Rushing: Jets’ Coach Todd Bowles Continues To Place Emphasis On Evaluation Over Emotion

The number two quarterback for the Jets remains at the top of everyone’s bullet point list, well everyone except for maybe head coach Todd Bowles.

Speculation continues to mount that Geno Smith could be in danger of losing his position to Bryce Petty.

Smith threw a costly interception, into triple coverage, Friday night against the Washington Redskins. The turnover was a flashback to Smith’s uneven play throughout the first two years of his NFL career.

Petty, meanwhile, threw for two touchdowns and no interceptions. He showed enough to earn himself more playing time, he also deserves consideration for overtaking Smith on the depth chart.

Did Petty show enough to be the number two quarterback for the Jets this Saturday against the Giants?

What seemed like a no-brainer, a week ago, has now become the lead question for Bowles and his staff to answer in training camp.

Starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick will likely see his most playing time of the preseason in this game. Bowles has said Fitzpatrick will play “a pretty good amount”.

NFL teams usually tend to play their starters longer in the third game of the preseason, this puts an added emphasis on how much playing time will the backups see.

Bowles, when asked if the depth chart will remain the same this week, kept his thoughts close to the vest as usual.

“We’ve got a plan for the quarterbacks that we’re not revealing,” said Bowles.

When asked if Smith will be the first man off the bench Saturday night, Bowles again referred to his previous comments.

“I was clear about every position,” Bowles also said. “One, two, three, four going in. Until we make a change there won’t be. That’s any position. When we make a decision at the end of camp, if it changes it changes and if it doesn’t it doesn’t.”

Bowles knows how delicate this process has to be handled, his team’s entertaining the thought of carrying four quarterbacks this season. It’s an option which is rarely entertained by NFL teams in today’s game.

What Bowles isn’t going to do is throw more fuel on the fire, that’s not his style. He’s not going to publicly throw Smith under the bus, not when there’s still an evaluation period to go through.

It’s important to remember preseason is all about evaluation and Smith’s seat is just as hot here as any other player who’s job could be in jeopardy.

Petty’s performance against the Redskins made it tougher on the Jets to part ways with him, however, Smith’s experience is still a factor which shouldn’t be ignored.

There was a hint of excitement created by Petty’s impressive game last week, however, it’s important to temper that emotion. This is still a player who’s not played in a regular season game yet.

An NFL Quarterback has to be able to shake off a bad game, much like a closer in baseball. Bowles will be looking to see if Smith’s up to the challenge, it won’t matter if he’s coming in behind Fitzpatrick or Petty, this is just as much part of the evaluation process.

Petty isn’t out of the woods yet either, the Jets would like to see if he can duplicate his most recent performance.

There was a time, not too long ago, when many of the Jets’ team decisions were based on emotion over everything else. Then an evaluation process by team’s ownership determined change was necessary.

Bowles was brought in to be the exact opposite of the coaching staff which proceeded him, so far all signs are pointed in the right direction.

It all starts with the evaluation process.

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