After nearly two years of watching, learning and preparing for his moment, Christian Hackenberg may finally get into an actual NFL regular-season game.
For the first time since Josh McCown was lost to a season-ending broken left hand Dec. 10, and Bryce Petty was elevated to the starter, coach Todd Bowles left open the possibility of the polarizing 2016 second-round draft pick getting some game action.
While Bowles announced Petty would remain the starter in the season finale Sunday against the Patriots, the former Penn State quarterback has been getting first-team reps, and the Jets’ coach had previously shot down the idea of Hackenberg playing barring an injury to Petty until now.
“We’ll see how the game’s going,” Bowles said. “He’s ready to play. … I will see during the game if I want to play him or not.”
Bowles repeatedly said, “we’ll see,” when asked what it would take for Hackenberg to get into the game Sunday. He said he plans to decide during the game, but wouldn’t say what factors would be in play that would result in the 25-year-old getting the call. Hackenberg has yet to be approached by Bowles or offensive coordinator John Morton about playing this week.
“It’s not risk or reward. It’s the last game of the season,” Bowles said. “Bryce had a chance to play two games. We’re trying to see what we got in him. Christian’s time will come. Put him in the last of the games expecting him to be Superman, we’d be fooling ourselves.”
Petty has hardly impressed since taking over for McCown, completing just 36-of-76 passes for 312 yards with one touchdown and three interceptions. The offense, which averaged 22.1 points in the 12 full games McCown was under center, has produced just 26 points in Petty’s two starts. Bowles declined to say if he has spoken to general manager Mike Maccagnan about playing Hackenberg, his highly criticized second-round pick.
“I don’t feel the need to put him in this game,” Bowles said. “We see him every day in practice. We saw him in the preseason. We’re comfortable [with him].”
Hackenberg received the most action of any of the three quarterbacks on the roster during the preseason, completing 42-of-74 passes (56.8 percent) for 372 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions while being sacked nine times. There were a few bright spots, but also signs he wasn’t close to ready to play during the regular season. In the third preseason game against the Giants starters — the game most similar to the regular season — he looked overwhelmed.
“You can pull a lot out of the preseason. He had a new offense, too,” Bowles said. “Mentally, he got better at a lot of things.”
Though Hackenberg stuck to his usual talking points about continuing to get better and being prepared if called upon, he couldn’t hide his hopes about getting into a game after spending so much time on the sideline. He is the only quarterback from the 2016 draft taken in the first five rounds not to have thrown a pass yet in a regular-season game, and believes he’s ready to showcase his ability.
“I’ve felt that way since I got here,” Hackenberg said. “I know I’m confident in my abilities. … For me, I take every day and every opportunity as serious as possible, and then when those opportunities do come, just let it fly.”