Jets quarterback Chad Pennington will miss the rest of the season because of a torn right rotator cuff, the Associated Press learned last night.

Pennington’s injury was confirmed by a person with knowledge of his condition, but who declined to be identified because the team had not made an official announcement.

An MRI exam showed Pennington tore his rotator cuff in Sunday’s 26-20 overtime loss to Jacksonville. The NFL Network originally reported the injury, the second time Pennington has had this tear in less than a year.

Backup Jay Fiedler also damaged his shoulder Sunday and will be sidelined, leaving third-stringer Brooks Bollinger to play quarterback against Baltimore this weekend.

Last season, Pennington missed three games with the same injury and had off-season surgery to repair it. He was sacked on consecutive plays during the Jets’ first series of the second half against Jacksonville. On third down, Pennington was tackled by Bobby McCray and fumbled for the second straight down and recovered the ball, but his shoulder was injured on the play.

Fiedler came in, but was hit while completing a 16-yard pass to Justin Mc-Careins and hurt his shoulder. Pennington came back to lead the Jets on two scoring drives, both capped by field goals, but clearly was hurting and said after the game that the injury felt “similar to last year.”

A downcast Fiedler indicated after the game that he was also fearing the worst.

“I kind of landed with my arm above my shoulder and I felt something go,” he said Sunday. “I knew I wasn’t going to be able to throw a football.”