The Jets added veteran David Fales to the team’s quarterback carousel on Wednesday.
Fales is the fourth quarterback on the Jets roster this season and it’s only Week 3. With Sam Darnold out indefinitely with mononucleosis and Trevor Siemian out for the season with an ankle injury, the only healthy quarterback left on the roster was Luke Falk.
In dire need of a backup, the Jets turned to a quarterback who has ties to both Adam Gase and Joe Douglas.
Now that he’s a member of the Jets, let’s get to know Fales a bit better. Here are four things to know about New York’s newest backup QB.
Well-connected
With the Jets in desperate need of a backup quarterback, Gase and Douglas turned to a familiar face yet again.
Fales was Gase’s third-string quarterback with the Miami Dolphins from 2017-2018. In two appearances with the Dolphins, Fales completed 29 of 43 passes for 265 yards, throwing one touchdown pass and one interception.
Fales also spent the 2015 season with the Chicago Bears, where Gase was the offensive coordinator and Douglas was the director of college scouting.
Career journeyman
Fales is well-traveled.
His career as a journeyman began at the collegiate level. A two-star recruit out high school, Fales only received one offer, which was from Nevada. He redshirted his freshman season behind Colin Kaepernick and then opted to transfer back home to Monterey Peninsula College, a junior college in California. After going back and forth between Wyoming and Monterey Peninsula, Fales found himself at San Jose State as the team’s starting quarterback.
He was selected in the sixth round of the 2014 NFL draft by the Chicago Bears. The Jets will mark his fifth NFL team once he suits up on Sunday. Fales has had multiple stints with the Bears and Dolphins — the only teams he’s thrown a regular-season pass for — as well as being in training camp with the Ravens and most recently the Lions.
Historic college season
With Fales under center, San Jose State went 11-2 in 2012. The Spartans received the school’s first-ever Bowl Championship Series ranking, first Associated Press Poll ranking since 1975 and first bowl game berth since 2006.
With 33 touchdown passes in his first season with San Jose State, Fales was the most accurate Football Bowl Subdivision quarterback, completing 72.5 percent of his passing attempts.
Drought-ender
Fales became the first San Jose State quarterback to be drafted since 1988, when Mike Perez was drafted by the New York Giants.
Fales is the first player from the school to play in the NFL since Jeff Garcia. It is highly unlikely that Fales will be breaking any long-lasting droughts with the Jets, as he appears to be the odd man out once Sam Darnold returns.
