New York Jets Young Quarterbacks Struggling At OTA’s
New York Jets quarterbacks Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty have struggled in the early going of the offseason program at OTA’s.
The New York Jets quarterback situation is in limbo currently. With last season’s starter Ryan Fitzpatrick still unsigned, the Jets have very little that is concrete at the position. If one of the other players stepped up during OTA’s and the offseason program it could change their mind about retaining Fitzpatrick, or at least make him uncomfortable and come in closer to what the Jets want to offer than what he is looking for.
That has not yet been the case, as Fitzpatrick should feel comfortable about his standing on the Jets’ depth chart even though he is not yet signed to a contract. If the play of Christian Hackenberg or Bryce Petty had any bearing on Fitzpatrick’s standing with the team, they aren’t exactly putting pressure on him pushing for a starting role.
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It is not time to panic, as some struggles from a rookie in Hackenberg and a second-year player still transitioning to the NFL game in Petty shouldn’t come as a surprise. Nonetheless, it is still worth knowing that they are struggling in the early going, which makes re-signing Fitzpatrick seem like the logical move for the Jets at this time.
The media has been able to see two of the six practices that Hackenberg has taken part in, and according to ESPN New York’s Rich Cimini, the results haven’t been great. Here is what he had to say based on what the media has been allowed to see:
"Right now, he looks like a typical rookie. His passes are fluttering, his footwork is robotic and he tends to miss high when he misses a receiver. In last Wednesday’s practice, he sailed two consecutive 15-yard passes over the head of a tight end — against air. That’s right, there was no defense. He had a couple of nice moments later in a two-minute drill, but it wasn’t a great practice."
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Calling him a typical rookie is not a positive. It is discouraging that Hackenberg struggled with no defense in his way, as that should be when he shines at this point in time. Again, there is no reason to get worked up about Hackenberg yet, but this is a reminder that he is a major project coming out of Penn State after his sophomore and junior seasons were a drop in productivity from his freshman season.
“Right now I expect him to look sloppy because he’s seeing a whole boat load of defenses that are coming at him daily, and there’s going to be a growth period,” said head coach Todd Bowles. He also added that he expects Hackenberg to get more comfortable as the offseason moves on, but for now things are rough around the edges.
Petty, who has been working with the second-team, should look more comfortable than Hackenberg. He has a year of experience under his belt in the system, which should translate to better results. But, that has not been the case at times. Here is what Cimini had to say:
"Petty had some hiccups, including two interceptions — an underthrown deep ball and an off-target pass at the line of scrimmage. There’s no reason to get worked up about a bad practice in June, but Bowles let it be known he will expect more from Petty over the summer."
While his performance on the field may be lacking currently, Bowles did say that Petty improved in the mental aspect of the game, which is as important as having the talent to perform. But, he made it clear it is something he wants to continue seeing, saying, “But with the few short practice we’ve had, we still have to see more and see it in training camp.
Not exactly a ringing endorsement for either player, as Hackenberg and Petty both continue going through growing pains many young players go through. While it is disheartening to hear about quarterbacks struggling against no defense or with the second team, it is a process when working with projects.
Both Hackenberg and Petty are projects, and it will take time for them to realize their potential, if they are ever going to. It would be easy to overreact to a couple of bad practices in June at their first and second OTA’s respectively, but it would be wrong to.
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No one should be losing sleep over their performances currently, but if there isn’t progress being made during the summer we could see a shakeup as holding four quarterbacks on a roster in this day and age is a very rare thing to see.