The Jets almost certainly will open the season with Josh McCown as their starting quarterback. But McCown, at 38, doesn’t seem to fit General Manager Mike Maccagnan’s idea of building for a “long-term future.”
Maccagnan, though, wouldn’t even hint when the time might come to start Christian Hackenberg.
“I think when any player gets the ability to start, they have to have had the ability to have earned it,” Maccagnan said, via Ralph Vacchiano of SNY. “For the most part, I understand the question, but we’re so early in training camp, this will work itself out in training camp, I believe.”
Hackenberg, 22, didn’t play in a regular-season game last season after the Jets made him a second-round pick. At some point this season, the Jets will find out what they have in the former Penn State quarterback.
But it’s not like Maccagnan gave him a ringing endorsement Monday in the GM’s annual press conference with the media.
“Christian has made good progress,” Maccagnan said. “Of course, it’s all in shorts and T-shirts this offseason, but he’s done some good things. We’re kind of excited about him. I think all three of those guys [including third-year pro Bryce Petty] did some good things this offseason. Now this is the next step in the process, getting the pads on, and we’ll see how he does out there.”