Jets HC Todd Bowles announced Tuesday that veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick will be the team’s starting quarterback for their regular-season finale against the Bills this weekend.
The Jets were forced to place Bryce Petty on injured reserve Monday with a shoulder injury, but it appears as though they would prefer to treat the 2016 season as a red-shirt year for rookie Christian Hackenberg.
When asked why they aren’t turning to Hackenberg this week, Bowles said (per Kimberly A. Martin): “We’re not going to lose or gain anything by playing Christian Hackenberg for one game.”
Hackenberg will, however, serve as the team’s backup on Sunday and will be active for the first time this year.
Fitzpatrick, 33, wound up signing a one-year, $12 million contract that’s fully guaranteed with the Jets after a prolonged stalemate that cost him most nearly all of the offseason workouts. He’ll be an unrestricted free agent next year.
In 2016, Fitzpatrick has appeared in 13 games and completed 55.8 percent of his passes for 2,500 yards to go along with 10 touchdowns and 17 interceptions. Pro Football Focus has him rated as the No. 34 quarterback out of 36 qualifying players.
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