Bryce Petty will be returning to the backup role. Todd Bowles announced that Ryan Fitzpatrick is still the New York Jets’ starter.
With the NFL season more than half over and the hopes of a successful 2016 season long gone, head coach Todd Bowles announced in a press conference Monday that Ryan Fitzpatrick will be under center this Sunday against the New England Patriots.Bowles: QB Ryan Fitzpatrick will start Sunday. #NEvsNYJ pic.twitter.com/MIoFI5OK9J
— New York Jets (@nyjets) November 21, 2016
Fitzpatrick missed last week’s start against the Los Angeles Rams after spraining his MCL against the Miami Dolphins a week prior. He returned to finish the Miami game after taking a series off. After returning to the game against Miami but not starting against the Rams, most thought Bryce Petty was taking the reins.
Petty started against the Los Angeles Rams and two plays were seen that aren’t typically in the Jets’ playbook. There was the pretty hook and lateral play that resulted in a touchdown, and a deep fly pattern that resulted in a 52-yard gain to set up the sole touchdown drive of the afternoon.
Todd Bowles feels that Ryan Fitzpatrick gives the Jets the best chance to win and that is why he is the starter moving forward. With a 3-7 record, most would argue that now is the time to see what the future holds for the New York Jets.
He mentioned in his press conference that Fitzpatrick was always the starter and just wasn’t healthy enough to play against the Rams in Week 10. While this may be true, you can bet that if the record was revered and the Jets were contending, Fitz would have been the starter last week.
Why is Bowles starting Fitzpatrick? "He's healthy. He's been our starter…. We can do more things with him. I don't give away jobs."
— Manish Mehta (@MMehtaNYDN) November 21, 2016
Fitzpatrick has thrown more interceptions this season than any quarterback in the league, and more interceptions in the red zone this season than any other Jets quarterback in franchise history.
The old saying goes, “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Problem is: it’s broken and does need to be fixed, yet nothing is changing.
With questions flying about the decision to start Fitz over Petty, Bowles said a couple of times that it just wasn’t Petty’s time right now, but it will come. While that is encouraging, it may be too late. He may not realize it now, but the decision to roll with Fitz might just be the decision that causes his seat to go from warm to hot.
