Todd Bowles Comments on Ryan Fitzpatrick, Jets' QB Situation After Patriots Loss

The New York Jets fell to 3-8 on the season Sunday with a 22-17 loss to the New England Patriots, and coach Todd Bowles wasn't ready to decide whether Ryan Fitzpatrick will stay under center moving forward, per Rich Cimini of ESPN.com.

"I will evaluate everything as the week goes forward," he said. "I'm not going to make a rash decision today one way or the other. For the most part, he did a good job."

Fitzpatrick said, "I'm not going to answer that question anymore," when asked about his immediate future as the starter, per Cimini.

Fitzpatrick played well from a statistical standpoint and finished with 22 completions on 32 attempts for 269 yards, two touchdowns and zero interceptions. However, he has just 10 touchdowns to 13 interceptions on the season—though six of the picks came in an ugly performance Sept. 25 against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The journeyman played for the St. Louis Rams, Cincinnati Bengals, Buffalo Bills, Tennessee Titans and Houston Texans before joining the Jets for the 2015 campaign. New York ultimately re-signed Fitzpatrick for the 2016 season after an offseason of back-and-forth negotiations.

While he was solid Sunday, the 34-year-old is not the future for the Jets. He will be an unrestricted free agent in 2017, per Spotrac, and isn't a youngster anymore who will develop with more experience.

Bowles doesn't have as many options to turn to after Geno Smith was lost for the season with a torn ACL, but the Jets do have second-year quarterback Bryce Petty and rookie Christian Hackenberg on the roster.

Cimini wrote in October the team held a competition to see who the No. 2 quarterback would be behind Fitzpatrick, and Bowles said at the time, "We're not even close to that point," when asked whether it was time to turn attention toward 2017 with the youngsters instead of the veteran.

Petty was eventually listed as the No. 2 QB after Smith's injury, and the Jets should be closer to the point of seeing what he can do at the NFL level after falling to 3-8 on Sunday. The loss to the Patriots eliminated any chance at a miracle finish and winning record.

Bowles could eventually decide the 2016 campaign is all but a lost one and start Petty's campaign for the 2017 job with actual game experience during the stretch run, but the coach wasn't ready to commit to removing Fitzpatrick from the starting role Sunday.