Josh McCown, Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty all have an equal chance of starting Week One for the Jets, according to head coach Todd Bowles.
“It’s a competition,” Bowles said at the end of minicamp today.
Bowles said that contrary to the widespread belief that it’s McCown’s job to lose, he sees all three players as being on the same level and getting the opportunity to separate themselves in training camp and the preseason.
“I don’t look at anybody as the front-runner. I just wait until training camp comes and we’ll sort it out then,” Bowles said.
Bowles saw things he liked from all three quarterbacks.
“McCown first - obviously he’s been in the system before, or something like it so he knew more than everybody else. Just getting the timing down with the receivers, I thought he did a good job at that,” Bowles said. “Hack got to play and learn a lot more. From a confidence standpoint, he has picked up quite a bit. He’s got some timing down as well and has a good feel for the offense so I expect him to come back to training camp and let loose and throw the ball without thinking. Bryce, the same thing. His shoulder is doing a lot better. He’s been throwing the ball very well, and he’s getting a good grasp of the offense. We still haven’t put it all in, but the things we’ve put in, taking into training camp, I think they’ve all done a good job.”
Only one quarterback can have the job when the season starts. But Bowles doesn’t appear to be in any hurry to choose one of the three.