Christian Hackenberg was on the faraway field out of sight and much too out of mind, still a mystery to his team, to Jets fans, and unfortunately, probably to himself as Jets OTAs began Tuesday with Josh McCown working with the starters.
Hackenberg threw one out against air to the left sidelines that maybe only Kristaps Porzingis might have jumped up to catch on a day when he also managed to effortlessly whip one intermediate bullet that undoubtedly would have had GM Mike Maccagnan doing cartwheels. From a distance, in 11-on-11 drills, you could see Hackenberg whistling shorter completions, but also a deeper shot that was intercepted.
If you consider hitting the broad side of a barn progress, then Hackenberg has made progress from a rookie season in which Todd Bowles and former offensive coordinator Chan Gailey were petrified to throw him to the wolves.
Hackenberg will be part of an open competition with McCown and Bryce Petty, but at this early juncture, he has as good a chance to beat out McCown and win the starting job as Joe Namath does.
Everybody Loves a Charade.
But to quote Bucs backup quarterback Ryan Fitzpatrick, it’s a game of musical chairs, and the Jets will be looking for an excuse to pull the chair out from under McCown — but only if and when Hackenberg is deemed ready.
It means this is the opportunity of a lifetime for Hackenberg, if for no other reason than he was Maccagnan’s second-round draft choice in 2016, and Mitchell Trubisky is a Bear, Patrick Mahomes is a Chief and Deshaun Watson is a Texan.
Hackenberg’s best chance to close the gap and learn new offensive coordinator John Morton’s system will come to a large degree from how quickly he allows the ultra-professional McCown, entering his 15th season with his eighth team, to mentor him.
Hackenberg should do himself a huge favor and seize the moment knowing that McCown, 38 in July, has been bitten by the injury bug. Knowing that Maccagnan next season will be drafting a new franchise quarterback if he fails to make an emphatic statement that his days as a project are behind him. He would have no one to blame but himself if he failed to adopt the future-is-now urgency.
“He’s, as far as I think how you draw a quarterback up — big, strong arm, athletic — he fits that mold, for sure,” McCown said on a day when Hackenberg was off-limits to the media. “And then his mindset, it’s right in line. He works very hard, I think he’s a sharp kid, and I think he’s got a lot in front of him.”
If the McCown Jets lose as much as everyone is virtually certain they will, the We Want Hack chants will arrive as early as late September, if not sooner. So he has these next four months to dispel fears that he is doomed to be a bust.
“It’s just about learning this game,” McCown said. “What it takes for one guy to have a career is different than next, because you and I may learn different. You have to develop your process, and whatever it takes for you to be ready to go and practice every day.”
McCown threw 18 passes as a rookie in 2002 backing up Jake Plummer in Arizona. “I don’t feel like my first few years I really understood what it took to develop my process,” McCown said.
Kurt Warner and Jon Kitna became invaluable mentors for him in his fourth and fifth seasons.
“I feel like when I’m talking with Christian and I’m talking with Bryce, I feel like I’m speaking to myself back then, like, ‘Oh man, I wish I would have known this, I wish I would have known that.’ So that’s what I want to share with them, hopefully make their journeys better,” McCown said.
McCown’s leadership was on full display when he clapped his hands and implored the Jets defense before stepping into the huddle.
“As we grow as an offense, it’s about us pushing them so that the defense can grow, too,” McCown said.
Hackenberg can observe a lot by watching while he waits his turn to work with the starters.
“The quarterbacks will be rotating, getting the same amount of reps throughout the week,” Morton said. “We’re giving everybody a great opportunity to show themselves and see if they can be the starter.”
Bowles’ future could ultimately hinge on Hackenberg’s development.
“We’re gonna get to see him come out of his shell a little bit,” Bowles said.
Enough of the tortoise. It’s time for Hackenberg to be the hare.