Petty won’t back down in bid to play

Bryce Petty still has something to prove, and so despite a sprained left knee, the former fourth-round pick is lobbying to play Thursday in the Jets’ preseason finale against the Eagles. One thing is certain: Petty will not be Gang Green’s starting quarterback in Week 1. Todd Bowles publicly named 38-yearold Josh McCown the starter Monday in Florham Park. Petty is still fighting with Christian Hackenberg for the backup job, a primary reason he’s determined to play this week.

“I’m going to give it all I got to go Thursday,” Petty said. “And then leave it up to coach to make those decisions.”

Petty was on the field for Jets practice Monday with a brace on his left knee. He suffered the injury — a Grade 1 MCL sprain — in the fourth quarter of Saturday’s game against the Giants and was unable to return. Petty played arguably the best football of his career in that contest, leading the Jets on a furious second-half comeback while completing 15 of 18 passes for 250 yards, three touchdowns and a perfect 158.3 passer rating (against the Big Blue backups).

Petty participated in individual drills Monday but was held out of team drills. Petty said the knee “felt good.”

“Just got to keep striving to get to where it's 100 percent,” he added.

From the start of OTAs and minicamp in the spring, Bowles said Petty — along with McCown and Hackenberg — had an equal shot to win the Jets’ starting job. But Petty was the lone quarterback to not play with the first-team offense and against a first-team defense in a preseason game.

Quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates said the reason for that was because Petty had started games in 2016. However, those starts came in a completely different offense.

Hackenberg started against the Lions and Giants this preseason.

“Bryce had his opportunities last year, just to get the feel of running out in the tunnel and starting,” Bates said. “It’s a different experience, of course. So we just wanted to keep it level as far as their experiences, their moments.”