Todd Bowles: Geno Smith to be No. 2 QB in Saturday's preseason game

FLORHAM PARK, N.J. -- Geno Smith remains the No. 2 quarterback for the New York Jets-- for this week, anyway.

Amid a brewing controversy for the backup job, coach Todd Bowles said Wednesday that Smith will be the first quarterback off the bench on Saturday night when the Jets face the New York Giants in their annual preseason game. Ryan Fitzpatrick will start.

Earlier in the week, Bowles hedged on his quarterback plans, fueling speculation that Bryce Petty - impressive in last week's game -- was poised to overtake Smith on the depth chart.

"[Petty] played a lot last week and the week before," Bowles said in explaining the decision. "We have to get our guys ready to play."

That would seem to indicate Smith is the front-runner to remain as Fitzpatrick's primary backup, but team officials have been measured in their comments about the unusual quarterback situation.

The Jets are "perfectly willing to consider" keeping four quarterbacks on the 53-man roster, general manager Mike Maccagnan said in a radio interview this week. The fourth is second-round draft pick Christian Hackenberg, a virtual lock to make the team.

If there's an odd-man out, it would be Smith or Petty, a fourth-round pick in 2015 who has no regular-season experience.

Bowles said he hopes to play Petty against the Giants, but "it's hard to get three quarterbacks in in the second half. I'll try to if everything goes right. In a perfect world, you want it. We really do want to get all of them in a game."

Petty leads the team in preseason snaps (60), followed by Smith (36) and Fitzpatrick (22). Hackenberg probably will make his debut in the final game.

Facing a third-string defense, Petty threw two touchdowns last week against the Washington Redskins, while Smith struggled with an interception. That started the so-called controversy.

Smith said nothing has changed.

"I don't see anything different," he said. "I think [Bowles] has already answered that question."