Ryan Fitzpatrick will start at quarterback for Jets vs. Colts

New York Jets head coach Todd Bowles announced today that Ryan Fitzpatrick will start at quarterback against the Indianapolis Colts this week on Monday Night Football.

The Jets have had questions at their quarterback position since the offseason, as they didn’t bring Fitzpatrick for a long time and then this year he has been far from the player he was a year ago. That has led Bowles to evaluate other options, but the team started Fitzpatrick on Sunday against the Patriots and he did a good job, so they’re sticking with him against the Colts.

Fitzpatrick has had a rough season, completing 57.6% of his passes for 2,252 yards (6.8 yards per attempt) and ten touchdowns with 13 interceptions, good for a passer rating of 72.2 that is ahead of only Brock Osweiler among qualifying passers. But last week against the Patriots he completed 22 of 32 passes (68.8%) for 262 yards (8.4 yards per attempt), two touchdowns and no picks for one of his finest performances of the season, and he’ll have a favorable matchup against a Colts defense that has allowed the third-highest passer rating against of any NFL team this year and that has intercepted the fewest passes of any team (three).

It will be a familiar opponent for the Colts, as Fitzpatrick will start against them for the fifth straight season and the seventh time in the past five years. He has started eight games against the Colts in his career (with five different teams) and has completed 134 of 212 passes (63.2%) for 1,414 yards and nine touchdowns with seven picks for a passer rating of 82.9, while he’s also added 143 yards and a touchdown rushing. Last year against Indy, Fitzpatrick completed 22 of 34 passes (64.7%) for 244 yards (7.2 yards per attempt), two touchdowns, and an interception at Lucas Oil Stadium for a passer rating of 93.3. The Colts will face Fitzpatrick once again this Monday, so they’ll have no confusion over who to prepare for.