New York Jets Head Coach Todd Bowles and offensive coordinator Chan Gailey aren’t on the same page when it comes to Bryce Petty.
There seems to be a clear disconnection when it comes to the managing of Bryce Petty. According to Connor Hughes of NJ.com Todd Bowles believes that he can evaluate a player in practice.
Chan Gailey doesn’t feel that way. When asked about Bryce Petty he responded with:
“[Petty] needs all of the work he can get. Just like every young player needs all of the work they can get. It helps to play in games.”
That seems like a reasonable response. How could one possibly evaluate Bryce Petty after just one start in the NFL?
In Petty’s one start against the Los Angeles Rams, he completed 19 of 32 passes for 163 yards with one touchdown and an interception. He wasn’t great but he wasn’t terrible either. He actually left you with more to be desired.
The play calling by Gailey was also ultra-conservative, so it’s almost hypocritical for him to go against Bowles here. Petty’s one shining moment was a deep ball to Robby Anderson, his favorite target from the preseason.
We never truly saw what Petty could do because he wasn’t given the chance in that game. They were begging him not to make a mistake.
Then, coming out of the bye week, the Jets decided to go back to veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and they will continue with Fitz this week against the Colts. It sounds like Gailey and Bowles have differing opinions of the QB situation.
The only logical explanation for Bowles sticking with Fitz is to save his job. He must fear he will lose his job if the team continues to play poorly.
Despite the seemingly never-ending pressure to win in the NFL, Bowles shouldn’t fear job security if he goes to Petty or even Christian Hackenberg. It would be the smart thing to do.
At 3-8 the Jets are going nowhere. We know what Fitzpatrick is, so why not at least find out what Petty and Hackenberg are? If they fail, then you know what you’re working with next season.
Failure isn’t the worst case scenario. The worst case scenario is going into 2017 with question marks at the QB position. Ultimately, this just shows how poor of a state the New York Jets are in. Nobody is on the same page.