Petty displayed moxie in leading New York's AFC representative to a comeback win over the 49ers, but he was forced to leave the next two games early. The second-year passer, who was selected in the fourth round of the 2015 draft, suffered a torn labrum in his non-throwing shoulder against the Patriots and he finished the season on injured reserve.

Fitzpatrick, Petty and Smith combined to complete 56.5% of their passes with 16 TDs and 25 INTs while being sacked 35 times. The Jets finished No. 27 in passing (216.6 yards per game) and No. 30 in scoring (17.2 points per game).

Looking Ahead

Smith has an expiring contract and Fitzpatrick will also be a free agent. Both Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg, a second-round pick who had a redshirt season as a rookie, are under contract.

"There's nothing wrong with Christian. He just needs to play," Bowles said of Hackenberg. "Like I said when we signed him in the offseason, Fitzpatrick had a great year last year. Geno was coming back strong as his number two and Bryce was making progress as the number three. So he was allowed to have a redshirt year. Next year, he has to show some progress and make the same jumps."

After making his first four professional starts, Petty is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

"With Bryce going forward, I'm not necessarily going to speculate on what his ceiling may be," said GM Mike Maccagnan. "I think Bryce has a lot of potential. When it's all said and done, it's really up to Bryce to determine what player he's going to eventually develop into. I do think he has the physical ability to potentially develop into a starter. It's really how he progresses and develops, so that's kind of up to him."

The NFL's league year commences on March 9 and then the NFL Draft will follow the weekend of April 27-29. The Jets' QB plan will come to light in the weeks and months ahead.