New York Jets Rumors: Ryan Fitzpatrick will Remain the Starting Quarterback
Ryan Fitzpatrick has earned his spot on the team.
New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles announced that Fitzpatrick will remain the team's starting quarterback even if Geno Smith is healthy enough to play. Smith was supposed to be team's starter but he was sidelined after his jaw was broken by a teammate in a dispute.
"Ryan is the starting quarterback right now," said Bowles, the first-year coach. "I mean, we're going good. We have good chemistry and everything else. Geno understands that. As we go, Ryan is our starting quarterback, and we'll go forward from there."
Bowles added, "We'll get Geno ready, but Ryan is going to stay sharp and Ryan will be taking the first-team reps. He [Smith] has to get ready for practice. He has to read defenses all over again. It's like starting training camp when you haven't read defenses and set the fronts and called out blitz protections and everything like that. It takes a minute. Once he gets back to that flow, I think it'll start to come back to him pretty good."
The Jets, who are 2-0, have had an impressive start to their season. Fitzpatrick, 32, have been able to get the offense going. He currently has a quarterback rating of 70.0, which is eighth in the league. In two games, he has totaled four touchdown passes and two interceptions with a 64 percent completion rate.
Despite winning against the Cleveland Browns and the Indianapolis Colts, the Jets still have quite some room to improve if they want to continue their winning streak. In the Week 2 game against the Colts, which the Jets won 20-7, the Jets missed out on several opportunities that would have extended their lead.
"Offensively, we didn't play as well as we wanted to," Fitzpatrick said. "That might be an understatement."
Despite not capitalizing on key moments, the Jets' defense continued to put pressure on quarterback Andrew Luck, forcing five turnovers.
The Jets will be hosting the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Sept. 27 at 1:00 p.m. ET.
