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So where do things stand with the Jets’ quarterback situation now? There has been a lot of confusion over the last week or so.
There is confusion no more.
Todd Bowles did a great job in his press conference on Wednesday, clearing up what is going on with the quarterback situation.
“In Chan’s mind, with (Ryan) Fitzpatrick being hurt and Bryce (Petty) just coming in, there was no competition, but come camp time there will be competition at the spot. I said it from day one,” Bowles said. “Geno is the first-team quarterback, Ryan’s second, Matt (Simms) is third, and we’ll get Bryce (Petty) and we’ll get (Jake) Heaps some reps as we go. It’s just like every other position. Start with the first team and if he’s playing well, he’s the starter, and if he’s not playing well, someone’s playing better, as at any other position, somebody else is going to play. But you don’t start out camp having two or three guys on the first team, you keep the same guy at first team. Will that change? Performance will tell.”
No spin, no shucking-and-jiving, no tap-dancing, just “here is the deal folks.”
I thought with the previous coach there was a lot of wasted language, wasted energy in press conferences. Too much rope-a-dope.
I like Bowles approach with the media and his players – he just levels with people. It’s hard to go wrong with that approach.
His explanation above makes total sense and is hard to argue with.
To me, he hit this out of the park. Basically, right now, this is just a depth chart thing, but regardless of the depth chart, there is open-competition for the job.
Now Simms is out of the picture. He asked for his released today, so perhaps he can hook on with another team.
I don’t see the market, but perhaps I’m missing something.
He might feel he’s getting a raw deal of some kind. His brother certainly thinks he was with those odd comments he made a couple of weeks ago.
To me, there was no raw deal here. Not even close. If I were running the team, he wouldn’t have been around as long as he was. I just don’t see it. He doesn’t read defenses that well, and throws balls down field with no arc. Great guy, but to me, no raw deal here.
Honestly, after the college career he had, did any of you think he’d even have a cup of coffee in the NFL?
Great news for rookie quarterback Jake Heaps.
You have to give Heaps a lot of credit. He came into rookie mini-camp as a tryout, took the baton and ran with it, doing a terrific job and earning a contract.
But in closing, the Jets’ quarterback scenario is crystal clear right now. No gray area. Bowles did a great job of clearing things up, and ending the shelf-life of the narrative that the Jets were eschewing competition again.
May 28, 2015
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