After a practice workweek which saw Christian Hackenberg and Bryce Petty get the majority of reps, could Hackenberg be in line to make his second consecutive preseason start for the Jets?
"I just look at it as whenever my number is called, I'm going to go out and execute to the best of my ability," he told reporters following Thursday's walk through. "So whatever Coach says, I'll be ready and waiting."
Todd Bowles declined to discuss his signal-caller intentions for Saturday's night MetLife Bowl between the Jets and the Giants.
"We'll discuss the quarterbacks tonight," he said.
Bowles has reiterated throughout training camp that the Jets have a three-man QB competition and he would like to even out the reps amongst veteran Josh McCown and the young pair. McCown got most of the early work in camp with the starters and he led the Jets on a TD drive on the team's opening possession of the preseason.
Hackenberg, who played two and a half quarters in Week 1 against Tennessee and the first half last Saturday in Detroit, is completing 64.5% of his throws in game action and has been sacked three times. The entire offense got off to a slow start in the Motor City, not picking up a first down until a second quarter scramble from the second-year passer as he finished just 2-of-6 for 14 yards with two sacks before being replaced by Petty. Whether he starts or not, Hackenberg says it's imperative he get in a better rhythm.
"It's just getting on schedule earlier. I think being able to get a couple completions under my belt, whether we do that getting outside the pocket, however it is, just doing something like that and then being able to, like I was saying, just getting the flow of the game, get in a rhythm and then carry that through," he said. "I thought that was the biggest difference from the first week to last week was I was able to get in a flow and things kind of rolled. That's something I've worked on throughout practice this week and I feel pretty good about moving forward."
Often the overlooked passer in the competition, Petty has finished both of the Jets' preseason games while completing 17 of 30 for 176 yards with an interception coming in the final seconds last weekend.
"Every day I come in here, it's competing to be the starter," Petty said. "So, you know, you just wait until your number is called and when it's called you go attack those opportunities you get. You don't worry about anything else. You try to be a better quarterback today than you were yesterday. That's competition the whole time."
The 6'3", 230-pound Petty moved the Jets down the field against the Lions, but the Green & White were forced to settle for a pair of field goals on two second-half trips inside the 20.
"I want to finish drives and that's something that I'm going to stress one, to those guys but two, with myself, my mental process to know what they do in the red zone," he said. "It's one thing getting there, but the biggest thing is punching it in."
Next week, it is expected Bowles will name a Week 1 starter for the regular season.
"We are competing every day, it's not going to change. Every day that we come in here we're going to compete as a group," Petty said. "So, it doesn't matter who's the starter. I think that's something great about that room is that when we're competing amongst each other, it makes the team better."
Best Images from Thursday's Practice at Jets Camp