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FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Ryan Fitzpatrick's quasi-bye week began Friday on an operating room table. The New York Jets' veteran quarterback underwent surgery to repair a torn ligament in his left wrist. Fitzpatrick was injured while scrambling against the Oakland Raiders on Nov. 1, though he was able to start and play the entirety of the next two games.
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Fitzpatrick said Thursday night he planned to play a week from Sunday, when the Jets visit the Houston Texans. Bowles echoed Fitzpatrick's hopes on Friday.
"That's the plan," Bowles said.
--A day later, head coach Todd Bowles still had no regrets over his questionable play-calling in the fourth quarter of Thursday's 22-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.
The Jets, who trailed 22-3 midway through the third quarter, took over at the Bills' 13-yard-line with 5:12 left after Buffalo punter Colton Schmidt fumbled a snap. Running back Chris Ivory gained eight yards on first down, but the Jets lost a yard apiece on the next two plays before Bowles decided to go for the touchdown instead of the chip-shot field goal that would have narrowed the gap to two points with three minutes left.
The Jets ran a chaotic play on fourth down, when tight end Kellen Davis couldn't even turn around in the end zone before quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick's pass sailed over his head.
The Bills collected two first downs on the subsequent possession -- their first first downs following four straight three-and-outs -- before punting with 35 seconds left. On the next play, Fitzpatrick was picked off by safety Bacarri Rambo.
"No, not at all," Bowles said Friday when asked if he would have done anything differently. "I thought we had the perfect time to try to win the game and we were trying to win the game. It would have been hard to get back down there.
"We were at home and had four downs to do it. We didn't get it done."
It was the third time in the last four games Bowles has made a puzzling decision late in a half or a game. In a 30-23 loss to the New England Patriots on Oct. 25, Bowles didn't use any of the Jets' timeouts during a Patriots drive that ended with a touchdown pass to tight end Rob Gronkowski with 1:13 remaining.
In last Sunday's 28-23 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, Bowles elected to try and run out the final 1:50 of the first half despite holding a 14-3 lead. But the Jaguars used two timeouts during a three-and-out, got the ball back and pulled within four on a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Blake Bortles to wide receiver Allen Hurns.
"They're mistakes if they don't work," Bowles said Friday. "You're a genius if they do work. The ones that worked were good. The ones that don't -- I don't look at them 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."
Notes: Running back Zac Stacy (broken ankle) is done for the year after being injured while returning a kickoff against the Buffalo Bills on Thursday night. Stacy underwent surgery Friday. He finishes the season with 31 carries for 89 yards and a touchdown, nine catches for 65 yards and 10 kickoff returns for 204 yards. ... Running back Stevan Ridley made his Jets debut Thursday night, when he rushed for negative-1 yard on three carries in a 22-17 loss to the Bills. It was the first game action of any kind for Ridley since Oct. 12, 2014, when he suffered ACL and MCL injuries while playing for the New England Patriots. Despite the inauspicious start on Thursday, Ridley should become the Jets' No. 2 back now that RB Zac Stacy (broken ankle) is out for the season.
