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Christian Hackenberg's NFL debut, which he described as a "cool experience," was tainted by his late-game interception at his own 5-yard line. He threw it directly to a nose tackle, who dropped into coverage, found a blind spot in the rookie quarterback's field of vision and tipped the ball to a teammate. Despite the hiccup, it was an encouraging night for the New York Jets' potential quarterback of the future. Hackenberg's stat line in Saturday's 21-20 preseason loss to the New York Giants was ugly (6 for 16, 105 yards), but context is important in this case. It represented improvement.  In training camp, Hackenberg was erratic, to put it kindly. He didn't get many practice reps, and most of the ones he received didn't go well. You know he has a strong arm, but he forgot to pack it to camp. It was his own version of "Duck Dynasty."
But Saturday night, after starting with two incomplete passes and a delay-of-game penalty, Hackenberg completed four in a row, each one a different type of throw. There was a small-window throw to Zach Sudfeld for 16 yards, a 26-yard fastball to Charone Peake over the middle, a well-timed out route to Robby Anderson for 27 yards and a touch throw to Anderson for a 10-yard touchdown on a corner fade. "It was sweet," Hackenberg said of the touchdown. That stretch lasted only three minutes, but it was a long-awaited glimpse of Hackenberg's potential. You can downplay it if you want, saying it happened against the Giants' third-stringers, but it was something. When a quarterback is drafted in the second round, he needs to give the organization a feel-good moment or two. Hackenberg did that. "He was up and down," said Jets coach Todd Bowles, who finally removed the kid from bubble wrap. "He missed some throws, but he made some throws. It was good to get his feet wet." In the end, Hackenberg cost his team the game with the interception. The Giants dropped eight into coverage, including 295-pound tackle Davon Coleman. Hackenberg locked his eyes on tight end Wes Saxton and never saw Coleman, who batted the pass to Andrew Adams. That set up a gift touchdown for the Giants, who won 21-20. "That's something I have to learn from," Hackenberg said. "I can't do that, especially in that field position. It sucks, but it's a good learning tool." There will be many more along the way.
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