Same old Jets.

Three Geno Smith turnovers on Gang Green’s six offensive possessions in the first half expedited the outcome, an ugly Jets loss the Titans in Nashville, TN last Sunday. 38-13 was the final.

I attended the contest as a guest of pal Jeff D who is a charter season ticket subscriber to both the Titans and Predators. It was an excellent 48-hour visit to Music City highlighted by a couple late-night toonage-listening sessions at high volumes in Jeff’s fun room.

Geno’s first pass of the ballgame was a floater into the hands of Titans cornerback Alterraun Verner. As intended Jets receiver Stephen Hill watched Verner scamper with the ball the other way, Hill was leveled with a brutal, blind-side late helmet hit just below his chin by Titans free safety Michael Griffin. Hill needed help exiting the field and did not return. He was diagnosed with a concussion. There was no flag thrown on the play.

Smith forces a lot of balls into coverage. He played poorly enough to render the respectable effort of primary Jets ball carrier Bilal Powell and the team’s stout offensive line a wasted afternoon. Operating mostly out of shotgun and often without a huddle, the rookie quarterback appears composed in the pocket but lacks sound judgment when he lets the ball fly. Smith panics when tacklers get near. He was intercepted twice and fumbled twice. Verner was credited with three of the four takeaways.

Will Geno’s development as Jets quarterback of the future be stunted by making him the quarterback of the now so quickly? It’s hard to say. The Jets seem fully committed to Geno given Head Coach Rex Ryan’s reckless decision to insert veteran Mark Sanchez into action in the fourth quarter of a meaningless preseason game against the Giants. Sanchez took a season-ending shot to the shoulder while suffering the indignity of calling signals behind an offensive line that included third-stringers. While Sanchez may not have been much better than Smith this year, he deserved better. The Jets organization is dumb, dumb, dumb for allowing Sanchez to get creamed in the spot he was.

Perhaps the plan all along was for the Jets to go with Geno given the downward trajectory of Sanchez’s performance level going into his fifth pro season. What’s not debatable at this point is that the $20 million guaranteed handed to Sanchez by Jets owner Woody Johnson prior to last season only compounded the horrible decision in 2009 to make him the franchise quarterback. It’ll end up being about a $50 million mistake in sum. The number is way more than that when you consider the disgust level of Jet fans walking away from the chance to fill seats at the new building they share with the Giants.

Also distasteful about the current state of affairs is the continuing sight of Ryan on the sidelines. Johnson loves Ryan and made the retention of him a requirement when new GM John Idzik was hired prior to the current season. The Jets lead the league in penalties and penalty yardage through four regular season games. While Ryan has put a latch on the excessive mouthing off that was a trademark of his first four seasons at the helm, he bears responsibility for the sloppy play thus far with – or without a rookie quarterback.

Attendance at LP Field was announced at 69,143. No-shows numbered a couple thousand. It rained during the game’s final three quarters but it was of the drizzly, sporadic variety. The NFL’s new security procedures made it a slow-go getting in the stadium. The fans sitting in the immediate vicinity of Jeff’s pair of seats in section 123 were all friendly, well-behaved and enthusiastic.

We ate well on this visit. On Saturday night, we visited Papa Turney’s BBQ in Hermitage. Located in a strip mall occupied primarily by a bar called Shooter’s, the Papa’s BBQ pit out front filled the air with a woody smoke. Inside, the vibe was homey with warm greetings on arrival. We all ordered the BBQ pork plate which included two sides ($7.50). I forked the pungent boiled greens into the meat and squirted on a lot of hot sauce to make what turned out to be a wonderful stew of flavor. The next morning, Deborah hosted a fun homemade brunch gathering that included richly-smoked bacon, baked eggs and delicious cinnamon rolls (containing both walnuts and thin-cut almonds) brought by one of her guests. Before Jeff dropped me off at Nashville’s airstrip Monday morning, we went back to the great Pied Piper Eatery on Riverside. This place has become a favorite Nashville stop for me. I’m not sure how they prepare their chicken soup, but it’s magical for the way it tastes and makes you feel before getting on a flight.

I returned to New York via Washington-Dulles. I brought back one of the leftover cinnamon rolls. It did not garner interest from airport security in Nashville and served as my Tuesday morning breakfast.