That means more than 700 players will be without jobs when the final deadline hits in a few days, but don’t bet on any of the Jets’ quarterbacks being among them.
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Revealing his QB plan for the Eagles, Jets head coach Todd Bowles said he’ll play both Bryce Petty and Christian Hackenberg Thursday night.
“Some good, some bad, a lot of good stuff to learn from”, he said. “We can keep all four”.
Bowles had said on Monday that he wasn’t sure if Smith would also play, but ultimately decided he wanted to see more of the inexperienced quarterbacks in game action.
As for what he hopes to see from Hackenberg vs. the Eagles, Bowles said: “Just get some comfort level and command the offense and make less mistakes than he made the week before”. But if the Jets like enough of Petty’s development, and get an enticing late-round draft pick offer for Smith, perhaps they’d move him. Smith is entering the final year of his contract and seems destined to leave NY even if he stays through this season.
“I’d like to see more of the other two guys”, Bowles said during a conference call Tuesday.
At one point this offseason, Smith was in line to start prior to free-agent Ryan Fitzpatrick signing his one-year contract. “It’s just a matter of battling with the other positions, so that’s still up for grabs and we’ll have to wait until after this game to see how that plays out”.
Rookie Christian Hackenberg is the one who makes this a hard situation. In the current National Football League with every spot on the 53-man Regular Season roster being so valuable, having four signal callers is a rarity. The Jets knew he was a long-term project when they took him.
Through three games, Petty leads the Jets quarterbacks with a 56.0 completion percentage (28 of 50) and with 394 yards and two touchdowns to one interception.
“They’ve all had their flashes in games”, the coach noted. He also threw an interception and finished 6 of 16 passing. “Everyone thinks it’s cliché and everyone thinks it’s this billboard statement, but it’s very, very true – you look at the situation in Dallas right now – you’re two snaps, three snaps away from playing”. Some are forced to keep three on the active roster.
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So in that way, the decision makes sense.
