In the NFL world, the biggest piece of breaking news reported Tuesday was that New York Jets starting quarterback Geno Smith will be out for 6-to-10 weeks. Smith sustained a broken jaw when he took a punch from linebacker IK Enemkpali during a locker room fight. As a result, Enemkpali was immediately released by the team.
This leaves the team in the hands of veteran quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick or Bryyce Petty, a fourth-round pick out of Baylor, to begin the 2015 regular season.
For those who are fans of Petty—or think Smith’s unfortunate accident suddenly opens the door for the young quarterback to edge Smith from his permanent starting job—NFL Media’s Jeff Darlington cited a team source who doesn’t believe Petty is prepared to take the No. 1 role.
Before you go down this road, Jets source says Bryce Petty is not ready — "not even close" — to assume starting role. Not the answer here.
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) August 11, 2015
Smith’s incident could leave the Jets in a proverbial world of hurt as the regular season approaches. Fitzpatrick and Petty will compete for the opportunity to start in place of Smith for the opening part of the 2015 campaign.
Smith was reportedly showing signs of improvement under new head coach Todd Bowles. Granted, it’s not like his absence from the Jets is comparable to the Green Bay Packers suddenly losing Aaron Rodgers for several weeks.
Now, it could be up to Petty, who racked up an impressive total of over 8,000 passing yards and 61 touchdowns throughout his last two years at Baylor, to prove he’s already capable of contributing as a starter.
If for some reason Petty proves the current progress report wrong, tears it up during the preseason and establishes himself as the Jets quarterback, add Smith’s ego to the list of things hurting on the third-year gunslinger.
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