Maccagnan still ‘excited’ about Hack’
The man who drafted Christian Hackenberg in the second round refuses to admit that was a mistake despite the fact the quarterback has not played a snap in two seasons.
General manager Mike Maccagnan said the Jets are still excited about Hackenberg’s development.
“The book on Christian is not closed,” Maccagnan said. “He’s only 22 years old. He’s made progress. He’s made development. This is going to be a good offseason for him. We’re kind of excited to see how he does with the second year in this system. He’s going to have an opportunity in training camp to go out and play again.”
That sounded like a belief that Hackenberg will be with the Jets at least through training camp. There has been some speculation the Jets could cut him this offseason.
Hackenberg sat and watched again this year, active for only four games when there were injuries to Josh McCown or Bryce Petty and he served as the backup.
There was a thought that Hackenberg might play in the season finale against the Patriots, but Todd Bowles left him on the sideline even though Petty struggled and the game was out of reach in the second half.
Maccagnan would not say if he spoke with Bowles last week about playing Hackenberg. He repeatedly mentioned how young Hackenberg is and that he is developing. Still, he can’t get on the field.
“I don’t think I’m necessarily disappointed,” Maccagnan said. “I think it’s like everything else. Players develop at different paces. I think when you look at our season, Josh performed very well. We knew there was potential for him to do that. He actually went out there and played well. Bryce played well in the preseason and earned the No. 2 position. It’s Todd’s decision in terms of who to play and went to play him and I support that. Christian’s only 22 years old. I don’t think his final chapter’s been written yet. We’re kind of excited to see what he does this offseason with our other players. We’ll see how he does going forward.”
Jets chairman and CEO Christopher Johnson said it is up to Bowles when Hackenberg plays.
“I get it. The fans want to see him play,” Johnson said. “Players develop on different timetables. I trust Todd to know when the right time to put Christian on the field is. I do.”