I'm not at all worried about Petty's performance last night. I think he did exactly what they told him to do. That's a very good sign. He's taking coaching well.
Petty is an extremely green rookie QB, who has a very live arm, and a reputation of being a gunslinger. That mentality is very hard to get out of a rookie QB. IN college they rely on their arm talent to overwhelm D's. It seldom works that way in the NFL. The defensive backs are just faster and better.
Looking at the 3 games I think Petty has followed the game plan, and done very well.
Game 1: First NFL game. he probably wanted to come out and throw the ball all over the field and impress everyone with his arm talent. He was coached to JUST DON'T TURN THE BALL OVER. They gave him a very tight game plan, with a lot of short dump off type passes. Or intentionally threw the ball where no body could get it. Not an inaccurate throw, just where nobody could get it. Good first effort from him because he did what he was told and DIDN'T TURN THE BALL OVER.
2ND game they gave him a bit more leeway. Loosened the leash a bit. he responded very well, came close twice, but still DIDN'T TURN THE BALL OVER.
Last night was different. Petty came into the game with a lead, and I think they wanted him to play to learn protect the lead , let the RB's and defense do their job, and put the game away. They gave him a very dummied down game plan, and wanted to see if he could control his ego, and NOT TURN THE BALL OVER. He did his job, the RB's and defense did theirs.
IMO, I think next week they are going to give him a quarter + off the chain. Let him air it out, and see how that works out. Then put him in moth balls for a year. I'm curious myself.
Even if it doesn't go so well, I'm still real happy with what I'm seeing from Petty. He's taking coaching well, and for a strong armed intelligent QB, that is super important.
