It’s not exactly the NFL’s marquee matchup of Week 15, but the New York Jets (5-8) will travel south to face the New Orleans Saints (9-4) at the Mercedes-Benz Superdome on Sunday. The Saints are favored by 16 points as the Jets enter the contest as huge underdogs after losing their starting quarterback last week.

Josh McCown was injured in the third quarter of the team’s blowout 23-0 loss to the Denver Broncos. He was tackled by outside linebacker Shane Ray which resulted in a fractured hand for McCown, who had been enjoying a pretty decent season. The Jets were forced to place him on injured reserve and will now turn to top backup Bryce Petty as the team’s starter moving forward.

Petty is entering his third season with the Jets and will be making his first start of the year when he suits up against New Orleans. He did make four starts for New York last season, completing only 56.4 percent of his passes for 809 yards, and throwing for three touchdowns against seven interceptions.

Regardless of Petty’s lack of experience, Saints head coach Sean Payton spoke highly of the former Baylor product during his conference call with New Orleans media. He specifically noted Petty’s ability to scramble and deliver the ball on the move as something that he and the Saints defense must “pay attention” to throughout the game. A complete transcript of the conversation was posted on the team’s website, but here are a few excerpts from the call.

When asked about Bryce Petty taking over for Josh McCown and the potential challenges he could impose on the Saints defense:

“The tape’s there. The games he’s played in, the preseason (games), any of the games he’s played in our league. The college tape’s there. Obviously you don’t have the same vocabulary you may have with another player. He’s athletic. He can run when the pocket breaks down. He can scramble and flush and make yards with his feet. He can beat you with his arm when he scrambles, but we have to study what we do have and pay attention to the situations as an offense as they handle third down, red zone or those types of things.”

When asked about the Jets as a team and what they could potentially bring to the table versus New Orleans:

“Number one, they have a real strong front. They do a real good job of tackling. I think they’re long (defensive line). Pressuring the quarterback, you receive some different pressure looks. The two young safeties are playing exceptionally well. Offensively, Johnny’s (Morton) done a great job there. They’re a patient offense and yet they’ll take their shots down the field. They are extremely well-coached. I’ve known Todd (Bowles) for years and I think when you watch each game they’ve played this year, they are a much different team than many of the pundits thought they were. That’s to their credit.”

When asked about Jets offensive coordinator John Morton and the job he has done deploying his scheme:

“We were all together, so we were learning from each other. I think there’s certain things we’ll see on film that we’ll call out (things he’s running). But like any good coordinator, you adapt a little bit to the personnel you specifically have there. His personnel, anywhere you go, is different from where you came from. Johnny thinks that way. I think they have gotten the ball down the field and had some success and big wins. I think a lot of it is shaped around the people in their building”

Clearly Payton has high praise for the Jets and judging by his comments it doesn’t appear he is going to let the team or coaches look past a feisty New York squad. He highlighted their defensive front which consists of two star defensive ends in Muhammad Wilkerson and Leonard Williams. Even though the two have combined for only 5.5 sacks this season they are still an elite pairing who consistently harass opposing quarterbacks.

The Jets also have a formidable duo at linebacker as inside guy Demario Davis leads the team with 4.5 sacks and 109 tackles, while Darron Lee has notched three sacks to go along with eight tackles-for-loss on the outside.

New Orleans has lost two of it’s last three games and can’t afford any more slip-ups as they look to stay ahead of the Carolina Panthers (9-4) and Atlanta Falcons (8-5) in the NFC South. The Saints have yet to secure a spot in the playoffs and it’s likely it will come down to the wire, making every game for the remainder of the regular season a must-win affair.

Other apps just deliver sports. The USA TODAY Sportswire app lets you pick specific team sites to get only the news that you want to know.

newsletter Get 10 hot stories each day Thanks for signing up.

Please check your email for a confirmation. Thanks for signing up.

Please check your email for a confirmation.