Christian Hackenberg has had a rookie season to forget, and the organization that drafted him has not made life any easier on the former Penn State star.
Earlier in the week, ESPN’s Adam Schefter revealed that he was told by an anonymous coach that Hackenberg has regressed during the season and “couldn’t hit the ocean” with one of his passes. Hackenberg said Monday that he isn’t concerned about the report.
“I really don’t have any opinion on it,” he said, per SNY’s Ralph Vacchiano. “A coach has never come up and said anything to me directly, so until he does that I’m really not too concerned about it.”
Hackenberg has a point. It seems extremely unprofessional for a coach to anonymously bash a first-year player in the media, no matter how disappointing the rookie has been. Though, for what it’s worth, a source told Vacchiano that Hackenberg has struggled in practice with his limited reps.
Jets head coach Todd Bowles, who is returning to the team in 2017, defended Hackenberg.
“There’s nothing wrong with Christian,” Bowles said. “He just needs to play. He’s allowed to have a redshirt year. Next year, he’s got to show some progress and make some jumps.”
If Hackenberg doesn’t pan out at the NFL level, the Jets have no one to blame but themselves. A lot of people felt that taking Hackenberg in the second round was a huge reach, and everything we saw in the preseason makes it seem like it was.
