NY Jets: How Did Bryce Petty Do Against Jacksonville?

The other day we took a look at how the top two quarterbacks for the Jets did in the preseason opener against the Jaguars. There was a third quarterback to play for the Jets. It was Bryce Petty? How did he perform?

One thing to remember about Petty is how raw he was coming out of Baylor. He wasn't ready to play last year. Frankly, I don't think he will be ready for a starting or backup role this year. All of this means I think you have to grade Petty on a curve. Even signs of doing basic things well have to be taken as positives because he was essentially starting from scratch when he came into the NFL. Indeed, I thought many of the things he did well against Jacksonville were fairly rudimentary tasks for an NFL quarterback. For Petty, they could be signs of progress.

Good

On this play, Petty hits Jeremy Ross over the middle. He makes a fairly basic read and sees that he has zone coverage. Ross is running into Myles Jack's zone. Jack is a linebacker. Even though he is a highly regarded one, any receiver against any linebacker is generally going to be a mismatch.

What I really like here is it seems like Petty not only understands the matchup but also how this playcall meshes with the defense. Petty knows that Romar Morris is going to occupy the defender in zone who could help Jack out. Morris drawing this defender is going to open a hole for Ross to run into. Jacksonville's only hope is for Jack to be able to run with Ross, but that isn't going to happen even for a defender as highly regarded as Jack. He can trust that Ross will win this matchup, and he is getting this ball out before Ross is even open.

This next play is about as rudimentary of a read as you will get in the NFL. Petty has soft coverage and a receiver coming back to him.

Again, I'm grading Petty on a curve here. Anything good is a sign of progress, and to his credit, this ball is coming out before Charone Peake is even looking for it.

This next play results in an incompletion, but I like where Petty's head is out here.

He sees he has the one on one matchup he wants to attack down the field, but he doesn't lock onto his receiver too soon and allow somebody to undercut it and close down his passing window. He holds defenders in their spots to maintain the one on one. Even though the pass is ultimately incomplete, he gives himself a real chance.

That is something that might not have happened a year ago.

Bad

I don't have any real advanced analysis on this play. This is just a really bad sack to take. There was plenty of time to throw this ball away at the very least.

This next play is a big mental error. On this one, Petty actually does avoid a sack and throws the ball away.

What is the problem? The Jets have a 4 point lead with under 2:00 to go in the fourth quarter. At this point of the game, keeping the clock running is a bigger priority than gaining yardage. You always have to understand score and time as a quarterback. If Petty just gives himself up, Jacksonville either uses its final timeout, or the Jets run an extra 40 seconds off the clock.

I know some people will say this is a young player's inexperience showing. I say this is wrong. If Petty did this in college at Baylor, the announcers and his coaches would be all over him. No matter what level of football you are playing, you should know what is happening.

Mixed Bag

This play is a nice little scramble from Petty, evading the rush and trying to make something happen. He keeps his eyes down the field and almost makes a big play as a result.

Ultimately, this falls for a harmless incompletion and near interception. What happened? Petty and Jace Amaro have to share in the blame here.

Petty throws this ball late.

This ball should be out shortly after Amaro's defender falls down. At the same time, Amaro has to do a better job of fighting for the ball. At the point where I pause this, Amaro should be going up and attacking the ball. This is schoolyard football. Go use that 6'6" 250 pound frame and win the ball. Nobody else is getting that ball if Amaro goes up to get it. Instead, he falls back and allows himself to be undercut. This results in an incompletion and could have allowed the ball to be intercepted.

Like the other two quarterbacks, Petty's performance in the preseason opener had its good and bad moments.