Josh McCown gives advice to Christian Hackenberg

Quarterback Josh McCown gave some sound advice to Christian Hackenberg after his horrendous performance against the New York Giants in Week 3 preseason action.

In their Week 3 preseason loss to the New York Giants, quarterback Christian Hackenberg looked like he regressed yet again when given an opportunity to start for the New York Jets. Gang Green fought but ultimately fell to Big Blue to the final tune of 31-32.

Hackenberg threw for two interceptions and looked confused under center. He was unable to properly read defenses and was roughed up all night long. It must have been quite the shocker since Hackenberg showed promise in Week 1, then got brought back down to reality in Week 2, and now, looks like he’s still nowhere near ready to be a starting quarterback.

This shouldn’t come as a shock to anyone since even when he was drafted back in 2016, Hackenberg needed to be completely retrained and retooled to be an effective NFL quarterback. He needed a year to at least sit back and learn from the sidelines which the Jets did in his rookie season.

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Entering his sophomore season, it’s clear Hackenberg still needs more time to continue being coached and trained. Luckily, the Jets brought in a veteran quarterback this offseason to help mentor him during times like these.

Veteran quarterback Josh McCown knows he has his work cut out for him as all signs point for him to be the Week 1 regular season starter for the Jets. Considering that Hackenberg is nowhere near ready to start, McCown will undoubtedly go over film with him and again, mentor him through it.

It’s not easy when putting up a game like that, let alone having to take a step back and go over things that don’t put him in the kind of light he believes he should be in. Courtesy of the Media Relations Department of the Jets, here is what McCown told Hackenberg shortly after the game:

On what he told Christian Hackenberg after tonight…Obviously, the first half is a bummer. When you go out there and it doesn’t go as well as you’d like, it’s tough. But part of playing this position in the league is being able to bounce back from that. I’m just really excited about his last drive under those circumstances. To come out after the half goes the way it did, and you come in and you drive down and throw a touchdown, that’s huge. There’s always great things to pull out from, so that was the main thing, and he’ll understand. We’ll look at the tape and figure out what happened in the first half and we’re working to get better and we’re showing the ability to bounce back and that’s huge because as both these young guys continue to develop and grow you have to be able to do that. You have to find yourself in a situation where it can go either way, but you look up in the fourth quarter and you know your team needs you and so I’m really proud of Hack for taking care of business and driving us down the field.

Ideally, starting McCown won’t sit easily with many but with Bryce Petty‘s injury and Hackenberg’s regression, he gives the Jets the best chance to win football games. Not just for being a game manager but again, for his leadership qualities and being there to help the young players around him deal with situations like this. For what it’s worth, this will absolutely help Hackenberg continue his personal development, which is what he needs for the future.

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