What Cade Klubnik's Minicamp Injury Means for Jets' QB Depth Chart

As mandatory minicamp gets underway at Florham Park, Jets fans are still wondering who will be Geno Smith’s backup when Week 1 rolls around in September. As of now, it's still an open competition between journeyman Bailey Zappe, rookie Cade Klubnik, and former UDFA Brady Cook.

During OTAs, Glenn made it known that Zappe is the leader in the clubhouse for the No. 2 QB spot, which didn’t overly excite the fanbase, given that they have a rookie QB in Klubnik, whose talent and upside outweigh Zappe's.

Klubnik got off to a blistering start at rookie minicamp, but also had his ups and downs at OTAs over the last few weeks, which included an injury. On Tuesday, Glenn provided an update on the rookie QB’s status, which left some hope that we could see him this week.

According to ESPN’s Rich Cimini, the former Clemson QB (back tightness) won’t practice on Tuesday, but he could be back by the end of minicamp. This report somewhat aligns with what we heard during the final week of OTAs. Glenn told reporters at the time that Klubnik wouldn’t participate in the final OTA practice, but “should be fine” for minicamp, per Al Iannazzone of Newsday.

That said, with minicamp only for a few days, there’s not much time for Klubnik to return, but it could create more opportunities for Zappe and even Cook, who seemingly wasn’t getting any reps in the open practices in front of reporters.

Bailey Zappe and Brady Cook could improve their chances of sticking on the Jets’ roster

Until Klubnik returns, Zappe will likely see most of the work during minicamp. Zappe has a lot to prove as he was brought in by the Jets on a futures deal in January. At most, he was supposed to be a camp arm, you could say.

But the fact that Glenn has him as the backup and the Jets haven’t signed another vet like Cooper Rush or Josh Dobbs speaks to the work and impression that the veteran QB has made on the Jets’ coaching staff.

Zappe’s career numbers aren’t great, as he has a 62.1 completion percentage with 15 TDs and 14 interceptions in 15 games (nine starts). That doesn’t inspire much confidence at all. But the fact that he finds himself on a team throughout his career shows that he brings value to a QB room.

If Zappe were to lose this competition, it wouldn’t be shocking to see him as the Jets’ QB3 to serve as another veteran that Klubnik could lean on.

However, Cook will try to make sure that doesn’t happen. He’s not so much competing for the QB2 spot as just trying to land the QB3 role.

As we mentioned earlier, Cook didn’t see any reps in front of the media during the first two open OTA practices, which is shocking, given that he actually played regular-season snaps for the Jets last year.

In fact, one could argue that Cook should be getting more reps than Zappe, as we don’t know what his ceiling is as an NFL quarterback. It’s hard to make a small judgment off the five games he played last year, as the Jets’ offense was in shambles.

Cook completed 57.5% of his passes for 739 yards, two touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Those aren’t great numbers by any means, but it doesn’t help when you get sacked 19 times in the process.

That said, this is a prime opportunity for Cook to show offensive coordinator Frank Reich that he should be taken seriously in this competition and is worth developing.

Nonetheless, here at Jets on SI, we’ll keep you posted on the latest happenings at minicamp and on any new developments in the QB room.

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