New York Jets name Ryan Fitzpatrick Week 12 starting QB

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J., Nov. 21 (UPI) -- Ryan Fitzpatrick will return under center for the New York Jets next Sunday as its starting quarterback.

Fitzpatrick, 33, has completed 168-of-298 passes for 1,983 yards, eight touchdowns, and a league-high 13 interceptions. He started the first six games of the season for the Jets, before being benched in the fourth quarter of the sixth game. Geno Smith started its Week 7 contest, before going down to a knee injury. Fitzpatrick started the Jets' Week 8 and Week 9 contests, before spraining his MCL in its Week 9 loss to the Miami Dolphins.

Bryce Petty started the Jets' Week 10 loss to the Los Angeles Rams. During the Jets' bye week, general manager Mike Maccagnan said that coach Todd Bowles has the "final say" on who is the team's starting quarterback.

"First, the decision is Todd's and you have to weigh a lot of different things in making that decision," Maccagnan told SNY.tv. "I don't think it's necessarily like 'Hey, let's just play the young guys and see what happens.' It's a decision we don't take lightly, I know that. Again, if Todd feels that's the right approach to take and gives us the best chance to be successful, I'm sure he'll do that."

Bowles had declined to name a starting quarterback before Monday.

"He's [Fitzpatrick's] healthy," Bowles told Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News. "He's been our starter...We can do more things with him. I don't give away jobs."

The Jets [3-7] host the New England Patriots at 4:25 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 27 at MetLife Stadium. Jets quarterbacks have completed just 56.9 percent of their passes, the worst mark in the AFC. The team's 68.7 quarterback rating is the worst in the NFL.