Petty Hopes To Shine During Preseason, Prove To Jets He Belongs
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- Bryce Petty was once thought of as a potential solution in the Jets' decades-long search for a franchise quarterback.
Now, he appears to be just another guy looking for any way to stick with an NFL team.
The second-year signal-caller will look to make the most of his latest opportunity as he will likely see significant minutes when the Jets open their preseason schedule on Thursday against the Jacksonville Jaguars at MetLife Stadium.
"Light it up? Hell yeah. That's what I want to do," Petty told the Daily News this week. "I don't want to make execution sound boring or sound lame. I want to go in there and Brett Favre it. Just do amazing things. That's the way I feel you kind of have to be.
"There's got to be some inspiring plays in there and some things that make them say, 'Wow! Did you see Bryce?' That's what I want them to say, (but) I don't want to play outside of the execution and try to (force) things. Just let things work, but at the same time, I want to ball out, for sure," he added.
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Petty was selected in the fourth round of last year's draft out of Baylor and was considered a project, mostly due to the fact that he had to transition from the spread offense to a pro-style offense. That's not an easy ask considering the spread is executed almost exclusively out of the shotgun, while NFL quarterbacks do much of their work from under center, where footwork and visualization are a must.
"When your feet are more comfortable as a quarterback, then the rest takes care of itself. Then I can really throw it and be confident with where I want to go with the ball. Being comfortable, it is crazy how far I've come from last year," Petty said.
"Things are getting easier to see," he added. "So every time I get out there, I try to get better at something. Then, wherever that takes me -- whether that's playing here or playing somewhere else, whether that's No. 2 or No. 3 here, whatever the case is, I will be a better quarterback from this camp."
Blessed with a big arm and a 6-foot-3, 230-pound frame, the prototypical size NFL teams long for, Petty appears to have the physical tools to play at this level. But he has yet to instill the confidence in the Jets to guarantee his place on the roster. Despite Petty's improvement in practice over the last year-plus, the Jets still selected Christian Hackenberg in the second round of this year's draft. And with fourth-year man Geno Smith locked into the primary backup role behind Ryan Fitzpatrick, the Jets will likely need some kind of incentive to keep four quarterbacks on their final 53-man roster.
"Preseason is big, because it'll tell them -- tell coaches -- where I'm at and how far I've come," Petty said. "And at least give them a run for their money as far as their decision on what happens. At least make it a hard decision for them."
After taking on the Jags, the Jets travel to Washington, host the Giants and play a road game at Philadelphia, leading up to the regular season opener on Sept. 11 against visiting Cincinnati.