Not many teams have much attention devoted to their third-, fourth-, and fifth-string quarterbacks, but then again, not many teams have had a quarterback situation quite like that of the Jets in recent years. Now that Gang Green has Josh McCown and Sam Darnold entrenched as its top two signal-callers — and now that Bryce Petty is no longer in the picture — there is some intrigue as to what the team will do with Teddy Bridgewater and Christian Hackenberg.
Both players, of course, come with plenty of uncertainty. The biggest question mark surrounding Bridgewater is his health, and Brian Costello of the New York Post calls Bridgewater’s ability to be a full participant in the team’s OTAs that begin on May 22 “the biggest mystery of the spring.” When asked what the former Viking will be able to do in OTAs, head coach Todd Bowles said, “I can’t give you 100 percent. I’ll see when it gets to that. Then I’ll be able to tell you.”
Rich Cimini of ESPN.com, reading between the lines, says the odds are that Bridgewater will be limited in some fashion. Indeed, when asked if Bridgewater has been running with teammates in conditioning drills, Bowles said simply, “[h]e’s been working out.”
Manish Mehta of the New York Daily News, though, says that even if Bridegwater is not able to fully participate in OTAs, it should not be cause for concern. Mehta tweets that Bridgewater is on schedule in his recovery from the catastrophic knee injury he suffered in 2016, and he may even be a little ahead of schedule.
If that’s the case, that could spell the end of Hackenberg’s time in New York. As Cimini indicates, Hackenberg’s days appear numbered, though the Penn State product would stand a better chance of sticking around if Bridgewater’s health remains in doubt. In an effort to jumpstart his career, Hackenberg — who has not taken a regular season snap in his first two seasons in the league — has recently revamped his throwing motion.
Even more interesting is the fact that Hackenberg made the change without consulting the team first, per Ralph Vacchiano of SNY.tv. As Bowles said, “[Hackenberg] hasn’t talked to me about it. He’s just worked on it and I learned about it after the fact.” Bowles also did not give a definitive answer as to whether the change in mechanics would help, or why Hackenberg waited to long to make the change.
Given Hackenberg’s pedigree — and perhaps his new mechanics, which he has worked on with quarterback guru Jeff Christiensen — he will certainly generate some interest if and when the Jets give him his walking papers. But it’s still a little too early to say whether he or Bridgewater will be the odd man out.
Wat is the old expression, “if you have too many Qb’s, then you don’t have any”? Who’s the starter week 1, the 38year old journeyman QB who had a career year last year? The hot shot number 1 pick QB, or the QB coming off a 2 year layoff from a devistating knee injury? Nowhere in those scenarios is Hackenberg getting any playing time. My quess is that McCown plays until week 7-8 and then Darnold takes over (unless Jets are 6-1 and in playoff contention) with Hackenberg as the #3 QB as usual being inactive on game day. As for Bridgewater once he plays in a couple preseason games, shows he’s somewhat healthy he’ll be traded for a low round pick to a team looking for QB help. But then again it is the Jets, so who knows.
Now its if you don’t have 2 QBs you’re either the Patriots or you’re screwed. Vikings, Eagles.
I feel bad for Hackenberg. Jets never gave him a shot to play even though there was ample opportunity. They barely even tried to develop him and limited him to the scout team. Which according to OT Ben Ijalana, its “hard to progress and get better out of the scout team”
Agreed. I’m not even a Jets fan and I don understand why after when McCown went down with 4 games left they didn’t even try playing Hackenberg? They knew what they had in Petty, which was not very good, so why not give him a game or two to see what he could do. The only reason that I could see was the Jets saw he was not NFL caliber, or there are behind the scenes things going on (I.e. work ethic, failure to grasp plays, etc.). Either way a waste of a 2nd round pick.
Don’t forget fifth stringer John Wolford. He is definitely capable of winning a roster spot.