The Jets are going to keep giving Christian Hackenberg opportunities to show he wasn’t a wasted second-round draft pick last year. But he’s not doing much with those opportunities.
Once again tonight, Hackenberg started for the Jets against the Giants. The third preseason game is usually the game when the regular-season starters get the bulk of the playing time, so it’s a good sign for Hackenberg that he was anointed the Week Three starter.
Josh McCown isn’t expected to play tonight, but he’s likely to start Week One if Hackenberg doesn’t play well. And so far in the preseason, Hackenberg hasn’t played well. He had rough outings in each of the Jets’ first two preseason games, and the Jets’ offense got off to an ugly start tonight as well: Their first possession was a three-and-out, and their second possession resulted in a safety to give the Giants a 2-0 lead, and on their third possession Hackenberg threw a pick-six.
McCown now appears to be the overwhelming favorite to win the quarterback competition. We’ll see if Hackenberg can do anything to change that the rest of the way.