NEW YORK JETS DAILY CLIPS

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1 NEW YORK JETS DAILY CLIPS Table of Contents ASSOCIATED PRESS... 1 Jets' Fitzpatrick (thumb), Stacy (ankle) have surgery (Dennis Waszak)... 2 NEWSDAY... 3 Jets' fourth-down miscue involving Kellen Davis and Eric Decker was a mix-up (Kimberley A. Martin)... 3 Lawrence Okoye, discus record-holder, joins Jets' practice squad (Kimberley A. Martin)... 3 Placing Willie Colon on IR was 'one of the hardest things' Todd Bowles had to do (Kimberley A. Martin)... 4 Jets' Zac Stacy done for season, Ryan Fitzpatrick has thumb surgery (Kimberley A. Martin)... 4 Jets show mediocrity as ex-coach Rex Ryan departs with win (Neil Best)... 5 THE RECORD... 7 Jets report card vs. Bills (J.P. Pelzman)... 7 Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick undergoes thumb surgery (J.P. Pelzman)... 8 ESPN NEW YORK... 8 An inside look at how Jets bungled a potential game-winning TD (Rich Cimini)... 8 Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (thumb), RB Zac Stacy (ankle) have surgery (Rich Cimini)... 9 Struggling Jets have a lot to work on, and it starts with the coach (Rich Cimini) Todd Bowles laments 'mix ups' in crunch time of Jets' loss (Rich Cimini) NEW YORK POST The 4 straight pushovers that can jump-start or doom Jets (Howie Kussoy) Todd Bowles worst night begins Jets fans ominous grumbling (Brian Costello) Ryan Fitzpatrick s thumb isn t the worst Jets surgery today (Brian Costello) Todd Bowles looks every bit the rookie with late-game gaffes (Brian Costello) NJ ADVANCE MEDIA What happened to Jets on third and fourth down after Buffalo Bills fumbled that punt? (Dom Consentino) Ryan Fitzpatrick, Zac Stacy, Eric Decker Jets injury update after loss to Buffalo Bills (Darryl Slater) NEW YORK DAILY NEWS Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick undergoes thumb surgery; RB Zac Stacy out for season after surgery on fractured ankle (Daniel Popper) Rex Ryan s Bills beat Jets in coach s return to MetLife Stadium (Seth Walder) Five Things We Learned From Jets vs. Bills: Same old Rex Ryan, Darrelle Revis isn t what he used to be (Seth Walder) FRIDAY S SPORTS TRANSACTIONS ASSOCIATED PRESS 1 P a g e

2 Jets' Fitzpatrick (thumb), Stacy (ankle) have surgery (Dennis Waszak) Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) It was a busy day for the New York Jets in the operating room. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had a torn ligament in his left thumb repaired and running back Zac Stacy had season-ending surgery on his broken left ankle. Coach Todd Bowles said during a conference call that Fitzpatrick is still on track to return for the Jets' next game at Houston on Nov. 22. "That's the plan," Bowles said. Fitzpatrick tore the ulnar collateral ligament in the thumb on his non-throwing hand at Oakland on Nov. 1 and played through it in two games while wearing a brace. With a break after New York's loss to Buffalo on Thursday night, Fitzpatrick opted to have the procedure now instead of after the season. He said earlier in the week he was told by doctors the longer he waits, surgery could become more complicated because the ligament could start to shrink. Fitzpatrick's injury is expected to take several weeks to heal, but he and the Jets are confident he'll be able to continue to play through it using the brace and wrap on the thumb. He has not had any issues handling snaps or handing the ball off. Fitzpatrick has thrown for 1,983 yards and 15 touchdowns the most in a season by a Jets QB since Mark Sanchez had 26 in 2011 and nine interceptions. With his two TD passes against the Bills, Fitzpatrick surpassed Sid Luckman Sid Luckman (137) for most touchdowns by an Ivy League quarterback with 138. Stacy was carted from the field after returning a kickoff on the final play of the first half against the Bills. The backup running back ran 9 yards as time expired and was tackled by Jonathan Meeks and Bacarri Rambo, with his legs twisting awkwardly under him. As the teams jogged off the field to head to their locker rooms, Stacy remained down and clutching at his left leg. Team doctors ran onto the field to attend to Stacy and worked on his left ankle for a few minutes before helping him onto a cart and into the locker room. Stacy led the Jets with 10 kickoff returns for 204 yards a 20.4 average after replacing the injured Chris Owusu. Chris Ivory and Stevan Ridley are the Jets' only healthy running backs, but Bowles hopes to have Bilal Powell back from a high ankle sprain that has sidelined him the past four games. NOTES: Bowles said WR Eric Decker has a sore shoulder, and WR Brandon Marshall is dealing with toe and ankle injuries that have ailed him the last few weeks.... RG Willie Colon was placed on season-ending injured reserve earlier in the week because his right knee had chronic swelling. Bowles said the original plan was to have Colon rest last Sunday against Jacksonville and be ready to play Buffalo. "It's been a bad knee for a while," Bowles said. "He's been controlling it pretty good, but it took a turn for the worse. And we really didn't have much choice in that." Bowles added that placing Colon on IR was "probably one of the hardest things I've had to do" because he considers the 32-year-old guard "such a warrior."... Bowles was unaware that QB Geno Smith reportedly used a vulgarity toward a reporter after the game. "That's the first I've heard about it," he said. "I'll gather more information and have a better idea about it." 2 P a g e

3 NEWSDAY Daily Clips Cont. Jets' fourth-down miscue involving Kellen Davis and Eric Decker was a mix-up (Kimberley A. Martin) Newsday Exactly what went wrong on the Jets' fourth-down play involving Kellen Davis? A lot, apparently. "That's something we discussed internally," Jets coach Todd Bowles said on a conference call Friday, referring to the fourth-and-4 play from the Bills' 7-yard line with 3:02 left in Thursday night's loss. "We know what went wrong. I'm not going to sit here and throw anybody under the bus. But we understand exactly what went wrong here and we addressed it." After a botched Bills snap on a punt gave the Jets the ball at Buffalo's 13 with 5:12 to go, they picked a bad time to stall. They failed to convert on second-and-2 from the 5 and Ryan Fitzpatrick couldn't connect with Davis in the end zone on fourth-and-4. Instead, his throw sailed over the tight end's head, resulting in another squandered opportunity in a failed comeback. Asked about the play afterward, Davis said he got jammed on his release and that he and teammate Eric Decker then bumped into each other. "I didn't see the ball until it was already past me," Davis said. So why was Davis, who has one catch this season, the intended target on the play? "There was more involved than that. It wasn't just a play to Kellen Davis," Bowles said. "Again, we addressed it in our meeting and there was a mix-up there." That wasn't the only miscue for the Jets. On the play before the fourth-down incompletion, the Jets tried to run a pick play to spring Decker, but on third-and-3 from the Bills' 6, tight end Jeff Cumberland bumped into Decker instead of the defender. The result was a completion to Decker for a 1-yard loss. "It was a scheme thing," Bowles said. "There were a couple of people that messed that up and we addressed that in the meeting this morning. There were a lot of mix-ups in a bunch of routes at the end of the day... " Lawrence Okoye, discus record-holder, joins Jets' practice squad (Kimberley A. Martin) Newsday The Jets on Friday signed former British discus throwing record-holder Lawrence Okoye to their practice squad as an offensive lineman. Okoye, who finished 12th in the discus at the 2012 London Olympic Games, set his sights on making it in the NFL in 2013, despite having never played American football. Okoye's physical attributes and raw ability make him an intriguing prospect. But he's also a project. Despite three separate stints with the 49ers and a brief stay with the Arizona Cardinals - all at defensive lineman - he has yet to make a 53-man roster. 3 P a g e

4 The 6-6, 304-pound Okoye was signed by San Francisco in May But after suffering a preseason knee injury three months later, he was cut. The 49ers brought him back the following year and signed him to the practice squad, where he stayed all season. On Jan. 1, 2015, San Francisco signed him to a reserve/future contract, but the team released him the end of training camp. The Cardinals then signed him to their practice squad on Sept. 7, but released him on Oct. 21. Placing Willie Colon on IR was 'one of the hardest things' Todd Bowles had to do (Kimberley A. Martin) Newsday It was one of the hardest things Todd Bowles has had to do. On Wednesday, the Jets placed starting right guard Willie Colon on injured reserve because of a chronic knee issue. And truthfully, the organization had no choice. Bowles said on a Friday conference call that the swelling in Colon's knee was so severe, he had trouble even standing on the field for the duration of practice. The swelling has been an issue since their Week 7 loss in New England, Bowles said, adding that Colon "couldn't really practice" in the week leading up to last week's home-win over Jacksonville. "It got to the point where he couldn't wait anymore. Not practicing and not playing, and keep getting your knee drained, it wouldn't let him continue." Colon, 32, has dealt with chronic knee pain during his three seasons with the Jets, but neither he nor the team indicated how serious this injury was. The Bronx native, and Hofstra alumnus, underwent arthroscopic knee surgery before training camp and later suffered a sprained MCL in the Week 3 loss to the Eagles. He missed the next game against the Dolphins and also sat out last week's game against the Jaguars. "It's been a bad knee for a while," Bowles said. "He's been controlling it pretty good, but it took a turn for the worse. And we really didn't have much choice in that." Colon, a former Super Bowl champion with the Steelers, hasn't addressed reporters since he was placed on injured reserve. As of now, it's unclear if the 10-year veteran is considering retirement. But one thing is certain, Bowles said: Colon "eventually" will have to have surgery on his knee. "He's played a long time. And that's probably one of the hardest things I've had to do, because he's such a warrior," Bowles said of telling Colon he was going on IR. being placed on IR. "Knowing a guy has to go out like that, you never want to tell a guy that he has to go on IR and can't play, especially since he's played a ton of years." Jets' Zac Stacy done for season, Ryan Fitzpatrick has thumb surgery (Kimberley A. Martin) Newsday P a g e

5 Jets starting quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick and running back Zac Stacy each underwent surgery Friday morning, Todd Bowles said on a Friday conference call with reporters. But unlike Fitzpatrick, Stacy's season is over. "He's done," Bowles said of the former Rams running back, whom the Jets traded for during the NFL draft in May. Stacy, 24, was carted off at halftime of their loss to Rex Ryan's Bills on Thursday after he fractured his left ankle following a 9-yard kickoff return as time expired in the first half. Fitzpatrick, meanwhile, underwent a procedure to repair the torn ligament in the left thumb on his nonthrowing hand. He's expected to be ready for their road game against the Houston Texans on Nov. 22. "Yeah, that's the plan," Bowles said. Fitzpatrick injured the thumb during the Jets' first series of their Week 8 loss in Oakland. After scrambling for a 12-yard scramble, Raiders safety Charles Woodson swiped at the ball and inadvertently bent the quarterback's thumb back. With Stacy hurt and No. 2 back Bilal Powell inactive because of a lingering ankle injury, the Jets relied on Chris Ivory, who carried the ball 18 times for 99 yards. Backup Stevan Ridley played eight snaps in his first NFL action since tearing knee ligaments last October while with the Patriots. As of now, the Jets don't plan to sign another running back. Bowles said he's hoping to have Powell back in time for the Texans game. Receiver Eric Decker -- who has been dealing with a sore knee -- is getting treatment on a sore shoulder, Bowles said. Brandon Marshall, who left Thursday's game briefly after getting hurt, is still dealing with lingering toe and ankle injuries. Jets show mediocrity as ex-coach Rex Ryan departs with win (Neil Best) Newsday November 13, The visiting coach's interview room at MetLife Stadium usually is a sparsely populated afterthought, but late Thursday night it filled up quickly with reporters angling for orchestra seats in advance of the curtain rising for the big show. Then Rex Ryan delivered, as always, emboldened by his Bills' victory over the Jets and ready to unload a backlog of soundbites on his lone visit to the metropolitan area this season. Meanwhile, far around the bend on the lower concourse, Todd Bowles was addressing the many questions that had to be asked of him by a smattering of beat writers, who sat among rows of empty seats. OK, so all of the above probably says more about journalists - and show biz - than it does about football. But the pooped-party vibe did symbolize a larger, more depressing point about this Jets season: Now that the possibilities of something special have faded during a 1-3 slide, it is evident this team is nothing special at all, but merely a middle-of-the-pack outfit destined to battle through the wild-card muck. Hey, there are worse things than that. Look no further than the Lions. Or the Chargers. Or the Nets. 5 P a g e

6 The Jets should be good for a few fun Sundays down the road, including juicy matchups with the Giants Dec. 6 and a potentially decisive rematch with the Bills Jan. 3 in Buffalo, which is lovely that time of year. But where is all this headed, really? They have a merely functional quarterback, injuries galore, a rookie head coach still feeling his way. All in all: meh. Could I be eating these words come January? Of course. Far stranger things have happened than a team that looked like this just past midseason working miracles down the road. And not just in football. Maybe the Jets just need to threaten to unload someone - Dee Milliner, perhaps? - have him cry on television, and watch everyone rally behind the cause. (Unfortunately, the trade deadline has passed, so Yoenis Cespedes is not walking through that locker room door.) More likely, though, the Jets are early round playoff fodder, at best. Let's review their results to date. The Jets have won five games, all of them against teams that currently have losing records. They have lost four games, all of them against teams that currently are.500 or better. Hmm. The good news is there is plenty of blech-iness ahead on the schedule, with the Giants the only one of their next five opponents currently sporting a winning record. And the Giants face the Patriots on Sunday, so... we'll see about that. This is where I should express opinions about some of the key decisions Bowles made in that maddening loss to the Ryan's Bills. Fine. Should he have attempted a two-point conversion with the score 22-9 and 4:39 left in the third quarter rather than settle for one? No. No, no, no, no, no. No. See me after class for a more detailed discussion of why Bowles was right, and why coaches at every level should never, ever glance at their two-point conversion chart before the fourth quarter. Should he have tried a field goal on one or both pivotal - and failed - fourth-down attempts in the fourth quarter, once trailing 22-10, and later 22-17? Reasonable people can disagree here. Yes is an acceptable answer. But so is no. Should the play calls have been less terrible on those fourth-down attempts? Yes, absolutely. Same goes for their execution. Jets fans have a right to feel frustrated, as do the defensive players who deserved far better against their old coach. This is an excellent moment for a mini-break before they try again in Houston Nov. 22, not least because their starting quarterback happens to be undergoing surgery on his left hand Friday. "You want to play your best ball in November and December," said receiver Brandon Marshall, who is not currently playing his best ball. "Right now we got off to a tough start and we have to figure out how we can get back on the right side of the column." Said cornerback Darrelle Revis, "I mean, we control our destiny. We do... We've got the break. Hopefully we'll get away from football a little bit, but everybody will come back fresh and ready to work because we have a long way to go the rest of the season." Added cornerback Buster Skrine, "You have to win these games. You don't want to be scratching in December to try to get into the playoffs." 6 P a g e

7 Even as the Jets spoke about the loss in their locker room, Ryan still was holding court with one last group of New York-area reporters in the tunnel leading to the Bills' bus. He finally left the building when the clock read 12:12 a.m. The team he left behind could only hope that it still will be relevant come 1/3/16. THE RECORD Jets report card vs. Bills (J.P. Pelzman) The Record Run offense: B+ Chris Ivory got back on track after three subpar games, running for 99 yards on 18 carries. QB Ryan Fitzpatrick also pitched in with three rushes for 30 yards. It certainly helped that veteran C Nick Mangold (neck) was back on a full-time basis after missing most of the last two games. Former New England Patriot Stevan Ridley was a non-factor with three carries for minus-1 yard, his first touches as a Jet. Pass offense: D Yes, Fitzpatrick had two TD passes, but his accuracy was poor and he wasn t helped as Brandon Marshall and Eric Decker had key dropped passes, including one by Decker that would have given the Jets a first down in the red zone. Marshall juggled a Fitzpatrick pass into tight coverage that resulted in an interception by Corey Graham. The lack of a consistent third WR option to go with Marshall and Decker again was a problem. Run defense: C- LeSean McCoy rushed for 112 yards as the Jets had trouble containing his cutback runs and bursts to the outside. McCoy had six carries for 31 yards, including a crucial first down on a clock-chewing Buffalo drive late in the fourth quarter that helped seal the Bills victory. Pass defense: B Buffalo s wideouts did very little, although Sammy Watkins beat Darrelle Revis for a key first down on Buffalo s next-to-last possession. But TE Charles Clay (5-for-52) and McCoy totaled 10 catches for 99 yards. RB Karlos Williams badly beat ILB Demario Davis on a 26-yard TD catch in the third period as the Jets inability to cover RBs on intermediate routes was exposed once again. Special teams: D The good things the Jets did in this area were overshadowed by one huge mistake. On his first kickoff return as a pro, rookie WR Devin Smith had the ball jarred loose by Bacarri Rambo and Buffalo s Duke Williams returned the ball 19 yards for a momentum-changing second-quarter TD. P Ryan Quigley averaged 49 yards net on five attempts. New kicker Randy Bullock was perfect, making a 29-yard field goal and two PATs. The Jets swarmed over Buffalo P Colton Schmidt after he dropped a fourth-quarter snap, setting up an opportunity that the offense wasted. Coaching: D Coach Todd Bowles made some questionable decisions, including rolling the dice on fourth-and-4 at the Buffalo 7 with 3:02 to go. The Jets had all of their timeouts and a chip-shot FG would have cut the deficit 7 P a g e

8 to two, but perhaps Bowles didn t fully trust newcomer Bullock to make a potentially longer kick later. Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey had some good play calls, but using blocking TE Kellen Davis as the primary read on that crucial fourth-and-4 was not one of them. Jets' Ryan Fitzpatrick undergoes thumb surgery (J.P. Pelzman) The Record Jets quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick underwent surgery Friday morning to repair a torn ligament in his left (non-throwing) thumb, coach Todd Bowles said. Fitzpatrick and the Jets expect him to be ready to play in the team's next game, at Houston on Nov. 22. That s the plan, Bowles said in a conference call. Fitzpatrick, who was 15-for-34 with two touchdown passes and two interceptions in the Jets loss to Buffalo on Thursday night, tore the ulnar collateral ligament in his left thumb against Oakland on Nov. 1. He suffered the injury when he was hit by Charles Woodson at the end of a scramble. Fitzpatrick played through the injury in the last two games, in which the team went 1-1. Doctors told Fitzpatrick and the Jets the injury would require surgery at some point, and they decided to have it now with a nine-day break between games. Bowles also said running back Zac Stacy had surgery Friday morning to repair a fractured left ankle. He was injured returning a kickoff just before halftime against the Bills. He is out for the season. ESPN NEW YORK An inside look at how Jets bungled a potential game-winning TD (Rich Cimini) ESPN New York On the two biggest plays of the season, the New York Jets resembled the Keystone Cops, bumping into each other, not knowing where to go. It was an embarrassing display of ineptitude that can be blamed on coaching and lack of awareness by the players involved. "We have to play better situational football," Todd Bowles said after the loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. Understatement of the year. A closer look at the plays, following our film review: Third-and-3 from the Bills' 6 (3:47 left in the game) What happened: The Jets lost a yard on a completion to Eric Decker, who was lined up in a bunch formation to the right. They tried to run a pick play, with Jeff Cumberland picking Decker's man. As it turned out, Cumberland bumped into Decker. As soon as the play was over, Decker, clearly upset, exchanged words with Cumberland. Later, Decker said it should've been a walk-in touchdown. In case you're wondering, Brandon Marshall was doubled on the back side. 8 P a g e

9 What went wrong: Bowles, down by five points, said he was in touchdown-or-bust mode. He wasn't thinking about a field goal even though he had three timeouts remaining. Why not run the ball, knowing you're in four-down territory? It's quite possible that a run was called by offensive coordinator Chan Gailey. Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said he changed the play, claiming, "That was 100 percent my call there." He probably audibled out of a run because the Bills were in their base personnel against the Jets' three-receiver package -- only two corners vs. three wide receivers. The situation screamed "pass," so Fitzpatrick did. Whether the called the right pass is the question. Obviously, Decker and Cumberland contributed to the mess with a miscommunication. Fourth-and-4 from the Bills' 7 (3:02) What happened: Fitzpatrick threw an incomplete pass over the head of Kellen Davis, who acted like he had no idea the ball was coming to him. He turned too late as the lofted pass sailed over his head. Again, there was contact between two Jets -- Davis and Decker. It was another pick play, another miscommunication. And, yes, Marshall was doubled again, this time in the left slot. What went wrong: The Jets were in the same personnel grouping as third down, except they replaced Cumberland with Davis -- a curious choice. Davis has played eight years in the NFL and he has scored only six times on passes inside the 8-yard line, including a 1-yard catch two weeks ago with Geno Smith at quarterback -- a different route, by the way. This time, he ran a sloppy corner route. The Bills stayed in their base defense, daring the Jets to throw. Fitzpatrick is being unfairly criticized; he had no place else to throw it. This one's on Gailey for the call and Davis and Decker for bungling the execution. "I got held up a little," Davis said. "The guy jammed me on the release. Me and Deck bumped into each other. I wasn't able to get out there as fast as I wanted to. I didn't see the ball until it was already past me." One Bills coach said he was stunned the Jets didn't throw to Decker in that situation; he had been hurting them in the slot. Yep, the Bills were stunned and relieved. The Jets were dazed and confused. Jets QB Ryan Fitzpatrick (thumb), RB Zac Stacy (ankle) have surgery (Rich Cimini) ESPN New York And on the morning after, two players went to the operating room. New York Jets running back Zac Stacy underwent season-ending surgery Friday to repair a fractured ankle and, as expected, quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick had surgery to fix a torn ligament in his left thumb. The team expects Fitzpatrick to start the next game, Nov. 22 at the Houston Texans, his previous team. "Yeah, that's the plan," Jets coach Todd Bowles said Friday on a conference call. Bowles also expressed concern about wide receiver Eric Decker, who has a "pretty sore" shoulder and is receiving treatment. Fortunately for the Jets, they're on a mini-bye week. Ryan Fitzpatrick had surgery on his thumb Friday and is expected to be ready for the Jets' next game. AP Photo/Seth Wenig Stacy will be placed on injured reserve, leaving the Jets with three running backs -- Chris Ivory, Bilal Powell and Stevan Ridley. Stacy's injury isn't crushing because Powell is expected to return from an ankle injury. He can go back to being the third-down back, a role Stacy had assumed. Ridley, recently activated from 9 P a g e

10 the physically-unable-to-perform list, finally got a chance to play on Thursday night -- three carries for minus-1 yard in the loss to the Buffalo Bills. Stacy's injury will be felt more on special teams. He was the primary kickoff returner in recent weeks, replacing the injured Chris Owusu. In fact, Stacy got hurt on a kickoff return. Now what? They can resort to Kenbrell Thompkins, who started Thursday night, or give rookie Devin Smith another shot. He, of course, coughed up a fumble that was returned for a Buffalo touchdown. Stacy will be the eighth player to go on injured reserve. Bowles agonized over the decision to put guard Willie Colon (knee) on IR. "It's one of the hardest things I've had to do here because he's such a warrior," Bowles said. Colon's right knee, injured in Week 3, has been getting worse, according to Bowles, who said the knee had to be drained of fluid. Colon is 32, and it's possible he could retire. He likely will require surgery at some point. "Knowing a guy had to go out like that, you never want to tell a guy that he has to go on IR, especially since he has played a ton of years," Bowles said. Other players on IR: Nick Folk, place-kicker Chris Owusu, wide receiver/kick returner Jaiquawn Jarrett, safety Antonio Allen, safety Jace Amaro, tight end Zach Sudfeld, tight end Struggling Jets have a lot to work on, and it starts with the coach (Rich Cimini) ESPN New York For five games, Todd Bowles made this coaching thing look easy. The New York Jets were 4-1, one of the surprises in the NFL. He was pushing all the right buttons, on and off the field, but there was one situation that hadn't presented itself -- managing a close game in the fourth quarter. A few weeks later, a picture is starting to emerge. It's not flattering. There have been a few questionable decisions over the last few games, but let's cut to the chase: On Thursday night, he may have cost his team a win by mismanaging the final 20 minutes in the loss to the Buffalo Bills. There was the two-point conversion he didn't try in the third quarter, along with two failed fourth-down plays in the fourth. The decisions provide great fodder for talk-show debate -- we could go back and forth -- but the facts can't be disputed: The Jets reached scoring territory three times in the fourth quarter and came away with only seven points. They left at least six points on the field. They lost the game by five. Do the math. 10 P a g e

11 "They're mistakes if they don't work and you're a genius if they do work," Bowles said Friday. "The ones that don't, I don't look at them as mistakes. I look at them as learning experiences. They don't work out all the time. Sometimes it's not in the cards." Bowles is a first-year coach, so you can't expect him to be Bill Belichick on the sideline. For the most part, I think Bowles is doing a good job, but the Jets are 1-3 in games decided by seven points or less. He'll have to flip that if they want to stay in playoff contention. The first questionable decision came after Brandon Marshall's touchdown with 4:39 remaining in the third quarter. Down 22-9, Bowles opted to kick the extra point instead of trying a two-point conversion. A successful two-point conversion would've made it a two-possession game. The NFL success rate is 50.9 percent. The standard two-point conversion chart says to kick the PAT when trailing by 13 points, although there's a more sophisticated chart that factors time remaining into the probability. That chart says he should've gone for two. "We knew we needed two scores to win anyway, so it didn't make a difference," Bowles said. Bowles adhered to conventional wisdom, meaning no two-point tries until the fourth quarter. He was in a point-gathering mode, taking a deficit into the fourth quarter. If that's the way you're going to play, he should've taken a 38-yard field goal instead of trying a fourth-and-2 early in the fourth quarter -- which backfired. A field goal would've made it 22-13, which would've become when Eric Decker scored with 7:20 on the clock. Now you're in a field-goal game, and that would've been huge when the Jets recovered the botched punt snap at the Bills' 13 with 5:12 to play. They would've been in position for a potential game-winning field goal, perhaps a touchdown. They would've been in control. Instead, they were down by five, approaching the possession with a touchdown-or-bust mentality. That led to another mistake. With three timeouts and the two-minute warning, Bowles should've kicked the field goal and put the game in the hands of his defense. We all know what happened -- the ill-fated pass to Kellen Davis on fourth down. "We were going for the win," Bowles said. "We had the momentum and we were going for it. We weren't exactly moving the ball offensively with a great amount of success to go the whole field to try to get a touchdown or field goal to win the ball game. So my thought was to get it there. The offense marched 69 yards for a touchdown on the previous possession, so I'm not sure why he'd say they hadn't been moving the ball. No doubt, there were many reasons for the loss, including a minus-4 turnover margin, but Bowles missed a chance to close out what would've been a terrific comeback. Again: Three scoring chances in the fourth quarter, only seven points. A crushing loss. Todd Bowles laments 'mix ups' in crunch time of Jets' loss (Rich Cimini) ESPN New York Rex Ryan provided the bleeps, celebrating his big win with easy-to-decipher expletives on the sideline. The New York Jets provided the foul ups and blunders. 11 P a g e

12 "There were a lot of mix ups with a bunch of routes at the end of the game," Todd Bowles said Friday, trying to explain what went wrong in the final minutes of a loss to the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. The Jets held a team meeting Friday morning and, yes, the plays were discussed. We're talking about the back-to-back pass plays near the goal line with three-and-change left in the fourth quarter, with the Jets trailing by five points. First, there was the 1-yard loss to Eric Decker, who bumped into tight end Jeff Cumberland on a pick play. After the game, Decker said it should've been a walk-in touchdown. "It was a scheme thing," Bowles said. "There were a couple of people that messed that up. We addressed that at the team meeting." Next came the fourth-down mess, Ryan Fitzpatrick overthrowing tight end Kellen Davis in the end zone. Davis, who said he was the No. 1 read, didn't see the ball coming and reacted too late. It was an ugly, embarrassing play that ruined a potential game-winning touchdown. "That's something we discussed internally," Bowles said. "We know what went wrong. I'm not going to throw anybody under the bus, but we understand exactly what went wrong and we addressed it." The biggest question: Why Davis? He entered the game with only one reception. "There was more involved in that, it wasn't just a play to Kellen Davis," Bowles said cryptically. "We addressed it on our meeting. There was a mix up there." Good teams don't have mix ups when the game is on the line. NEW YORK POST The 4 straight pushovers that can jump-start or doom Jets (Howie Kussoy) New York Post The feeling existed, if only for a few minutes the Jets were going to win. Trailing the Bills 22-3 in the third quarter Thursday night, the Jets cut the deficit to five and got the ball back 13 yards away from the lead, with just over five minutes remaining. Chris Ivory ran for 8 yards on first down, but the Jets didn t gain another yard the rest of the game. Awaking Friday, coach Todd Bowles didn t second-guess what was called on the deciding drive. Though he said the fateful fourth-down incompletion in the end zone wasn t specifically designed for backup tight end Kellen Davis who has one reception this season the coach didn t have a problem with the play call, just the execution. Bowles, who still had all three timeouts and the two-minute warning, didn t regret going for it on fourth down, rather than cutting the deficit to two with a field goal and relying on his defense, which had turned the clock back to September, against a Buffalo offense which had struggled to move the ball in the second half. I thought we had the perfect time to try to win the game, Bowles said on a conference call Friday afternoon. It s hard to get back down there and we had momentum, we were at home and we had four downs to do it and we didn t get it done. 12 P a g e

13 They re mistakes if they don t work. You re a genius if they do work. With the loss, the Jets have dropped three of their past four games after opening the season 4-1. Despite the recent slide, Bowles doesn t believe the team that opened the season so impressively is much different from the current version. I don t think they ve regressed, Bowles said. I thought we made some mistakes in each game differently. We had a lot more success early on and the stats looked good and everything, but I m not a stat guy. We have to get better every week, and I don t think we ve gotten better in certain areas. The Jets (5-4), not long ago looking likely to reach the playoffs for the first time since Rex Ryan led the team to the 2011 AFC Championship Game, are tied with the Bills and Steelers for the two wild-card spots, with the Raiders (4-4) trailing by a half-game. We can control our destiny, Darrelle Revis said after Thursday s loss. We have the break and hopefully we get away from football for a little bit and everybody can come back fresh and ready to work. We have a long way to go for the rest of the season. But the end of the season may only matter if the Jets can take advantage of their next four games at Houston (3-5), versus Miami (3-5), a quasi-road game against the Giants (5-4) and versus Tennessee (2-6) a string of opponents perfectly aligned for a bounce-back. The stretch could ultimately define the Jets season, with a cushion likely needed heading into their final three games at Dallas, with Tony Romo expected to be back, against the undefeated Patriots and at Buffalo. It s critical, cornerback Buster Skrine said of the upcoming stretch. It s still November. You have to win these games. You don t want to be scratching in December trying to get into the playoffs. These games are critical. We lost this [Buffalo] game, so it makes it harder on us these next couple games. We just have to come in and play the ball we know how to play. Bowles said Friday he hadn t even started thinking about the playoffs. The next four games may determine if he ll have the chance to think about them at all. It s a long season, we re 5-4, we re in the middle of the pack with everybody else, Bowles said. We have a chance to win our ballgames. We ll look up at the end and see where we are. Todd Bowles worst night begins Jets fans ominous grumbling (Brian Costello) New York Post We spent the past week talking about the Jets former coach. We might spend the next one talking about their current one. Todd Bowles had his worst night since taking the job in January on Thursday night, misfiring on some crucial decisions down the stretch in the Jets loss to the Bills. He looked like a rookie out there, feeling his way and mismanaging the second half. The honeymoon may not quite be over for Bowles in New York, but we re getting near checkout time. Fans are beginning to grumble about his in-game management, especially when the mistakes of the aforementioned former coach, Rex Ryan, were on full display Thursday night. Ryan had blown timeouts and bad challenges, but his Bills still walked out of MetLife Stadium as winners. 13 P a g e

14 On Friday, Bowles said he would not change any of the decisions he made Thursday, a curious comment considering the outcome. But Bowles said he would not let the results change his feelings on his calls. They re mistakes if they don t work. You re a genius if they do work, Bowles said. The ones that worked were good. The ones that didn t, I don t look at as mistakes. You look at them as learning experiences or they just didn t work out that time. Sometimes it s not in the cards. There is no questioning the effect Bowles has had on the Jets with his demeanor and all-business approach. The locker room has responded and it s not as if this recent run of three losses in four weeks wipes out the good that was evident early in the year. It is what Bowles does on the sidelines when it s time to make the calls as CEO of the Jets that has some questioning him. This was not the first week in which Bowles in-game decisions caused some head-scratching. There was his timeout use in New England, the decision to punt late in the game at Oakland and how he managed the end of the first half against Jacksonville. On Thursday, there were several decisions that made you wonder if Bowles is still learning on the job. Let s take each decision one by one: After the Jets scored a touchdown with 4:39 left in the third quarter to cut the Bills lead to 22-9, Bowles opted to kick the extra point instead of going for two, which would have made it an 11-point game (a touchdown, two-point conversion and field goal ties it). The famous two-point chart devised by Dick Vermeil in the 1970s said Bowles made the right call going for one, but I disagree. This decision set the tone for going for it on fourth down later in the game. With 14:57 left in the game, the Jets were trailing and had the ball on the Bills 20 and it was fourth-and-2. If they kick the field goal, it remains a two-score game, but now you need another field goal and a touchdown instead of two touchdowns. Bowles opted to go for it and the Jets failed to convert. I understand why Bowles went for it, but in hindsight, he probably should have kicked the field goal. The play-call on fourth down was atrocious. To throw to Brandon Marshall behind the line of scrimmage made no sense. You can argue that is on offensive coordinator Chan Gailey, not Bowles, but he is the head coach and should have overruled Gailey. Finally, after the Jets took over on the Bills 13 following a botched punt, Bowles decided to go for the touchdown instead of the field goal trailing with about three minutes left. We were close, Bowles said. We were going for the win. We had momentum. We were going for it. We weren t exactly moving the ball offensively with a great amount of success to go a whole field to try to get a field goal or a touchdown to win the ballgame. My thought was the best opportunity was to try to get it there. Again, I don t think Bowles was wrong for going for it. The problem again came with play calling. A pass play on third-and-3, knowing you have two downs, was a bad idea. Then, on fourth down, to throw to little-used tight end Kellen Davis made no sense. The Jets have lost three out of their last four games and the playoffs look a lot less likely. Bowles said his team has not regressed over the last month, despite evidence that makes you think otherwise. We ve got to get better every week and I don t think we ve gotten better in certain areas and different areas have let us down each week, Bowles said. Coaching was one of those areas on Thursday. 14 P a g e

15 Ryan Fitzpatrick s thumb isn t the worst Jets surgery today (Brian Costello) New York Post Quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick underwent surgery on his left thumb on Friday, as expected. Fitzpatrick had a torn ligament in the thumb repaired. Coach Todd Bowles said Fitzpatrick is expected to be ready to play in the Jets next game against the Texans on Nov. 22. Running back Zac Stacy was not as fortunate with his injury. Stacy broke his ankle on a kick return at the end of the first half Thursday night and had surgery Friday morning. He is out for the remainder of the season. Stacy had 31 carries for 89 yards and one touchdown along with nine catches for 65 yards this season. He also returned 10 kickoffs for 204 yards. Bowles also said wide receiver Eric Decker is dealing with a sore shoulder after Thursday s game. The Jets have 10 days to recuperate, something they need with a lot of injuries mounting. Bowles refused to use injuries as an excuse for the team s recent poor play. Every team has injuries. It s going to be like that, Bowles said. It s a long season, so you ve got guys on your team backing up for a reason so when the starters go down, you expect those guys to come in and play and step up. Bowles was asked if he has considered benching linebacker Demario Davis, who gave up a touchdown pass to running back Karlos Williams in the third quarter. It is not the first time a running back has beaten Davis this season. Bowles said he has not considered sitting Davis down. I m fine with his ability in coverage, Bowles said. He played the wrong leverage and the guy got underneath him, but the quarterback also had too much time to throw the ball. Bowles said he was unaware backup quarterback Geno Smith directed a vulgarity at a Post reporter after being asked if he was willing to do an interview after Thursday s game. This is the first I ve heard about it, Bowles said. I ll gather more information about it and have a better idea about it. The Jets surprisingly placed guard Willie Colon on season-ending injured reserve Wednesday. Bowles said Friday that Colon s right knee kept swelling up and was getting worse. Colon was unable to practice this week and even had to leave the practice field because of the knee. It was probably one of the hardest things I had to do because he s such a warrior and he s played quite a few years in this league, Bowles said. Knowing a guy has to go out like that, you never want to tell a guy that he has to go on IR and can t play, especially since he s played a ton of years. Colon, at 32, may be facing retirement. The Jets signed OL Lawrence Okoye and DL T.J. Barnes to the practice squad Friday. They cut CB Jeremy Harris from the practice squad. Okoye competed for England in the 2012 Olympics in discus. He is a British national record holder in the sport. He has spent time on the 49ers and Cardinals practice squads, but as a defensive end. The Jets will try to make him an offensive lineman. Todd Bowles looks every bit the rookie with late-game gaffes (Brian Costello) 15 P a g e

16 New York Post The Jets dropped a heartbreaking game to the Bills, 22-17, on Thursday night as former coach Rex Ryan returned to MetLife Stadium and escaped with a win. Here are some thoughts and observations on the game: 1. Is it time to get concerned about Jets coach Todd Bowles in-game decisions? This is four straight weeks in which Bowles has made some choices that were debatable at best and downright wrong at worst after he had timeout issues in New England, punted down two touchdowns late in Oakland and mismanaged the end of the first half last week against the Jaguars. There were two aspects of Thursday night s game that you could take issue with. The first was after scoring a touchdown in the third quarter to cut the Bills lead to 22-9, should the Jets have gone for the two-point conversion? I think they should have. If you make it, the score is and now you are a field goal, a touchdown and another two-point conversion away from tying it. That would have made the first fourthdown decision a no-brainer for the Jets to kick the field goal. Instead they went for it and got stopped. There is no difference between being down 12 or 13 if you miss the conversion. Then you still need two touchdowns to win the game. The other decision that seems to have more fans upset was going for the touchdown when they got the ball at the 13 with 5:12 left after the botched snap on a Bills punt. They were down with all of their timeouts remaining. The fourth down came with 3:02 left to play. If you kick the field goal, you are counting on your defense to get a stop while you use the timeouts to maximize the amount of time you would have left when you get the ball. I don t have an issue with Bowles going for it here. It felt like the momentum had completely swung in the Jets direction. Go for the kill. The defense had stopped the Bills repeatedly, but asking them to come up with another three-and-out is risky. If they give up a first down, you have very little time left to work with. So I am OK with the decision to go for it but 2. How do you throw it to Kellen Davis on fourth down? The Jets entered the game with the best red-zone offense in the NFL. You know why? Because they have Eric Decker and Brandon Marshall, two great redzone receivers, and Chris Ivory, who is a threat inside the 10. Instead, Chan Gailey threw to Davis, who has one catch this season? I don t get it. Overall, I think Gailey has done a good job this year. He is the best offensive coordinator the Jets have had in a long time. But he had a bad night against the Bills. It was not just the fourth-down call. The third-down call before it was strange with the short pass to Decker behind the line of scrimmage. The fourth-and-2 call early in the fourth quarter was awful. Ryan Fitzpatrick threw a hitch pass to Marshall behind the line of scrimmage and he was tackled for a 2-yard loss. 3. There was plenty of blame to go around after the loss. At the top of the list, though, is rookie Devin Smith, who fumbled a kickoff the Bills returned for a touchdown. Smith s rookie season is rapidly becoming one to forget. He did have a nice catch in the game, his seventh of the season, but it was overshadowed by his gaffe on the kickoff. It is too soon to call Smith a bust, but he is leaning in that direction. What is with the Jets and secondround picks? Look at the list since 2010: 2010: Vlad Ducasse 16 P a g e

17 2012: Stephen Hill 2013: Geno Smith 2014: Jace Amaro 2015: Devin Smith Yikes. There is still time for Smith to turn it around, obviously, but this is looking like a lost season for him. 4. One positive from Thursday s game was the play of safety Rontez Miles. Making his first start in his third career game, Miles was all over the field making plays. He finished with seven tackles and showed his skill as a blitzer and an open-field tackler. Miles is a great story. He had a rough upbringing and has fought through a lot to get to the NFL. An undrafted free agent, he suffered a bad injury last year just after the team brought him up from the practice squad. He is getting a chance now because the Jets are so banged up at safety. On Thursday, Miles looked like he belonged. Revealing number: The turnover margin was 4-0 in favor of the Bills. That was the game. The first three turnovers led to 12 points and the final turnover ended the game. On defense, the Jets were unable to get any takeaways. After a strong start in that department, the Jets are not forcing many turnovers anymore. In three of the past four games, they have not had any takeaways. Not coincidentally, those three were all losses. Surprising snap count: Lorenzo Mauldin only played eight snaps after having a strong game last week against the Jaguars. I did not expect Mauldin to get starter snaps, but I figured he would be in the range this week. Game ball: Muhammad Wilkerson had a huge game for the Jets. The defensive end had two sacks and six tackles. His rundown of Bills quarterback Tyrod Taylor was really impressive. For a man that large to move that fast is amazing. He also had a big stop on third-and-short against the Bills late in the game. Wilkerson is making a push in his contract year. If he keeps playing like he did Thursday, the Jets must pay him. NJ ADVANCE MEDIA What happened to Jets on third and fourth down after Buffalo Bills fumbled that punt? (Dom Consentino) NJ Advance Media ml#incart_river_mobileshort_index EAST RUTHERFORD With a little more than five minutes remaining, the Bills gift-wrapped a mistake that appeared to give the Jets a chance to erase a 19-point lead and to pull out Thursday night's game. But the Jets completely botched the opportunity with some slapstick on third and fourth down, which allowed the Bills to escape head coach Rex Ryan's return to MetLife Stadium with a victory. "We had a million chances today in the second half," quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick said after it was over. 17 P a g e