,” Garrard said. “A lot of quarterbacks would like to be in that situation. He’s done well. Has he proven it? Yeah, I think so. I know he wants to work on being more consistent.”
Follow Jets beat writer Kristian Dyer on Twitter @KristianRDyer.
