Ryan Fitzpatrick will start for Jets in Week 12; Bryce Petty back to the bench

Todd Bowles hands the quarterbacking job back to the league's interceptions leader

After taking a week to think about it, Jets coach Todd Bowles has finally made a decision on who his starting quarterback will be against the Patriots on Sunday, and it's a name you're probably familiar with.

The Jets coach announced Ryan Fitzpatrick will start Sunday game in New York. The last time the Jets were on the field in Week 10, Fitzpatrick missed the game because of a knee sprain and Bryce Petty started in his place. The Jets then had a Week 11 bye.

Petty clearly didn't do enough to win the job in his first career start, 9-6 loss to the Rams on Nov. 13. In his explanation for why he's giving the starting job back to Fitzpatrick, Bowles said that he wasn't just going to "give away" the job to Petty.

"He's healthy. He's been our starter," Bowles said of Fitzpatrick, via the New York Daily News. "We can do more things with him. I don't give away jobs."

Since he's not giving away jobs, that clearly means Bowles didn't think Petty -- in his second season -- did enough while going 19 of 32 for 163 yards with a touchdown and an interception vs. the Rams.

Giving the job back to Fitzpatrick almost fits Einstein's definition of insanity. Bowles keeps starting the same guy and apparently is expecting different results even though Fitzpatrick has shown throughout his career that he's basically an average quarterback.

Fitzpatrick leads the NFL in interceptions (13), despite playing one fewer game than most other quarterbacks.

It's also possible Bowles is sticking with Fitzpatrick because he doesn't have a choice. A recent report out of New York suggested Bowles would "lose credibility" with the team and players would start "checking out" if Petty started.

The way the Jets have been playing recently, it's hard to tell if they haven't already checked out.