The Jets played their second preseason game on Friday night, and for the second time rookie quarterback Christian Hackenberg didn’t get on the field.
Jets coach Todd Bowles said on Wednesday that he planned to play Hackenberg, but after the game Bowles declined to get into specifics about why that plan changed.
“Coach’s decision,” Bowles said.
Asked to explain why, exactly, he made that decision, Bowles didn’t.
“It was a coach’s decision,” Bowles said.
Bowles did say Hackenberg didn’t do anything to get himself benched.
“No,” Bowles said. “It was just a coach’s decision.”
Ordinarily, when you take a quarterback in the second round of the draft, you want to give him plenty of opportunities for game experience in the preseason. But the Jets have given all the preseason playing time to Ryan Fitzpatrick, Geno Smith and Bryce Petty. Petty, who would seem to be the quarterback most in danger of losing his roster spot, made the most of that playing time Friday by completing 16 of 26 passes for 242 yards, with two touchdowns and no interceptions. Smith, whose roster spot could be in jeopardy, completed just six of 13 passes for 47 yards, with no touchdowns and one interception.
Hackenberg probably won’t play next week, either, as the starters usually play for longer in the third preseason game. So expect to see Hackenberg for the first time in preseason Week Four. And then expect to see him exclusively on the sideline once the regular season starts.
