LANDOVER, Md. -- The Jets' offensive line had a tough Thursday night, to put it charitably.

The big men up front allowed four sacks, five quarterback hits and plenty of other pressure in a 15-13 loss to the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field. Those struggles can be blamed, at least in part, on the fact that two of the Jets' usual starters - left tackle Kelvin Beachum and right guard Brian Winters - are currently out due to injury.

Todd Bowles isn't happy that his offensive line is struggling. But in a weird way, the issues on the line of scrimmage are actually useful.

"It's the best time to evaluate (the quarterbacks)," Bowles said. "It's easy to throw when you don't have pressure and there's not adversity. But you want to find out what you have from a mental standpoint, from a physical standpoint, from an intelligence standpoint. So the best time to evaluate them right now is when they're at the end of the rush."

What Bowles wouldn't say is how Sam Darnold and Teddy Bridgewater fared on that test.

Darnold finished the night 8-of-11 for 62 yards and one interception. Bridgewater went 10-of-15 with one TD and one interception. Josh McCown spent the night on the sidelines.

But when asked about his quarterback situation, Bowles did his best to punt.

"It will be a tough choice," Bowles said. "We still have two more games to play, so we'll go from there."

On its face, it appeared as though Bridgewater was the better of the two quarterbacks on Thursday night. Both QBs had some shaky moments - though Bowles absolved Darnold of his interception - but it was Bridgewater who had the most bright spots.

According to Bowles, the best quarterback - however the Jets opt to define that - will be the one who wins the Week 1 job.

"That's the main factor," Bowles said. "Everything is important. We're going to play the best guy and we'll make those evaluations and we'll take our notes. I'm not going to sit here and evaluate them second by second every day in the public."

Matt Stypulkoski may be reached at mstypulkoski@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @M_Stypulkoski. Find NJ.com Jets on Facebook.