According to Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, there are “rumblings” that Jets HC Todd Bowles‘ refusal to name Bryce Petty the team’s starting quarterback moving forward is due to his concern that the team could check out for the remainder of the season if he ends up starting against the Patriots next week.
Mehta says that there’s little debate that Ryan Fitzpatrick is the better quarterback right now. Beyond that, sources tell Mehta that Petty is still far behind Fitzpatrick in practice and Bowles would risk losing credibility with the team if he named Petty their starter for the final six games of the season.
Petty has made some strides in his second year in the NFL but Mehta says that he still has a long way to go before gaining the trust of the organization.
Jets GM Mike Maccagnan admitted this week that even though it would make sense to see what a young a quarterback could do with an extended opportunity, the situation is more complicated than that.
“You’d like to see young players play, but you also want to make sure they’re ready for that,” Maccagnan said. “It’s a more complicated decision than some people realize.”
“You think of different aspects when you decide on making a change, especially at that position, because it affects other players on the team, too,” the GM. added. “If you’re trying to determine what gives you the best chance to be successful, but also if you’re looking how players develop and progress, I think the point I would simply make is you just don’t do it. You don’t just wing it. … It’s not a decision you take lightly. You also want to make sure the player … is ready to a degree to set them up for success.”
Petty, 25, is a former fourth-round pick of the Jets back in May of last year. He’s currently in the second year of his four-year, $2,833,696 contract and stands to make a base salary of $525,000 for the 2016 season.
In 2016, Petty has appeared in two games and completed 61.8 percent of his passes for 182 yards, one touchdown and one interception.
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