But they gave a spark and then some.
"Pretty much it was like being shot out of a cannon," RB
"It was good. They got me the ball early," Goodson added. "It was on a first-down play and they had to go chase me around the edge."
Goodson won that race, taking the direct snap out of the Wildcat around left end for a 26-yard gain to the Falcons 41, starting the Jets' second scoring drive of the game that concluded with
Surely he had some butterflies fluttering around in his stomach for this debut.
"Definitely, a little bit," he agreed. "But once the National Anthem was sung, after that it was pretty good."
Goodson said his hamstring, which flared up on Friday, was a little tight, which would explain the limited use of the fifth-year back. Nevertheless, he provided decent production on his 11 offensive plays for the night, gaining 32 yards on three carries and taking one reception 9 yards on his first offensive contribution as a Jet, converting a third-and-2 on the opening drive.
Asked how he felt things went, he preferred to talk about the group rather than the individual.
"I'm just excited the way our team played, the way Geno [Smith] played, the offensive line," he said. "And we're spreading the ball around."
Certainly that was true in the backfield as the original three-headed tailback rotation conceived of in the offseason finally came together in this game.
Others who were making debuts of different kinds in this game were:
■ WR
■ Third-round rookie
■ WR
Extra Points
Geno Smith finished with a passing line of 16-for-20 for 199 yards, three TDs and no interceptions for a 147.7 passer rating. That's the sixth-best rating by a Jets starting QB since 1975, with the first five spots going to Ken O'Brien (158.3 twice), Chad Pennington, 158.3 and 148.1) and Vinny Testaverde (147.9).
With Geno and the offense offering no giveaways for the first game this season while the defense turned the ball over once on