The Bills traded for quarterback Tarvaris Jackson before the season, but he’s spent the first 15 games of the season on the inactive list.
It sounds like he’ll spend the 16th game of the season there as well. Bills coach Chan Gailey said Monday that he isn’t going to be using the game against the Jets to take a look at younger players or backups, which includes giving Ryan Fitzpatrick the start at quarterback even as it seems likelier and likelier that Fitz is done in Buffalo. Gailey said that he believes Fitzpatrick gives the team the best chance to win and that’s his only consideration when it comes to making out the lineup for Week 17.
“The best players are going to play,” Gailey said, via the team’s website. “They’ve earned the right to play. They want to play in the games, that’s what they want to do -- they want to play in the games. They’ve earned the right to play, and if they’re ready to go, the best players are going to play.”
The thing that gives the Bills the best chance of winning this week is the fact that the Jets are the team on the other side of the field, although it’s fair to say that Jackson doesn’t do much of anything to move the needle on that front. The same is likely true of other Bills players who couldn’t work their way into the lineup of a team that’s already lost 10 games, but, then, neither do the guys in the starting lineup. That’s why Gailey’s future is very uncertain in Buffalo and why the team’s lost at least 10 games in each of his seasons as the team’s coach.