Bryce Petty to start for Jets for the remainder of the season

The New York Jets had a terrible Monday Night Football game against the Indianapolis Colts. They couldn’t get things going on either side of the ball, with the offense stagnant and the defense giving up 41 points.

When the Colts went up 31-3, Jets head coach Todd Bowles decided that he had seen enough, and started Bryce Petty in the second half. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw 5-of-12 completions for 81 yards and an interception.

Petty came in and threw a touchdown in the fourth quarter, and finished completing 11 of his 25 passes for 135 yards against two interceptions.

Bowles said after the game the decision had been made beforehand that Petty would be starting the Jets final four games of the season, and Petty confirmed as much. Unfortunately, Fitzpatrick was not made aware of that decision until he walked up to the podium to speak to reporters after the game. It was an awkward situation that the coach tried to explain away.

“I’d been meaning to talk to him and I got tied up with a few things,” Bowles said. “I had a lot on my mind and got some things off my chest, and it kind of went over the wrong way. I’ll talk to him tomorrow.”

Fitzpatrick said he would be happy to help Petty moving forward, and said that he’d hope to help kick-start Petty’s career.

Petty said having been named the starter was big for him in the coming weeks.

“I think it helps,” Petty told reporters after the game. “Backup quarterback is tough because you get limited reps in practice, and those are big for me.”

This could be his last chance to prove himself, with Fitzpatrick and Geno Smith likely gone after this season. Christian Hackenberg is their only other option after Petty, and it wouldn’t be farfetched for the Jets to search elsewhere for a quarterback.

The rookie had appeared in just two games this season prior to tonight. He came in during the Jets’ Week 9 game against the Dolphins and threw just two passes, completing both for 19 yards. He started the following week against the Rams, completing 19 passes of 32 attempts for 163 yards, along with a touchdown and an interception.

Coming into Monday night’s game, Fitzpatrick had completed just over 57 percent of his passes on the season, and threw for 2,252 yards and 10 touchdowns against 13 interceptions. He led a Jets offense ranked 22nd in the NFL.

Looking ahead, the Jets will travel to Santa Clara next week to take on the 1-11 49ers, which should serve as a good early-career start for Petty. After that come three consecutive AFC East matchups, against the Dolphins, at the Patriots, and against the Bills.

Bowles will be hoping for some magic with Petty, as his seat became a lot hotter after a poor showing on the NFL’s biggest regular season stage on Monday night.