Geno Smith didn't tip his hand one way or another on his feelings about playing the Raiders, the club he spent the 2025 season with. But the Jets quarterback did confirm Wednesday that Sunday's home game against the Silver & Black is a big one for him, but not for any "Viva Las Vegas" nostalgia nor for any animosity over trials and tribulations he may have suffered in the city that served as the setting for "The Hangover" movies.

"Going up against obviously a team that I played on, I don't really put too much stock into it," Smith, ever the stoic competitor, said after the Jets' Wednesday practice. "I just think it's another game and that's the way you need to approach it, that's the way that I approach every game. It's the most important game because it's the next one."

It's also important for Smith because as he said about the new/old team he's with and the new offense he's running: "It's another game, it's another opportunity for us as a team to go out there and try to start a streak, try and establish ourselves. We want to preach improvement every single week."

Many want to see that offensive improvement in the Jets' situational football. T in third down, red zone and especially two-minute situations. Smith sees the Jets perhaps making the progress needed in time to take on the Raiders.

"One opportunity in our previous game, we went up-tempo and I think we scored in a minute-30, so there's improvement right there," he said of the third and last TD drive against Miami, when the Jets moved seven plays and 65 yards in 1:20 to his touchdown pass and two-point toss, both to TE Mason Taylor. "We didn't get a chance before the half, but at the end of the game, we did get a chance, we gave ourselves a shot at the end, so I would say there's improvement."

While the Jets still aren't perfect, the offense in general and Smith in particular have shown flashes of the dynamic unit that HC Aaron Glenn, OC Frank Reich, everyone on the team thought they would see this year.

Smith is one of the NFL's three most accurate passers heading into Week 8 ─ he's completed 145 of 207 passes for an accuracy to the thousandths decimal of 70.048%. He also moved up to sixth in passer rating at 105.2.

And adding his three downfield connections with first-round rookie WR Omar Cooper Jr. the past two games, Smith has eight completions of 40-plus yards, to six different receivers. He becomes the first Jets QB to ring up that many field-flipping throws in the first seven games of a season since Joe Namath had 12 completions of 40-plus yards in the first seven games of 1972. That stretch, fans of a certain age will recall, included Namath's classic Game 2 shootout with the Colts' Johnny Unitas in Baltimore.

Smith highlighted some of the good that came about because opposing defenses have been so preoccupied with containing Wilson.

"I make decisions based on what I see. If you've ever played quarterback, you know there's a lot that goes into it," he said. "So I'm always trying to make the best decisions for the team while focusing on getting the ball into the hands of our playmakers. I thought Cooper had a great game, I thought Mason had a great game, we completed 70 percent of our passes.

"There's only one football on the field and Garrett's a guy ─ I've always said this ─ I'm looking to get him the ball as much as I can. But I've got to be mindful of what the defense is doing as well."

Smith knows he must be on high alert Sunday. Even though he spent only the 2025 season in Las Vegas, he describes eighth-year Raider Maxx Crosby as a "good friend" and also as a "game-wrecker." Crosby has just two sacks in the Raiders' seven games, off his usual double-digit sack pace for a season, and no doubt would love to run into his old buddy a few times to get that number up.

But Smith has a good feeling about the Jets going up against one of his old teams, and about the reaction of the MetLife  Stadium crowd to the offensive improvements the QB and his unit want to unveil Sunday.

"We have to give them something to be pleased with," Smith said. "So it starts with us going out there, starting early, playing well, and giving them a reason to cheer. It was pretty loud at end of that game we just played. We got close, we had an opportunity, the fanbase was great. I expect the same things."