Todd Bowles talks new Jets QB Matt Flynn

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. – Matt Flynn is a New York Jet, giving a team now eight days removed from a punch to the jaw of their quarterback depth a veteran option.

Last week, the Jets brought Flynn in for a physical but didn’t workout the veteran, now set to enter his eighth year in the NFL. But they ended up signing him to a contract on Tuesday, a deal that likely will keep him in town till at least September when Geno Smith is expected to be back from the jaw surgery he had late last week.

Smith of course was sucker-punched last Tuesday by linebacker IK Enemkpali over a $600 debt. The linebacker was quickly cut from the team and then signed by the Buffalo Bills late last week. With Smith out, the Jets have veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and then two rookies on their depth chart. They needed someone with NFL experience.

They got that in Flynn, sort of.

“He’s a veteran, he’s been around a few places, he kind of knows the system a little bit. He’s the only one available too,” head coach Todd Bowles said on Wednesday.“He has a lot of experience in the system – not being the only one available to sign but he had the most experience. We needed a veteran quarterback right away. He fit.”

Flynn’s most productive season came in 2013 when he split time between the Green Bay Packers and the Oakland Raiders. He played in seven games that year and completed 124 passes for 1,392 yards with eight touchdowns and five interceptions.

It was the most action he’s seen in his NFL career, which has been dogged by injuries and more hype than fulfilled promise.

Infamously in 2012, Flynn signed a three-year contract with the Seattle Seahawks worth $20.5 million but then flamed out that year, losing the starting job to Russell Wilson.

But now currently with the Jets, Flynn has an ankle injury and Bowles hopes he will be available for next week’s third preseason game against the New York Giants. He said that if he needed to go with the veteran he would be fine with it, just not this moment.

“Right now I wouldn’t be comfortable because we just got him,” Bowles said.“Once he gets accustomed to the system, I’d be comfortable with him.”