QB can’t Hack it but owner hasn’t lost his hope yet
In his second NFL training camp this past summer, Christian Hackenberg received every opportunity to win the Jets’ starting quarterback job. He saw significant action against first-team defenses. He started two preseason games. Todd Bowles effectively held the job in an open palm and told Hackenberg to take it.
Well, he didn’t take it. Far from it. As of Wednesday, Hackenberg sits third on the depth chart behind 38-yearold Josh McCown and former fourth-round pick Bryce Petty. He didn’t even dress for Sunday’s 45-20 loss at the Raiders.
Many see this as the most damning example yet that Hackenberg is not the answer to the Jets’ decades-long quarterback woes. But not owner Christopher Johnson, who met with the media Wednesday in Florham Park for the first time since taking over the team from his brother Woody Johnson.
“The quarterback position is really difficult to evaluate, and we haven’t really seen where Christian might go. I’m really more about looking forward than looking back,” Johnson said. “Everybody’s going to look back and find places where things have gone wrong. I don’t think that you can say that about Christian. I think that he has a lot of upside, and I hope to see it.”
But when will Hackenberg get another chance t o show off that upside —ifhe truly possesses it?
On a conference call Monday, Todd Bowles admitted Hackenberg, as the third quarterback, will have limited chances to play and progress over the next several months. “During the season, starters play. You get mental reps. That’s what you get,” Bowles said.
However, Bowles added of Hackenberg: “His chance will come and he’ll have time to fight again.”
The clock is certainly ticking. If the Jets finish this season with one of the worst records in the league, they’ll look to add a franchise quarterback in the draft. And if they finish dead last, they’ll have their pick between USC’s Sam Darnold, UCLA’s Josh Rosen or any other signalcaller emerging from the college ranks.
In that case, the second-round pick spent on Hackenberg in 2016 would turn out to be a complete waste, and general manager Mike Maccagnan would shoulder the blame.
Nonetheless, Johnson remains confident in Maccagnan.
“I think he’s proven over the years, before he got here, that he’s an extraordinary talent evaluator, and I’ve seen nothing to dissuade me from that,” Johnson said. “I think he’s very thoughtful, he’s very methodical, and I’m really impressed with his drafts and his outlook.”
ASJ RETURNS
Tight end Austin SeferianJenkins practiced with the Jets Wednesday for the first time since being reinstated from a two-game suspension earlier this week.
The suspension stemmed from a DUI arrest last September while he was a member of the Bucs.
“I’m really legit fortunate that I’m here standing with y’all,” Seferian-Jenkins said in the Jets’ locker room, “being able to play football with a clear head, a clear mind, good perspective, healthy, clean and dedicated to myself and my teammates and my coaches and this city.”
JAY WALKED
Dolphins quarterback Jay Cutler said he had multiple meetings set up with the Jets in March before the team decided to sign Josh McCown.
Cutler initially was planning on working as a TV analyst for FOX this season before Miami signed him. The Dolphins lost starter Ryan Tannehill to a torn ACL in training camp.
“We were just feeling each other out,” Cutler said of the Jets’ interest this offseason. “It wasn’t aggressive; it wasn’t super vague. …Just didn’t work out.”