AND THE STARTER IS ...
BOWLES EXPECTED TO TAB McCOWN TODAY
The Jets had some good news about one of their quarterbacks on Sunday — a rarity this summer.
One day before Todd Bowles is expected to announce a starter, Bryce Petty was diagnosed with a Grade 1 MCL sprain in his left knee after an MRI exam on Sunday, a source confirmed. That is a much better diagnosis than the dreaded ACL tear, which would have ended his season.
Players can play with an MCL sprain, and ESPN reported the Jets are hoping Petty can play Thursday night against the Eagles in the teams’ preseason finale. That seems like a quick turnaround, but the regularseason opener in two weeks looks realistic.
Petty, who is fighting for the starting quarterback job, went down in the fourth quarter of Saturday night’s 32-31 preseason loss to the Giants. Petty injured the leg when teammate Ben Braden rolled onto it and he initially tried to jog on the sideline, but said the knee felt “unstable.”
The MRI on Sunday revealed the MCL sprain.
Petty played a terrific game before the injury. He went 15-for-18 for 250 yards and three touchdowns after relieving Christian Hackenberg at halftime.
Bowles is expected to announce his starting quarterback Monday — and all indications are that Josh McCown will be the starter. Petty has been running third in the quarterback competition, but has outplayed Hackenberg recently, particularly in the last two preseason games. He could get the nod as the No. 2 quarterback.
Petty has had a rough go of it over the past year. He suffered two shoulder injuries last season, the second of which required surgery. He finally got some good injury news on Sunday.
Now, the Jets can settle in on a quarterback depth chart after months of evalu- ation. McCown is the overwhelming favorite despite not playing in the last two preseason games. It seems likely the Jets settled on McCown weeks ago and decided to let him stay rested and healthy for the regular season while getting a lon- ger look at the younger quarterbacks.
McCown played just one series in the preseason, but did get the bulk of the practice reps early in training camp. He went 3-for-4 for 72 yards and a touchdown in his only preseason ac- tion. McCown said he hopes he gets the call as the starter in Week 1 against the Bills.
“I came here to play,” McCown said. “I have the desire to be a starter just like I’m sure the other two guys do. I feel like obviously their [the coaches] evaluation, it’s up to them, but yeah, I feel like I’ve done everything I could in the situations I was given to give them the ability to make a fair evaluation, so we’ll see how it goes.”
Hackenberg had a chance to win the job if he showed major improvement this summer after sitting out all of last year. After a strong start, he stumbled and played terribly in his two preseason starts in Detroit and against the Giants on Saturday night. He competed 32-of-52 (61.5 percent) for 267 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions that were both returned for touchdowns. He was sacked six times and averaged just 5.1 yards per attempt.
Petty played well in the last two preseason games, albeit against the Lions’ and Giants’ backups. He completed 32-of-48 (66.7) for 426 yards with three touchdowns and one interception. He was sacked twice and averaged 8.9 yards per attempt.
Bowles has been coy all summer about revealing what he was thinking about his quarterbacks. But Monday should be the day the drama comes to an end.