The New York Jets QB doesn’t want to be a game manager. He wants his play and the play-calling to instead focus on taking more chances.
New York Jets quarterback Bryce Petty had a pretty pedestrian first career start last Sunday in a loss to the Los Angeles Rams. But Petty has officially made it clear that he wants the offense, if it’s under his control at some point again this season, to be much more open.“It’s not about being a game manager,” said Petty to George Willis of The New York Post. “You want to win. I don’t like flirting with that line. I want to be me. I like slinging that ball around.”
Take away a 52-yard reception by rookie wide receiver Robby Anderson on an under-thrown ball by Petty, and that leaves the second year QB with just 111 yards on 18 completions. That statistic is symbolic of a much larger issue that day which was the very predictable, predetermined and overly-basic play-calling by Jets offensive coordinator Chan Gailey.
It’s hard to say without actually being on the Jets’ sideline, but many of Petty’s throws appeared to be chosen ahead of time by coaches. This led to lots of short yardage play-calls featuring screens, slants and hitches.
With the Jets sitting at 3-6 prior to Petty’s start, they should have thrown the conservative playbook to the wall. Especially with receivers like Anderson and Brandon Marshall who can stretch the field, they should have given Petty a chance to just toss it up to them and maybe the O would’ve put up more than six measly points.
“I think there were definitely some opportunities there to go downfield,” said Petty. “I’ll learn as I go when I can take those shots.”
Head coach Todd Bowles has yet to announce who his starting signal-caller will be against the Patriots after the bye week. There’s a good chanceRyan Fitzpatrick will return as the starter if his knee is healthy, but Bowles has said he will not discuss his quarterback situation until the bye week has passed.
