JETS QB MYSTERY DEEPENS
INTRIGUE AFTER McCOWN GETS FEW SNAPS
Todd Bowles played safety in the NFL, but when it comes to answering questions about the Jets’ peculiar quarterback competition, he’s more like a shifty running back: evasive and unable to be corralled.
The third-year head coach continued to keep everyone guessing on Wednesday, following another strange day in Florham Park.
It was just six days ago Bowles said veteran Josh McCown, who has been considered the favorite all summer to win the job, needed more work. On Monday, Bowles said he would announce his starter the Monday after Saturday night’s Giants game in the wake of Christian Hackenberg struggling against the Lions in a surprise start last Saturday.
And yet, McCown, who has produced the lone Jets touchdown this preseason in his only drive, has had a light workload this week after not appearing in the loss to the Lions. Bowles had said McCown would be featured in that contest, continuing a trend of saying one thing and doing another. While Bryce Petty seems entrenched as the No. 3, Bowles won’t even say the starter is down to Hackenberg and McCown.
The trend continued on Wednesday, with Hackenberg receiving the most first-team reps (19) in 11-on-11 game planoriented team drills. In fact, even Petty (15 first-team reps) was more active in those team drills than McCown. At one point, McCown (nine reps), who got just three first-team reps on Tuesday, picked up a football and lightly tossed on the side with tight end Jordan Leggett — a day earlier he had run sprints by himself at the end of practice to stay busy — before getting six reps in the two-minute walk-through drill with the first team that closed practice.
“I don’t [count the reps], so you probably shouldn’t,” Bowles said. “Yeah, we script it [beforehand]. I don’t count the reps. We count the plays. We don’t count which quarterback goes in. We see who wants to get what and what we need certain people to do, and we put them in to do that.”
Traditionally, the starting quarterback will get extra work leading to — and during — the third preseason game. That hasn’t been the case with McCown, who was picked off by Darryl Roberts in team drills when running the scout team, and was shaky overall. On Tuesday, Bowles hinted McCown doesn’t need the extra practice, saying he “knows what he’s doing and he can play, so we’re trying to give the other guys some experience and some reps.”
This much is clear: Bowles and his offensive coaches have to “sit down and talk about it.”
While the 38-year-old McCown, who is with his eighth NFL team, said he would be “very disappointed if I’m not the guy,” he also has dealt with his sparse playing time like a pro. He would like to get as much time with the starters as possible, but also understands Hackenberg and Petty probably need it more for their development.
“Would I like to be out there? Yes, but I understand the reasoning behind it,” McCown said Monday.
Bowles wouldn’t say if he would be comfortable with McCown as his starter even if he didn’t play much in the preseason.
“They’ve been together for a while,” he said. “Some do some things better than others, but we still got a game to go. I’m not going to make [a decision] after two games.”
And Bowles isn’t going to give any insight into his thought process on the matter, either.