Canned by your man
IT started so nicely for Rex Ryan, much better than it has for Todd Bowles. Ryan got the Jets to the AFC Championship his first two seasons as head coach, and it appeared Mark Sanchez actually might turn into the franchise quarterback he was drafted to be. A Super Bowl berth in the near future seemed a given. Then it all started coming apart.
Sanchez threw 18 interceptions in 2011 and 2012 as the Jets went 8-8 and 6-9 in his starts. The infamous “Buttfumble” at New England underscored how erratic the Jets’ play had become at quarterback. Geno Smith was drafted in 2013, and the Jets quarterback situation quickly became a nightmare.
Ultimately, Ryan’s inability to stabilize the position cost him his job as Jets head coach, and now, Bowles seems headed down the same slippery slope in just his second season. On Monday, he announced he was sticking with Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starting quarterback for Monday night’s game against the Colts at MetLife Stadium. In doing so, Bowles is ignoring calls for second-year QB Bryce Petty to get his shot for the remaining five games of what has been a disappointing 3-8 season.
“[Fitzpatrick is] our starter,” Bowles said. “It’s no different than anyone else on both sides of the ball right now.”
The quarterback always is different. In sticking with Fitzpatrick, Bowles is going with the status quo amid a three-game losing streak, including a 22-17 loss to the Patriots on Sunday. Fitzpatrick was 22-of-32 for 269 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Not awful, but not good enough to win. He lost a fumble on the Jets’ final drive that could have won the game.
Bowles seems oblivious to any notion that with the playoffs no longer an option, it’s time to give Petty and rookie quarterback Christian Hackenberg some reps.
“As a coach, you’re trying to win ballgames first,” Bowles said. “There will be a time and place for those guys to play. It just won’t be next week.”
How long the instability continues at the team’s most important position is anyone’s guess. But the longer it goes, the more it will reflect on Bowles. He already seems headed down the same path that doomed Ryan: the weekly pronouncements on who would be the starter; the instant second-guessing; the frustration of a fan base that has watched Eli Manning quarterback the Giants since 2004; the mounting losses.
Ryan, a former defensive coordinator like Bowles, was often a genius devising a defensive game-plan, but the offense never was dependable. A revolving door of offensive coordinators from Brian Schottenheimer to Tony Sparano to Marty Mornhinweg couldn’t fix Ryan’s problem. Ryan was fired after going 4-12 in 2014, when Smith, Michael Vick and Matt Simms all started at quarterback.
Bowles rode a career-year by Fitzpatrick in 2015 to 10 wins, barely missing the playoffs and raising optimism for this season. But then he became the least productive quarterback in the league statistically and played so poorly he was benched in Week 7 in favor of Smith. Petty made a start for an injured Fitzpatrick in a 9-6 loss to the Rams on Nov. 13. But it was Fitzpatrick back under center against the Patriots.
Bowles is solidifying his repu- tation as a players’ coach by sticking with the veteran. Current players don’t want to hear about planning for the future.
“We’re all fighters,” Bowles said. “We’re all trying to win every game. It’s not about Bryce. It’s not about Fitz. It’s about winning a ballgame.”
Funny, but Bowles could have taken the heat off himself by turning to Petty for the rest of the year. You expect there to be struggles when an inexperienced quarterback is getting his first reps as a pro. Now it looks as if Petty and Hackenberg may not see much action if Fitzpatrick stays healthy the rest of 2016. At this rate, the Jets will come to camp in July with barely half of what they have now: two unproven quarterbacks with 34 professional pass attempts between them. That’s leading Bowles down the same path that ruined Ryan. george.willis@nypost.com