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Jets Quarterback Situation Up in the Air

Cary Edmondson-USA TODAY Sports

When Jets head coach Todd Bowles spoke with the media today, it became clear the Jets are not sure which quarterbacks will be healthy for Sunday's game against Jacksonville. Geno Smith and Ryan Fitzpatrick both were injured against the Raiders yesterday. Bowles indicated there is a chance rookie Bryce Petty will make his first career start. The possibility is so real that Petty will get reps in practice. The team also is looking at bringing in a quarterback, a sign Fitzpatrick and/or Smith might not be ready to go.

Here are some of the highlights.

The Fitzpatrick news does not sound good. Since he needs surgery, and the team is going to see how he manages the pain, it sounds like the team will be dealing with either a banged up Fitz the rest of the season or miss him for an extended stretch.

At this point, I think FItzpatrick is the best quarterback on the team. Geno Smith is the second best, and Bryce Petty is third best. I also think the gap between Smith and Petty is much bigger than the gap between Fitzpatrick and Smith. Hopefully one of the top two is ready to go by Sunday.

The fact the Jets would consider signing somebody off the street to start over Petty does not speak well to how ready they think the rookie is. This is no surprise. There are first round picks who are not ready to start in year one. A fourth rounder would likely have a very tough time.

Flynn probably would make the most sense if the Jets brought somebody in from the outside. He would be very cheap, and he actually worked with the offensive system and receivers in training camp.

Should the Jets end up with either Petty or an outsider, Bowles had some rather disturbing injury news.

With an inexperienced quarterback, both of those guys would become much more important. Mangold can help set blocking assignments. In what would likely be a scaled back gameplan, the quarterback might only know a handful of options on passing plays. Throwing it up to Marshall and trusting him would be a nice option to have.

Sorry to bring you bad news. Stay tuned. Hopefully things get better.