Bowles’ decision was right one ... for now
TODD BOWLES did the only thing he could do on Monday. The Jets coach named veteran journeyman Josh McCown as the starting quarterback.
Quite simply, Bowles had no other choice. And he made the correct choice. For the moment.
Of more importance and interest, however, is the decision Bowles declined to reveal on Monday: Who McCown’s backup will be.
Everyone — Bowles included — knows it should be Bryce Petty, who has out-performed second-year secondround draft pick Christian Hackenberg so significantly in preseason Jets fans must think they’ve been watching a quarterback competition between Namath and Nagle.
But all is unfair in politics and football, which is why Bowles (surely with input from owner Woody Johnson and GM Mike Maccagnan) bent over backward all offseason and summer to keep the door open for Hackenberg to win the starting job.
After weeks of Bowles playing a thoroughly unnecessary game of coy and not telling the actual truth about his quarterback plans (as if Jets opponents were quaking in their cleats about it), Monday’s big reveal that McCown will start is actually a more damning revelation about Hackenberg’s failure to seize his moment.
So the Jets must start McCown now. They must at least give the appearance they’re serious about trying to win games at the start of the season. Eventually that charade will wear off like a temporary tattoo and Hackenberg will get his chance to play in real games. That’s when the true evaluation process will take place.
Bowles said he chose McCown over Hackenberg and Petty, because McCown gives the Jets “the best chance to win.”
“He had the best grasp of the offense right now,” Bowles said. “The other two got significantly better, but [McCown] still had the best grasp of the offense right now.”
Bowles said he has “faith’’ Hackenberg “is getting better.”
“And if the opportunity presents to where he gets to prove himself again, I’m sure he’ll step up and get better each week,” he said.
Hackenberg has been in bubble wrap since the Jets drafted him — essentially red-shirted last season, his rookie year, not playing a single snap. The most distressing element to this whole dance is the fact Hackenberg showed he sim- ply isn’t ready to play in a real game.
That doesn’t mean he’ll never be ready. It just means, at best, he’s a slow-developing project. It’s unfair to label a 22-year-old quarterback, who’s been surrounded with last-place talent, a bust.
Hackenberg, who showed marked improvement this summer under the guidance of new quarterbacks coach Jeremy Bates, may eventually become an NFL starter. Just not now. Not after his preseason, which has included leading the offense to fewer points (nine) than he has yielded (16, thanks to two pick-sixes and a safety).
Perhaps the best thing to happen to the 38-yearold McCown has been not playing in preseason games, because he won the job by default. McCown has played in only one series in preseason — the first drive of the opener, which ended in a touchdown.
While Bowles’ handling of McCown has been, at best, curious by not playing him, he can help himself, McCown and the rest of the team by playing the veteran in the Jets’ preseason finale Thursday night against the Eagles at MetLife Stadium.
In his two seasons as the Jets coach, Bowles has rested his starters in the final preseason game. The smart move this Thursday would be to get McCown a series or two with the starters — regardless of whether the Eagles are playing their starters or not — just to get him into some semblance of rhythm before the Sept. 10 opener in Buffalo.
Not to play McCown on Thursday would be a miscalculation of who he is — a quarterback who has a 2-20 record in his last three seasons as a starter. We’re not talking about Tom Brady, Aaron Rodgers or Drew Brees, established veterans who have played in the same respective systems for years with a high level of success (see: many wins and titles).
Even if he’d played every snap of preseason, McCown still would enter the season opener against the Bills as a massive question mark based on his dodgy history. Making it even more urgent that he plays Thursday is the fact that McCown has barely taken any practice reps with the first team over the last two weeks.
Bowles, though, said he’s “not concerned at all” about McCown being ready for the opener despite his lack of reps.
Well, he probably should be.