Debut of Christian Hackenberg is delayed

The New York Jets suffered a tough preseason Week 2 loss against the Washington Redskins. The rookie debut of quarterback Christian Hackenberg didn’t happen due to a coach’s decision.

Anticipation was mounting for quarterback Christian Hackenberg’s debut Friday night, but it never happened for the New York Jets. He had been preparing himself mentally and physically for his rookie debut since being drafted in late April.

Head coach Todd Bowles alluded to the fact that once Hackenberg got additional reps in practice, it would translate to playing time on the field. Though after 60 minutes of football, Hackenberg never took a snap, after the game coach, Bowles didn’t elaborate with details. Here’s what he said courtesy of the Media Relations Department of the Jets:

Why didn’t (Christian) Hackenberg play?

Coach’s decision.

I know that you said on Wednesday that there was a plan to get him in there…

It was a coach’s decision.

When you say coach’s decision, was it something negative he did?

No, it was a coach’s decision.

Clearly something happened between Wednesday after practice to Friday night before the game kicked off. Regardless of what the real reason was, the bottom line is that Hackenberg probably won’t play till preseason Week 4, if at all.

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Preseason Week 3 is the dress rehearsal for the regular season, so we should expect to see the whole starting cast through at least the entire first half.

It’s not an ideal scenario for the Jets in terms of developing their quarterbacks.

It seems that despite the hype, the Jets will put their quarterback on the shelf until the 2017 season.

It wouldn’t be the worst thing in the world for the Jets to actually attempt to sit and develop a quarterback.

The reason he will likely not play in the last preseason game is because little to none of the top tier players on the roster will participate. We’ve already seen what Hackenberg looks like behind a sub-par offensive line with minimal weapons.

.@GenoSmith7: "Competition is what you make it. We [the QBs] compete in everything." pic.twitter.com/lSEbZJ3tBX

— New York Jets (@nyjets) August 20, 2016

Looking at his sophomore and junior seasons at Penn State, the Jets would be better served benching him. Which means that’ll be the last hoorah for either Geno Smith or Bryce Petty, who both had their moments.

Smith looked lost at times and threw a terrible interception to highlight his night in Washington. While Petty had a much better night posting 242 yards with two touchdown strikes and no turnovers.

must read: Jets need to finally part ways with Geno Smith

The Jets know that Hackenberg has his roster spot all locked up for 2016. That isn’t the case for Smith and Petty, so expect them to battle it out in the final two weeks of preseason football. The narrative seems to be that the Jets will stick with three guys at the quarterback position. With Fitzpatrick and Hackenberg locked up, it comes down to Smith vs. Petty.

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