Bryce Petty‘s initial NFL sample did not end up lasting too long, with the second-year quarterback suffering an injury against the Patriots that moved the Jets to place him on IR, Ian Rapoport of NFL.com reports (on Twitter).
Petty tore the labrum in his non-throwing shoulder while attempting to tackle Malcolm Butler on a turnover sequence during the Patriots’ Week 16 victory, per Rapoport (via Twitter).
With Geno Smith also on IR, the Jets will be down to primary starter Ryan Fitzpatrick and rookie Christian Hackenberg against the Bills. The latter has not played in a game yet after coming into the league as a second-round pick out of Penn State. Signed to a one-year, $12MM deal after a lengthy offseason impasse between the Ivy League product and the Jets, Fitzpatrick looks set to be in uniform for the last time as a Jet. The 34-year-old could not replicate the solid season he turned in for Gang Green in 2015.
Petty played in five games for the Jets, making four starts. The Baylor alum finishes with 809 passing yards, a 56 percent completion rate, and a 3-to-7 touchdown pass-to-interception ratio.
Despite drafting quarterbacks in each of the past two years and three of the past four, the Jets boast one of the more unsettled signal-caller positions in football, with both Fitzpatrick and Smith as looming UFAs and the two younger passers’ values undetermined at this point.
fitz is unkillable