Following the New York Jets’ 28-3 defeat at the hands of the Arizona Cardinals Monday night, it seemed obvious to everyone that a change was necessary at the quarterback position.

Obvious to everyone except head coach Todd Bowles, who reiterated that Ryan Fitzpatrick would stay the starting quarterback even after being replaced midway through the fourth quarter.

“Fitz will be back next week,” Bowles said after the loss.

According to Adam Schefter of ESPN, the Jets have decided to change starting quarterbacks, benching Fitzpatrick in favor of deposed starter Geno Smith.

It appears that Bowles has done a 180 even after some questionable comments in Monday’s press conference.  Smith commented on his playing time prior to the game and Bowles reaction was inflammatory.

“I don’t have any thoughts on a backup player saying anything,” said the Jets head coach. “They’re backups for a reason, and if they get a chance to play, they better prove themselves to be worthy of playing, regardless of who the person is.”

Bowles backtracked from his post-game proclamation just a bit on Monday.

“First of all, after the game that’s always going to be status quo because I’m never going to tell the media anything before I meet with my coaches and my GM and the rest of the staff,” he said. “So, everything is status quo until we have our meeting on Monday evening. But he did show some promise when he was in there. He understood the game plan. He did good for the drive he was in there (for).”

That drive ended with Smith completing four of six passes before throwing an interception to Tyrann Mathieu.

When asked about a possible change, Bowles was coy.

“We’re going to talk about more than that, but there is a possibility every week that there will be some changes made player-wise,” said the second-year head coach.

Is going to Smith the right move?  It would seem that way.  The former second round pick from West Virginia might not be any better than Fitzpatrick, but at this point when you’re 1-5, it really doesn’t matter if he’s any worse.  Fitz’s career in New York is finished and it’s time to evaluate your young quarterbacks.

Did Bowles come to this decision on his own or did he have “help” from the front office?  It’s impossible to say, but it seems like the latter is more likely than the former.

We’ll see how long Smith can hold onto the job this time.